For the Christmas holidays, I met my family in Kerala – a place I dreamt to discover and that was in the middle between the Philippines and Paris !

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I took a flight from Chennai – I had spent 10 days in Auroville just before – to Kochi (Cochin) on December 24th. I spent the night in a small guesthouse in Fort Kochi – the historic city.

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In the morning the owner of the guesthouse wished me : « Merry Christmas ! ». In Kerala, christianity is very common and there are churches everywhere – more than hindou temples. So Christmas is quite important.

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So there I was, on the colorful terrasse of the guesthouse, under a bright sunshine, surrounded by coconut trees and a Christmas tree and a crèche. It was so weird !

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I had a special Christmas breakfast with two other guests : a German journalist and a lady from Tanzania who was going for a Christian retreat close to Kochi. The owner of the guesthouse had cooked masala vegetables and meat, there was rice (as always !). Tea and coffee. And some kind of ginger bread and special sweet wine.

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I was so impatient to meet my parents and sister ! I had been around Asia for 3 months and a half.

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We travelled for 10 days in Kerala, which is a wonderful region. We loved it and each new place we discovered was amazing.

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Here are some highlights of my experience of this journey – to share with you a taste of Kerala.

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Kerala is well known for its backwaters – an infinity of canals and lakes in the region of Kottayam. We spent 24 hours on a boat travelling slowly on the water. We contemplated the landscapes. We observed Indian daily life around the banks. We read books in the fresh breeze – but never too long, the magic landscapes were always catching our eyes.

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We stopped on the way to visit a beautiful church and a market.

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We were on a houseboat – it is like a house on a boat with rooms, bathrooms, an open « living-room » where you have lunch and dinner. There are employees on the boat – they cook, they drive the boat, they take care of you, they explain you things about what you see…

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I loved it !!

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Kerala is also famous for its tea plantations. We went to Munnar, a mountain region covered with tea plantations. The way to go there is already magic. We were staying in a hotel in the middle of the tea plantations, quite high – around 2000 meters high.

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The view was breathtaking and the air was so densely pure. We went for a trek in the tea plantations and in the mountain. Our guide was really passionate. It was really beautiful. The tea plantations form specific shapes in the landscape. We saw women harvesting tea.

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Later that day we visited a tea factory – to understand the next steps of the process.

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Tea is so common, I like tea a lot and drink some very often – especially in India ! I thought that it was strange that I knew so little about where tea comes from – what a tea plant looks like, the way it is grown and processed.

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And actually it is also the case of many other products I eat – I realized this also at the Enchanted Farm where social entrepreneurs and farmer produce porks, chickens, peanut butter, salted eggs, ice cream, natural limonade… Have you ever seen a peanut tree ? Do you know how pineapple grow ? Did you know that bananas grew the other way around ? Have you ever seen a banana flower ? Do you know from what tree cinnamon comes from ? Cloves (clou de girofle) ?

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I thought at least I know how honey is produced. But overall, I thought that living in a city I was really disconnected from Nature and some of the food I eat.

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This was the perfect transition. Kerala is also renowned for Ayurveda ancient medicine – Ayur meaning life and veda knowledge. Around Munnar, there are many ayurvedic gardens where you can see plants that are used in ayurveda medicine. It is quite touristic but still, we discovered and learnt many things !

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We explored the beautiful garden with a guide who explained to us what the plants / trees are and what are the benefits of these plants in ayruveda medicine.

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We discovered the way cardamon, cinnamon, cacao, black pepper, ginger, curry leaves, cloves, vanilla, coffee, nutmeg, and many others, grow.

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The speech of the guide was sometimes quite caricatural and seemed sometimes far-fetched : listening to her, these plants were like magic potions : « You take this plant during 45 days and all your skin problem is gone ». « You put this oil on your hair during one month and you have no more dandruff and your hair is like new ». « This plant is for women imbalance diseases : irregular periods, menopause disorders, hormone issues… ». « This plant is good for diabetes, lungs, articulations and eyes » – I exaggerate, but just a little. She said that for all these natural medicines, there was no secondary effects.

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Listening to her, I had the feeling that I was in the garden of a magician that could solve all human diseases. Of course, their objective is to sell products in the end. After the garden tour we went to the shop and there were all the natural treatments that we could buy.

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We thought that buying these products without a proper doctor consultation was not very appropriate. I bought hair oil and honey – and unfortunately half of the content spilled in my luggage, on my clothes… ! 🙁

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It made us think about all the medicine that already exists in nature (and also within our own body) while in Western country we resort a lot to chemical medicines.

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Lastly, I wanted to share with you about Kerala beach. We were in Mararikulam and it was wonderful to be in a beach environment and swim in the sea. There were beautiful gardens with deckchairs (transats) and hammocks, coconut trees and palm trees. There are big waves and strong current so it can be a bit dangerous and it is better not to go alone or too far. We had a magic time swimming in the sea in front of the coconut trees, floating (faire la planche), carried and rocked by the waves.

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I have not mentioned people. We really enjoyed the hospitality and joyfulness of people here.

All in all, Kerala is really nice because in a small portion of India there is a unique concentration of amazing experiences and beautiful places. Nature is particularly wonderful.