Two weeks in Kerala, Southern India

Serene and yet a constant assault of all 5 senses at once. Lush greens, iridescent blues of kingfishers, orange dust. Fragrant garam masala, cardamom, cinnamon, drying ginger. Weaving rickshaws, petrol fumes, the sound of horns. Goats and cows on roadsides, colourfully decorated trucks, buses casually overtaking. People everywhere, sat on railway lines, hanging off buses, crowding ferries, selling fish, washing in rivers. An impossible crush of people, the oppressive heat of the city. And then calm, the rolling Western Ghats, the gentle flow of the backwaters and all is at peace once again.

Keralan Backwaters © charlie richards 2013