Kerala

Kerala is known for its spices.  Many of the traditional dishes have a really interesting combination of spicy plus savory: lots of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.

Kochi, the city we stayed in, has these enormous Chinese fishing nets.  Apparently they're not all that profitable anymore, but they're popular with the tourists...

...including us.  We caught about 8 pathetically small sea creatures that were later released back into the ocean.

Kerala is also famous for its beautiful backwaters, where the salt and fresh waters combine in a network of rivers and canals.  We had a day-long houseboat tour (essentially a giant canoe with a roof), which was incredibly peaceful.

We took a cooking class with the famous (and extremely friendly) Leelu, who showed us how to make several dishes as well as chapathi.  Notice the candle - the power had gone out, so we did everything by candlelight!

Speaking of food, stuffed parathas might just be the best invention EVER.  We visited Dal Roti, a popular restaurant, twice because it was so good!

Santa Cruz Basilica, a very large and very beautiful remnant of the Portuguese influence on Kochi.  Mass was in Malayalam, which seemed to be spoken even faster than Tamil.

Let this picture suffice to merely hint at our travel-related adventures.  (We were lucky to get back on Monday morning.  It was looking a bit dicey at about 11 p.m. Sunday...)  Here, in a classic display of Indian ingenuity, our rickshaw driver is pushing another rickshaw, whose motor apparently wasn't working, with his foot.  Through traffic.  For more than a mile.  Oh, India.