We are on such a whirlwind tour of the gorgeous southern state of Kerala, India that I must just give it to you as it comes.  From gorgeous 5 star hotels, to local carnival/festivals to elephants – both kept* and wild.

Again, let me just get rambling.  Wednesday evening, we arrived at our resort late BUT OH WHAT A HOTEL!  The amazing Kumarakom Lake Resort.

I have mentioned that we are treated like royalty everywhere we go – and that remains the case.  But this resort housed REAL royalty.  Prince Charles and Camilla stayed here for Charles’ 65th birthday.  The staff raved about him – a lovely down to earth man – who had one slice of his birthday cake and sent the rest off to the local orphanage.

Here is a look around the hotel that i will be writing to.  “Dear Manager At Kumarakom Lake Resort.  It has come to my attention that you are without an onsite blogger.  Luckily for both of us, I know just the woman and she has experience with royal family interaction…”  (Prince Harry comes to Belize.

We checked into our Pool Side Villa quite late but the next morning, I was able to have a proper look around after I slept through 7am Meditation & Yoga.

Just the right number of flower petals on the bed.  Simple and beautiful.

The details…amazing.

And then the view from the common areas and the infinity pool – the beautiful backwaters and house boats.

My future co-worker.

Perhaps enough gushing for now.  We were off for a day in the Backwaters to experience some village life and traditional crafts.  I’ve spent this sort of day in Southern Belize – and it is always fascinating.

I’ll give you a QUICK run down.  We took at boat to an island.  The walk ways and homes are built above sea level and the rice paddies sit below.

The canals and lakes are everything.  Irrigation, washing…

Bathing and swimming…

And a bit of showing off for tourists.

The brave tried climbing the tall coconut trees with some strange metal…almost stilts.  It did not look easy.

We met LOVELY people.

And, surprisingly, I think the Indians have Belize beat for number of ways to use the coconut tree – even making coconut “toddy” or a type of liquor from the coconut flower and weaving husks dried for one year into rope.  I picked up some new skills to bring home.

Like fishing.

Later that night we were off to a festival/carnival in town.  A 5 day celebration for the god Brahma.  It was a mixture of a very religious ceremony and an almost circus like atmosphere.  Here’s what i saw…

The entrance to the temple.

Kids and parents buying jewelry, snacks and toys.

We left as people continued to stream in – the festivities were going on all night.  The elephant was paraded around the temple and the fireworks begin.

My AMAZING experiences continue in Kerala.  I am still about to burst from gratitude and wonder.

*Please note:  I have taken photos of an elephant used during a religion ceremony.  He looked absolutely stunning but was definitely wearing chains and monitored with a “bull hook”.  There is much controversy that you can find online about the treatment of one of the most beautiful animals on earth.

Just today, I also took photos of a beautiful family of wild elephants at a sanctuary.

I am not here to judge people or their practices (I certainly am not well enough informed)…but the poor treatment of an elephant would make me sick.

That’s all.

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