Delhi Round 2: April 30th- May 2rd

Annabel and I arrived in Delhi on the 30th and were over joyed to be returning “home”. We realized how exhausted we were from the first part of our grand tour, and how much we were in need of some refueling/relaxing before heading North.

On the 1st of May we did some touristy things in the morning, and then retreated back to the AC apartment of our dear friends.

We visited Humayun's tomb—the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun— which has very similar architecture to the Taj.

Humayun's Tomb

Next we visited Ghandi’s Memorial, the place where Ghandi spent his last day leading up to his assassination. This was probably my favorite part of the day because I can clearly remember watching Ghandi in my living room with my father’s Leaders and Leadership  students from Bowdoin College every winter. 

Ghandi's footprints leading up to his assassination 

After the Ghandi’s Memorial we made our way to the Lotus temple— the a Bahá'í House of Worship. The temple is shaped like a lotus flower, open to all religions. and comprised of 27 marble “petals”.

Lotus Temple

Finally Domonique (the lovely mother of Annabel’s school friend who is putting up with our craziness) took us to a very nice supermarket while she did some shopping. Of course it was taste testing day and naturally Annabel and I went around trying every type of salsa, dip, and hummus multiple times. Needless to say, I don’t think we will be able to show our faces in that supermarket again.

On the 2nd Annabel and I slept in and had a lazy day before we departed for Amritsar the next morning. 

Five Kuick Days in Kerala: April 25th-30th

We arrived in Trivandrum, Kerala on the evening of the 25th. Instead of spending the night there— we were advised to move on because Trivandrum is a dump— we headed straight for the cliffs of Varkala!

In Varkala we stayed on the Southern Cliffs in a place called Bamboo Village. It was incredible, but Annabel didn’t do to well with the the wildlife— mainly the bugs.

On the 26th we headed to the North Cliffs of Varkala— the more touristy area— and spent the day just wondering around the board walk along the cliffs, which looked down over beaches and ocean. Varakala was stunning, and renewed our awe of the south Indian coast.

Bamboo Village

Sunrise over the Southern Cliffs

Sunset over the Southern Cliffs

North Cliffs Beach

Fishermen and their boats in the morning on the Southern Cliffs Beach

On the 27th we packed up and headed to Alleppey, known for its backwaters, and spent the afternoon, night, and morning on a houseboat. It was beautiful and incredibly relaxing. Here we had some of the best food of the entire trip.

Houseboats

The next day, the 28th, we again packed up and spent the entire day taking public buses to reach the rolling tea hills of Munnar!

Munnar was probably our favorite destination Kerala because of the low temperatures. It was the first place of the whole trip where we didn't need to use our fan at night.

We reach Munnar in the evening, explored the town, and woke up bright an early to beat the fog to see the tea plantations. They were incredible, green, lush and absolutely breathtaking!

Sunrise in Munnar

Rolling Tea Plantations

Looking out at the fog at the Top View Hill Station

Top View Hill Station

Rare sighting of wild elephants

Women picking tea in the morning in Munnar

In a quick turn around we left Munnar in the afternoon of 29th and spent 5 hours on the public buses getting to Kochi!

We arrived in Kochi in the afternoon, wandered around, ate, and called it a night.

Kochi is a lively, yet peaceful, fishing town/city with a wide mix of people. It has such a large population of Jews that there is a whole section city named “Jew Town”.

On the morning of the 30th we toured Jew Town, saw the Synagouge, the Dutch Palace, and more. In the afternoon we headed to the airport and took off for Delhi and the second part of our grand tour— the North.

Famous Chinese Fishing nets of Kochi