Unwind / India
Kerala, Backwaters and Doing Less
Kerala · 8 min read
Kerala runs along the southwest coast of India: a strip of backwaters, rice paddies, tea hills and beaches, with a food culture built on coconut, fish and spice.
It is one of the gentlest introductions to India and a genuinely restful place once you slow to its pace.
The backwaters
Houseboats out of Alleppey are the famous option, and a night on one is worth it, though the main channels are busy. A smaller punted canoe through the narrow canals shows you far more of village life.
Alternatively stay in a homestay on the water at Kumarakom or Kollam and take a boat out morning and evening. Quieter, cheaper and closer to the actual place.
The hills
Munnar and Wayanad sit in the Western Ghats, several degrees cooler, covered in tea and full of birds. Estate bungalows there are among the best value stays in the country.
A guided walk through a working plantation, ending with a tasting, is a better use of a morning than any viewpoint.
Ayurveda, honestly
Genuine ayurvedic treatment is a supervised programme lasting one to three weeks with a prescribed diet, not a massage on the beach. Government classified centres are graded, and the grade means something.
If you have a week, a shorter rejuvenation package is realistic. Anything promising dramatic results in three days is selling a spa treatment.
Eating
Sadya, a vegetarian feast served on a banana leaf, is the thing to try once. Fish moilee, appam, karimeen and a great deal of coconut fill the rest of the week.
Breakfast here is a genuine highlight. Puttu, idiyappam and kadala curry beat any hotel buffet.
The case for doing nothing
Kerala is built for sitting still and watching water move, which is underrated as a holiday activity.
Give it two weeks if you can. The pace is the treatment.
