Kerala and commies

Like peanut butter and chocolate, Keralans and progressive politics go together oh-so-good. They have one of the few democratically elected socialist governments in the world, a 99% literacy rate, and this on top of some of the most beautiful terrain we've ever seen.

Reminders of this political orientation as in the above photo abound here in Kerala, and we're actually sort of victims of it for the next day, where a strike due to the arrest of a beloved political figure is making it a bit wiser to stick to the resort area and avoid crowds and the indication of being unsympathetic to the cause. We don't feel unsafe, of course. We're not resort people (those of you who know us know this) but it was booked for us by our friends Harjit and Ritu, who were to be travelling with us but didn't make it due to health issues. It is in the midst of some strikingly beautiful tea country. We'll post phots of this soon.

In the interests of chronology, here are some shots from Cochin, our point of arrival in Kerala:

The Chinese fishing nets at the shore of the Arabian sea:

Jenny at this awesome cafe, the Kashi Art Cafe, a favorite for Westerners - us included. Great coffee, ethical presentation, fine atmosphere and mouth-watering chocolate cake!


Others are breathing down our necks to use the one computer here, so more pictures coming soon! Lots of love to you all,
J&J.