With mixed emotions I find myself back at the basecamp in Pune. Behind me I have twelve riveting days of touring the Kerala state – and Tamil Nadu, which I unbeknownst to me crossed over to at one point. It wasn’t the longest trip, but still I managed to traverse 600 km of road and 150 km of railroad tracks. Stayed in seven hotels; most fine but some shoddy ones as well. One was a tent – and it was one of the best ones.

The nice thing with travelling isn’t just the new places you see, it’s also the people you meet on the way – and I met some lovely ones, some of whom I met up with later as well. Here are the legs of the journey:

• Arrival to Trivandrum, two nights at Kovalam beach
• Kanyakumari, Christmas Eve
• Varkala
• Munnar
• Vanilla County near Kottayam
• Backwaters at Kumarakom
• Kochi, including New Year’s Eve

I need some time to let it all sink in and break it down into blog posts. But some experiences off the top of my head:

• Ayervedic massage; now I can relate to how small a bikini feels
• A particularly lively Jeep ride down from Munnar
• Shaking hands – err, trunk – with an elephant
• Walking among tea plantations in Munnar
• Visiting an Ashram; seldom has it been so difficult to remain silent
• New Year’s party in Kochi; sneaking in a bottle of rum to a place I shouldn’t have