Kerala on tour! Several parts …. PART ONE
Last evening we walked on the boardwalk aside the Arabian Sea. The breeze was a welcome relief from the 35 degree plus heat of the day.  
On this West coast of India, Fort Kochi is a very important port. Ships coming and going. We enjoyed a view of the resting Fishing nets. 
Finally I see one cow on the beach here in the south. 
Tonight there are thousands of people on beach on a Sunday. It looks and feels like a festival … Kids running, squealing, playing, families together. Kids blowing bubbles, pinwheels for sale and sugar cane machine making juice. Lots of festive carts selling ice cream and goodies, and always people selling to tourists.  
Even though this town says it is illegal to smoke (they call it Gods country), there is an old man at a stool, with a large open trunk or box with a lid .. Inside stored cigarettes for sale. Apparently you can sell them, just not smoke them … Lol.
I love the slight head nod, head bobble like those dogs in the rear window of cars back home, memories of my youth. Here it means yes, OK, an acknowledgement. I saw it in the north and it seems to have followed us on tour now in the South. It is friendly and kind to see people talking and nodding at each other.  
Day one, full day we leave from the apartment hotel for a walk about with our tour guides. In addition to the churches and museums , we are treated to a horticultural adventure in the wealthier area of Kochi.  
Herbal gardens. Fruit trees. The wealthier people who own their property, also grow their own herbs and spices for personal and family consumption.  
Kochi is famous for goats. They are rummaging through garbage piles and in yards, and along roadways.  
Jackfruit trees with huge fruits hanging. Mimosa trees in bloom with pale pink flowers. Baseball being played in the green spaces. Boys in one field, girls playing in another.  
Cannonball flower tree blossoms are peach colour and used for medicines. Tamarind trees, people use the bark for spice. 
Men playing cards sitting in circle on a blanket in common areas like parks and sidewalks, with their shoes off.  
Rain ferns. More cannonball trees, this time, bright red flowers growing from bark of the trunk. 
Banyon trees over 500 yr old. Huge, and majestic.  
To be continued 🙂
Pamela