The itinerary

24th December - Departure from Rome to Kuwait City and arrive in Trivandrum the 25th December.
25th December - The first day will be of rest and acclimatization for all. Maybe in the afternoon we could have our first approach to the town and have a nice walk in MG Road. In the evening Christmas' Dinner.

26th December - Trivandrum sightseeing: the temple, the fort, the markets, etc.
27th December - A trip in the surroundings area: Ponmudi, Neyyar Dam.
28th December - A trip to Padmanabhapuram.
from 29th to 1st January - Varkala: the temple, the beaches, the nice village.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

1st January - Will move to Kollam by bus and then take a boat trip to Alappuzha: backwaters wonderer.
2nd January - Visit of Alappuzha and Kumakoram.
3th January - Kottayam and Ettumanur temple. After we will move to Kumily, near Peryar Wildlife Sanctuary.
4th & 5th January - Visit to the park.
from 6th to 8th January - The ancient town and porto of Kochi with its palaces, churches, synagoge.
from 9th to 11th January - Don't know what we could do: maybe we can stay here or go to Thrissur or .......
from 12th to 14th January - Go back south to Kovalam! Last few days we can rest here!
15th January - Departure.

Ricordando il Kerala

E' una sensazione strana questa.
Perchè il ricordo è basato su poche ore di viaggio in treno lungo un tratto di costa.
Eravamo partiti la sera prima da Bangalore. Mauro mi svegliò alle cinque di mattina convinto di essere già arrivato, ma mancavano ancora ben dodici ore di viaggio!
Io mi sono riappisolata sulle sue ginocchia fino a quando il vagone si è riempito e i rumori non mi hanno più fatto dormire.

Dapprima tutto mi parve normale. Poi, dopo la sosta a Cochin .....
Bagliori, sprazzi di luce e di verde smeraldino. Il sole, luccichio dorato tra le palme. E poi le lagune, i canali, i terrapieni.
E' come la favola che abbiamo immaginato tutti da bambini: un magico mondo dove la natura ti avvolge e ti abbraccia e non ti spaventa con rumori, animali feroci, boschi tetri, persone cattive.
Io non ero più sul Trivandrum-Express.
Guardavo fuori dal finestrino e volavo. Ogni capanna era la mia capanna; ogni villaggio il luogo dove ero cresciuta; ogni saree colorato in mezzo al verde lo indossavo io.
L'uomo che ora vedevo attraversare la risaia era mio padre. Sì, era lui!
Ma il treno si muove rapidamente e lui è già scomparso.
Di nuovo costeggiamo un canale e poi, incredibile ma vero, scorgo fra le palme una "cinquecento"!

Che posto strano l'India!
P.S. - presto questo ricordo lontano (lo scrissi nel '92) potrà essere confrontato con uno più fresco: sarà ancora veritiero?

Talking about India

Now I want to talk a little about India. Why India?

Well, really I don't know why!
Everything started about 14 years ago when my cousin Marzia asked me to leave with other friends. I gave up my job (I worked as a waitress at that time) and gone.... So happy I've done it! I was 21, just finished the school, didn't know anything about life .....
The trip was from 19 December ’89 to 15 January ’90 starting from Delhi to Agra then Varanasi, Khajuraho, Goa (Benaulim) and then Mumbai.
The group was formed by me , Marzia , Alberto (our friend, a very experienced traveller), his son and his “girlfriend”.
Some few words about Alberto: he usually travelled only with his camera and a little haversack , used only public transport, eat always “street food” (only sometimes in restaurant like Leopold’s in Mumbai) and for the accommodation he chose always budget hotel .
During our trip he was the captain and we were the crew, we followed him everywhere and did what he said without saying a word.
And that’s how I started to love India so much, due to Alberto and his roughness and to the fact that that year he dared us to follow him and we win!

Now I am 36 (the age of Alberto at that time), this year will be my fourth time in India and the third with my husband.
If Alberto is still alive he will be about 50 . But he is no longer with us cause to his heart disease. He died in 1997 after he came back from his last journey in India. I think he died happy because as he always said to us he lived in the way he like without worry about the illness.

… and when I think to India always think a little to him.

The group


After the journey, when I came back home, I feel like as a new me was born.
I found my love, Mauro, and after one year I was back with him.
50 days of an incredible, funny and awesome trip around Ma India.
Other things happened into my life after that (good and bad) but never stoped think about India.
It's only in 1997, when we decided to marry off, that we went again for our honeymoon

We spent 4 weeks trhough Rajasthan and absolutely loved it!

1997 - In the desert

Rajasthan, the Land of the Kings: the Rajput.
The Golden city of Jaisalmer; the blue Jodhpur; the relaxed Udaipur; the pink Jaipur.
Every town here has a colour, a smell, an idea of.......don't know what. And the people is fantastic, so friendly and helpful: can't forget Manu or Gandhisham and all the other.....

Ready to start!

Well, hallo!
I'm ready to begin my new on-line journal/diary. I know it will be hard for me because I want to write it in english (not my mother tongue, obviously) but I try to do my best.

Now, all this begins because I want to write about my next trip to India this winter and I need (if it's possible) to hold a diary of the journey, of the experience before, during and after this trip.

Map


This is the map of south India and here you can see the state of Kerala, called "GOD'S OWN COUNTRY" by the State Tourist Department.
The state of Kerala stretches for 550 km along India's southwest coast, and is just 120 km wide at its broadest point. Kerala offers beautiful beaches, trips through peaceful lagoons (the Backwaters) and canals, hills stations, wildlife sanctuaries and complex cultural customs.
The state of Kerala was created in 1956 from the former states of Travancore, Cochin and Malabar. Kerala had the first freely elected communist government in the world, elected in 1957.
Small scale and relatively relaxed, Kerala's cities and towns are all within easy reach of each other. That's good because I don't want to spend too many time travelling (we have only 3 weeks!) and also because our companion during this trip will be ....... mum and daddy!!

Mum & Dad


They have never travelled before ! I'm a little bit anxious about this! But I am so proud of my Mum : she wants to come, she wants to experience this and now I understand why I am a little.... fool ...I am her daughter! Well, hope that all will work fine.

We will arrive on Xmas day early in the morning at the Trivandrum's Airport and start our Great Indian Adventure from there. Then we move north to Alappuzha, then Kochi and Thrissur. Back to Trivandrum and go home on the 15th of January. More details in my next blogs.

In Trivandrum we'll meet with our long distance adopted children: two little boys (adopted with my collegues at work), and other two adopted by my parents.
We are very happy to do this and to help the people who does this hard work in this little village near Trivandrum.

Here is the link to the pages of the Association (in italian):
http://www.namaste-adozioni.org