Kerala:
We arrived in Cochin Airport to be met by our travel council from Oriana Travel. He quickly ushered us to a waiting Innova captained by a cheery, helpful Keralinian (is that a thing?) driver named Stanley. Stanley got us to our hotel, the Brunton Boatyard just in time to catch a late dinner in the restaurant. It was a beautiful restaurant that even had a band stage. The kids decided to kill most if the time in the restaurant dancing and singing on said stage. It was a little embarrassing as they were using newly learned “Potty Words” in their song and dance routine. The waiters thought it was funny and even gave the kids a guided tour of the kitchen. The hotel was nice and service was excellent. After dinner We were all tired so we decided to go to bed. We woke up early, took our time getting ready then headed down for a nice breakfast. Again the service was the best! We met our travel agent and guide and hit Fort Cochin. We went St. Francis church where Vasco Da Gama was originaly buried. 
His corpse has since been removed and sent back to Portugal but the old burial site is a notable landmark. The southwest coast of India has seen its share of European inhabitants bringing with them Christianity. The Portugese and Dutch among others influenced the spread of Christianity to many Hindus in the region. We moved on to see the Chinese fishing nets and fish market. 
Preston got to touch a baby hammerhead shark that was on the “sales counter”. He thought that was sooo cool.
After a bit of time a the market and park we moved on the the Dutch Palace. The palace was a gift or peace offering from the to the to make up for the wrong doings of the Spanish Inquisition. It was later inhabited by the Dutch. Hence the reason for calling it the Dutch Palace. There were amazing paintings on the walls depicting scenes from the Ramayana. The kids had enough sight seeing so we had lunch at a near by restaurant then headed back to the hotel for a swim. On the way back we passed a cool little piece of scenery. I have no idea what was going on but the Autos and truck were quickly becoming part of the landscape. 
After swimming we packed up the car and took the drive to Kumarakom. For me the highlight of Fort Cochin was leaving. I know that doesn’t sound good so let me explain. The day we left was a holiday. Many people were off of work and families were going out for celebrations. The narrow streets were packed with people. Moms, dads, and kids all dressed up and walking to the parks and riverfront. It really is cool to see. All of the buses are packed with folks dressed for parties. Rickshaws are loaded to capacity (Indian capacity) with people heading out for a night on the town. You can see the standard tourist spots which are interesting but nothing compares to seeing how the residents of an area really live. And as the day that we happened to be in Fort Cochin was made it extremely special. Its always so much fun to see the women and little girls in the fancy saris and dresses with jewelery. And to see the packs of men all dressed up and dancing is pretty cool too. Here it seems that celebrating is more than just gift giving and eating. Its about getting together and visiting and having fun with friends and family and dancing and singing (and as we found later in Kumarakom, drinking and yelling). Anyways, that was my highlight. I think the kids liked the pool and dancing on in the restaurant. 
More Fort Cochin, Kerala Photos The drive from Fort Cochin to Kumarakom caused Stacy to comment that it felt like we were going to the cabin. She was right. The roads were narrow and there were a lot of tall trees. It was also quite peaceful. Not as hurried as usual. I guess its the only thing so far that’s evoked that feeling and it was kind of nice. Along the way Stanly pointed out many little shacks called “Toddy Bars”. Stanly also explained to us that toddy is a kind of beer or malt liqueur made from coconuts. Every time he said “toddy” he grinned a little slyly and would ask me “Sir? Would you like the toddy?” I decided that “Yes. I would like the toddy” I had to find out why he was being so sheepish about it. One thing he did explain is that in the morning toddy is harvested from coconut trees and prepared. Throughout the course of the day the mix gets stronger and stronger till its as potent as whiskey. Stanly said “At night everyone is taking the toddy” and smiled at me. I told him that I would to… later. Kumarakom - Lakesong Resort We arrived at Lakesong resort and were welcomed with cool tender coconut water. We checked in and headed out to dinner. Afterwords we all headed back to hit the sack. The next morning we woke up and headed to the pool. Preston and Elise were in heaven. 
At 11:00AM we joined up with the real draw to the Kumarakon/Allepy area, the house boat Toddy and Lake and backwater cruise. It was relaxing and neat to see the way of life made on all of the canals and on the lake.
Kumarakom is like nothing I’ve ever seen before, then again so is much of India but I think Im getting used to Bangalore. There are guys in little boats everywhere setting nets and fishing. There is Toddy which is some sort of coconut malt liquer. Stanely insisted that I try some and even went and woke up a Toddy farmer for a Liter of this stuff. It tasted like rotten eggs and Thera Flu. In the middle of the night the cap burst off the bottle. I guess this stuff ferments very fast and you can’t keep a lid on it. Stanely forgot to mention that. But I was glad I tried it. We woke up the next morning after an early dinner and hit the road again. More Kumarakom, Kerala Photos
Munnar - Sienna Village After Kumarakom we headed to Munnar to stay up in the Western Ghats. It was about as close to mountains as you can get in Southern India.
It was an excellent stay. We saw Thar
wild elephants and dams
many many tea plantations
and even a motor boat. Yes here boats with outboard 40 horse Yamahas are a tourist attraction. The tea plantation was up and over a mountain which we had to zigzag up in a jeep. It was awesome. If you look close you can see the roads we came up.
We shopped a bit in Munnar for tea and nuts. We hung out at the hotel and just basically lazed around. From here Stacy went back to Bangalore to work on the big roll out and we headed to a wild life preserve called Thekkady.
Thekkady - Wild Corridor
The trip to Thakkady was full of spice plantations and crappy roads. It rained, it poured, we drove through standing water that seemed as deep as the van. The road was not good. But when we got there the hotel was nice enough and the ‘wild life preserve’ was OK. I guess we mostly just paid for a glorified boat ride.
Not many animals to see. Again the kids were a hit and we must have taken a hundred photos for people with them. The kids and I took an elephant ride at a nice place that looked like they took good care of the animals. The guy we rode was a dad-to-be and his pregnant lady walked around with us and posed for pictures.
From Thekkady we headed to Cherai Beach near the airport to wait for our flight to Goa the next day. Cherai Beach - Sealine Cherai Beach is a nice enough place. There is a pretty laid back hippy-like atmoshphere only totally with an Indian twist. We got our swimsuits on and out to the beach in time for sunset over the Arabian Sea (I have to say that to myself a few times) which was quite brilliant.
I wouldn’t let the kids swim cuz the water was a little scetchy. But the kids were happy playing in the surf.
We got cleaned up, had dinner and hit the sack early as we had to catch our flight in the AM. Early the next morning Stanley brought us to the airport for our flight to Goa. We said our goodbyes and I had my bottle of Bacardi confiscated at the airport security station. I told myself that would never happen again. But it did.
Hyatt Park - Goa
Our flight to Goa was on one plane but it made 2 additional stops, but it went super smooth. The kids were great (which was a bonus ‘cuz I was a lone parent on a flight with 3 take-offs and 3 landings). But when we got to Goa and met Stacy and found the resort all the effort paid off. Goa is really cool. The food was awesome. The pool was awesome.
The beach was awesome.
The kids met some other kids from Palm Meadows by freak occurrence and played with them the whole 4 days we were there.
The Hyatt Goa had a kids club which the kids (and parents) enjoyed. 4 days was just enough and we’ll be back for another quick weekend getaway for sure.
