More love from somewhere else

Okay, Miss Lane now signing in from Pallakad! It has been one of the most amazing trips I've ever had, I've met the most wonderful people...and yet, I know I say that for every trip I take. But Kerala is by far one of the most beautiful states in India. And the people are just wonderful. I think it's the best state ever, next to Mizoram of course :-). It's the lushness and the freshness and the greeness and organic-ness and natural-ness (:P) of the place that just tugs at my heartstrings! The only thing I love more than that is the people. Warm, friendly, honest - this is the only place in India where people are always on time, and they're not out to rip you off all the time.

I'm going to quickly tell you about one of the more interesting things we've experienced so far. So we were in this little tiny village on the edge of the backwaters in Chambakulum. We had a beautiful little cottage right next to the river. And a pretty gazebo right on the river, and then wilderness all around. Birds and snakes and all kinds of interesting things. So all I expected was the trees, the river, the birds, the flowers, the insects, and us.

So one evening we went walking around the paddy fields around the region, and we were heading home, and heading straight towards the gazebo instead of our cottage. And suddenly right next to our cottage, bathing in the river were these two beautful, gorgeous men (half-naked!) :-) I would not have been surprised to see wild animals, but hot men?! Way out of our expectations. And there in the dusky light, and the glimmering rippling river, and the sound of the jungle, these two gorgeous men looked like they could have been the forest's deities. :)

A wave, and a hello, and a pretty fun banter going around soon. I asked them if I could watch them swim even though I knew they were not there to swim. And with childish, boyish zeal, they leaped into the deeper parts of the river and splashed and swam around furiously for our benefit. It made me smile in contentment. It's so good to be a woman. You don't have to be a great beauty, or possess great brains. It's just enough being a woman, and you can make even deities make fools of themselves for you. :)

I can already hear some men furriously typing the 'you feminist!' comments :-) I have pictures to prove that all these indeed did happen. But I'd have to search around to find my cables, so I'll validate all of these as soon as I get back.

Whew! Anyway, it sure has been quite a bit of traveling! Hyderabad to Bangalore, Bangalore to Wyanad to Kannur, a night in Kannur, and then Ernakulum, then a few hours in Fort Cochin. We then hired a car to take us to Kumarakum, it was quite funny, we both fell asleep in the car for almost an hour, woke up and for some reason promptly decided to go to Alleppey instead. We asked our driver if it was too late to go to Alleppey, and he said it was not. So off we went to Alleppey instead.

We've had two accidents so far (both rickshaw related). We both still have massive bumps on our heads, and we look like boxers who've been losing the fight. And we've had one fight so far. But the good experiences far outweight the bad ones. I miss my mom, I've been missing her since the night I had the accident that gave me the bump. You know, no matter where I am or how old I am, or how well I think I can take care of myself, or how much fun I'm having, or who I'm with, when I stub my toe, or I hit my head, or I feel I'm in a situation where I might die, or just experiencing pain - emotional or physical, the first person on my mind, the only one I always want is my mother.

Okay, I talk so much I embarrass myself sometimes. I'm off to sleep. We're heading to Silent Valley to spend a night there and hopefully see some tigers. Then to another forest to spend a night in a treehouse. You're all jealous I can tell. Yeah I'm so lucky! :)