The Kerala Adventure - Part One

I completely forgot to put on the blog my experience in Bangalore and Kerala (including the Indian wedding), so thought I would give you some excerpts from my journal...(pictures to follow)

"Yesterday was an interesting day.

Life is full of choices. You can choose to play it safe or you can choose adventure. Neither is necessarily right or wrong, just a different path. When Binu invited us to his wedding, it was going to be a difficult choice. He is a good friend and was desperate for us to be there, but we knew Andi would be in Thailand, so I had to decide whether or not to go alone. After a few discussions, I worked out that it may be feasible to incorporate a work trip to Bangalore and go to the wedding in Kerala (another state) on the Saturday.

So yesterday, I travelled by train (12 hours), car (6 hours), bus (6 hours) and auto (10 mins) – I crossed three states: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala, and I finished up staying in a Catholic seminary in a tiny village called Sultan Bathuri. All this because I chose adventure.


I travelled with Ummen, which definitely helped break any language barriers and also provided some company for the trip. I also tried Appam (rice dish) for breakfast for the first time (it came with an egg curry).

I love seeing the authentic India – the one you can only see when travelling by train or bus – especially bus. The first bus was a decent air conditioned vehicle which included a TV showing the latest Bollywood offering. The second bus from Mysore to Sultan Batheri was “old school”…to say the least, and was populated by many guys in the lungi (wrap around) and rags around their head. Just before the Karnataka/Kerala border, an elephant was just standing by the side of the road – the people nearby seemed to be taking no notice.


Tonight we had a great meal at a restaurant that has not seen a foreigner for a VERY long time…if at all! The meal was topped off with a Keralan speciality, lime tea – which was amazing! Looking forward to the wedding tomorrow…"