A Nomad's Diary

While travelling, the real joy can often be discovered in the everyday things or behaviors of the place you are at.

Traveling is so much more than just visiting the must-see tourist destinations of a state or country. Because the real fun may not lie in the secret spots discovered of a forgotten journal. The real joy can often be discovered in the everyday things or behaviors that will help you experience the culture and prevailing life style in full. While it is important to be mindful about the things to take care while traveling Kerala , and enjoy the  allure of the offbeat locations of the state, the real fun can also be found in doing the things of attractions unique to the tropical south Indian state.

Read on and take note of all the things to do when traveling the “God’s own country,” that’ll make your trip unforgettable.

Fishing with Chinese Nets

The Chinese fishing nets, referred to as “Cheenvala” by the locals, have attracted visitors in the Kochi and Kollam areas for centuries. This way of fishing is unusual in India and almost unique to the area. Legend has it that the famous Chinese explorer, Zheng He, introduced the Chinese Fishing Nets to the fishermen in Kochi in the 14th century. Even though he would leave, these would become staple sights in these parts.

Dawn and dusk is when one can see the Chinese fishing nets in action. Over four fishermen operate one of these nets which are constructed of bamboo and teak poles. Their size and elegant construction is photogenic and the slow rhythm of their operation is quite hypnotic. In addition, catches can be purchased individually and need be taken only a short distance to a street entrepreneur who will cook it. Fishermen often display various fishing techniques for the tourists.

You can find these prominently in Kochi (Fort, Kochi, Cheppanam) & Kollam.

“While watching the animal bath can give you a child-like joy, the ride of the elephant can be a mix of moments of pure terror interspersed with long period of utter peace. “

Canoe thru Backwater Channels

Cruising down the Kerala backwaters is one of the most memorable experiences that you’ll make on your Kerala trip memorable. Among other things and pleasures that you get out of it, the experience will come at an affordable cost. The real backwaters life can be seen from the “deck” of your canoe. Canoeing will take you places where Houseboat will never take you. You will be close to everyday life of the people living by the small back canals and to nature and its blessings like Cormorants and Kingfishers. You can go for satisfactory canoeing in Alappuzha (or Alleppey) and Munroe Island in Kerala.

Elephant Bath and Ride

Elephant bath and ride in the pristine locations of Kerala is a truly life time experience that make you never forget Kerala. Bathing of elephants in the reservoir is interesting to watch. You can also lend a helping hand to the Mahout in scrubbing the elephant to clean them. Touching and feeding with elephants are allowed. However, you should exercise extreme caution while doing this. Elephant bath and ride is one of the important things to do in Elephant Junction, Thekkady.

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While watching the animal bath can give you a child-like joy, the ride of the elephant can be a mix of moments of pure terror interspersed with long period of utter peace. A Thekkady elephant ride offers access to the rough terrain while you can enjoy a breathtaking view of the tea and cardamom plantations. Deeper into the forest, you can see several animals like bisons, sambar, deers etc.

Cook and Dine with a Native Family

There is a lot to discover about the regional and authentic flavours of Kerala foods which is possible when you get to spend time with a local family. The experience begins with meeting a local family, establishing a conversation that flows into enjoying your time in the kitchen and then sitting down to enjoy a delicious meal, full of local flavours of Kerala. This is an opportunity to learn the tips and tricks of cooking Kerala food and getting to enjoy authentic home-made food with a local family over great conversations.

The varieties and flavours of Kerala cuisine are stupendous! The food is influenced by a fusion of Malabari, French, and Arabian flavors and enhanced with a unique touch of local culture. It’s a blend of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. Non-veg are prepared a variety of items like seafood, poultry and red meat. Rice, fish, and coconut are the most common ingredients of almost all Kerala famous food. The flavours are enhanced with chillies, curry leaves, mustard seeds, turmeric tamarind, black pepper, cardamom, clove, ginger, cinnamon, and asafoetida. And the varieties of dishes vegetarian like Sadya and the range of non-vegetarian dishes will take you on a joyride!

You can enjoy experience of cooking and dining with a Kerala family in Kochi, Idukki, Wayanad.

Tent Camping

Outdoor tent camping in Kerala hill stations is something you must make a note of. Camping can be done in multiple places of the state like Munnar, Gavi, Vagamon, Wayanad, and Idukki, alongside the best of nature. You can also go for trekking and indulge yourselves in adventure activities. While it is mostly safe in the state, secure camping is something you should ensure with precise preparation.

Toddy Tapping

Toddy (also called Kallu) is an indigenous alcoholic drink in Kerala. It is made from the sap of palm trees. The drink is sweet when extracted but turns sour on fermentation and gives a kick. A tapper, who climbs the tree and drains it into a container, collects the sap. During your boat cruise or while on a trip across the village, you will see small thatched shops in the front of which will be a board with ‘Kallu’ written on it. The toddy shops are often furnished with wooden benches and tables and the liquor is served in clay pots. Often, you will find Malayalam movie songs or music being played in most of these shops. Since, consumption of alcohol by women does not go down well with the largely male-dominated society of Kerala, it is better for women to stay away from these places. These shops are widely available in places like Kochi, Kumarakom, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, etc.

An Authentic Ayurvedic Massage

Ayurveda is a traditional natural healing system in India. It is believed to be in practice for over 5,000 years. And the practice has long been considered as the medical side of yoga. Ayurvedic massage/ treatment is a great attraction in the state of Kerala, something one must try at least for the sheer uniqueness of the experience, if not anything else. The healing system flourishes in the state due to the abundance of medicinal plants and herbs in the state.

There are several concepts and procedure for performing Kerala Ayurvedic Massages which are implemented depending upon the type of the massage. They include abhyanga, swedana, shirodhara and more. Make your eyes to run through this ayurvedic massages and select the best one that suits your conditions and benefits you well. However, you should ensure that you are visiting an authorized center to avoid any inconvenience. You will easily get authorized massage across all major cities of the state.

Watch a Native Art Performance

Kerala is well known for its diverse forms of performing arts which are weaved into the culture of the state and which in turn are rendered colorful by the various communities due to their rich and colorful culture. The list is pretty big. One should at least try to watch Kathakali and Theyyam performance. Kathakali is a very unusual and ancient form of dance-drama. The way the performers dress, the look, with its red bloodshot eyes, their movements all unfold a meaningful mythological story. Visit the Cochin Cultural Center or the Kerala Kathakali Center to see a performance. Theyyam is a famous ritual art form of dance, mime and music. Follow this calendar to watch Theyyam.

If you like contemporary art, you may want to visit the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, an international exhibition of contemporary art held in Kochi. It is the largest art exhibition in India and the biggest contemporary art festival in Asia. The exhibition is set in spaces across Kochi, with shows being held in existing galleries, halls, and site-specific installations in public spaces, heritage buildings and disused structures. Indian and international artists exhibit artworks across a variety of mediums including film, installation, painting, sculpture, new media and performance art. In 2018, it is scheduled to begin on 12 December and end on 29 March 2019.

Watch a Snake Boat Race

Kerala is renowned for its colorful snake boat races. However, these are not available round the year and are specific to a few months during the monsoon season. Snake boats are usually 100 to 120 feet long and hold around 100 rowers. Each of the villages in the region prepares its own snake boat. Every year the villagers get together and race the boats along the lakes and rivers. These are spectacles that need to be experienced in person to know their true beauty. There are many important races that occur during these events. Some of the famous boat races held include Alappuzha Nehru Trophy Boat Race; Aranmula Boat Race; Kallada Jalotsavam/ Kallada Boat Race; Champakulam Moolam Boat Race; Payippad Boat Race (Jalotsavom); Sree Narayana Jayanthi Vallam Kali.

Kerala Dams

Kerala is blessed with natural beauty, rivers and lakes, there are numerous rivers and has more than 30 dams and reservoirs. These dams help in collecting water, distributing water evenly, producing electricity and other such things. Apart from the usual things, the dams are beautiful to look at. Some of the most famous dams and reservoirs in Kerala also include the trinity dams of Cheruthony, Idukki Dam & Kulamavu dams, Solaiyar Dam, Kakkayam Dam, Idamalayar Dam, Peringalkuthu Dam. Prior permission is required to visit these dams while few may fall on your travel route. So planning in advance would be advisable.

It’s a confluence of all six varied tastes on your palate- sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent.

Yes, it is a fine art, to enjoy the traditional Kerala Sadhya. It follows strict routines, traditions and backing of Ayurveda for an enjoyable experience. It’s a confluence of all 6 varied tastes on your palette, sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent. An authentic traditional Kerala Sadhya can boast the number of dishes from 25 to 30!

Start by placing the prewashed washed plantain leaf’s tail end to your left and cut portion to your right. Many to be sure, uses the water served to drink to wash the leaves before the serving.

Now it’s time to place the right ingredients at the right place on the plantain leaf. Mind you, the elders will frown upon you, if the dishes are served out of turn. First served is Upperi(Banana chips, Sharkaravarty & Taro roots (Chembu) fry) to the extreme left bottom half. In some parts of the state, fried salted curd chilly are also served. Also a pinch of salt is served for those who needs more salt in their food. Then served is 2 pappadams and a banana. To the left top placed are three Uppilittathu(pickles) – lemon, mango & Ingi curry(ginger) which is very good for digestion and to bring in change of different tastes.

Mind you, the elders will frown upon you, if the dishes are served out of turn.

About seven side dishes are served on the top extreme right of the leaf before the rice is served. Avial being the major and next to it is Thoran, then the hot and sour Kichadi, and then comes the sweet side dish, Pachadi. Usually masala mixed side dishes are not served; but in some parts Koottu curry, Erissery etc are also served. Now comes the curd based, sour tasting Kalan along comes Olan made with Ashguard, red gram and coconut milk.

Also read: Must taste delicacies of Kerala which will make you crave for more!

Now you are ready for the feast. Spoiler alert!- No cutlery to be used. Just plain hand & sit on the floor legs folded. So make sure both your hands are clean and legs flexible enough to endure the long meal.

Start by placing a small serving of rice and divide it into equal half and pour Parippu(Lentils) curry on to it and add ghee and mix it thoroughly with pappadam and enjoy. While you are at it, intermittently, touch-taste any pickles: lemon, ginger or mango.

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Once you have relished it all, is the time to have rice with Sambar with the other half of rice kept aside and add sambar and mix well and relish with avial.

With your palms, wipe clean the rice serving portion of the leaf once the sambar mixed rice course is done, to make way for Payasam(Kheer). First served is parippu payasam or adapradhaman and once its wiped clean, follows by semiya or rice paal payasam. In some parts of the state sweet boli/Puran poli(a flaky & melt in mouth sweet made with chana dal, sugar & ghee) are also served along with semiya payasam.

Don’t ever think the eating is coming to any close since you have tasted the sweets/deserts. We are just warming up!

After enjoying the payasams, serve more rice and it with Pulisserry along with Kootu curry, thoran & pickles. In some parts of the state, Pulissery is served immediately after the Sambar course, which are followed by the sweet payasams.

Now, add little more portion of rice and have it with Rasam. Once this is relished, add another portion of rice and enjoy it with Moru(water thinned curd fortified with crushed ginger, crushed shallots and curry leaves) which is very good for digestion. Both Rasam & Moru, while served are also received with one’s cupped palms and relished it directly by drinking and rest on to the rice.

We are getting closer to the end. Now take a small serving of Payasam and add a banana by mashing into it. Adding also a pappadam to it is optional and intermittently taste pickle to break the monotony and you are done.

Along the course, you can taste the banana chips, sharkaravaratty as you please.

Once this is over, the leaf is folded upwards to your opposite side and rise to wash. If you feel like licking your fingers,you cant be blamed. So go ahead and do it!

Tip: Take small portions of all items so that you can enjoy each taste without stuffing up your tummy.

Note: The serving & relishing process mentioned may vary from places to places depending of the culture and local practices.