KERALA is one of the most beautiful and interesting places in the world.   It is one of India's smaller states, tucked along the south-west coast, yet crammed with diversity in landscape, in culture and in politics.

TURN on the tv holiday shows or the pages of Sunday colour supplements and Kerala is often there.   The gorgeous backwaters - thousands of miles  of coconut palm lined rivers & canals, broad lagoons and paddy fields.   The incomparable high ranges - dense jungles, pristine tea estates, cascading waterfalls, world-famous animal sanctuaries.    Towns and villages filled with historic temples, churches, forts and landmarks 20 centuries and more of fascinating history.  A culture fed not just by the ebb and flow of events in the sub-continent but across the seas to East and West.  A brilliant, photogenic holiday destination.

ELSAMMA lives in the Kerala 'midlands', the area of low hills cloaked with rubber trees that lie between the vast  rice fields and intricate backwaters along the coast and the main Western Ghat mountain range inland.    Her house is in a lovely spot called Walayamcode, 20 kms north of Kottayam, east of  Kaddathuruthy (which is on the Kottayam to Kochi road) and west of the  Main Central Road as it runs north from Kottayam to Muvatthupuzha.  

Click on this picture for a map showing Elsamma's homestay location.

KOTTAYAM is a well known tourist hub, where you can start backwater cruises, take buses up to the famous wildlife sanctuaries in the Ghats, or trains south to the beaches near Trivandrum, or north to the impressive port of Kochi.   In recent years people have visited Ayamanan, the setting for Arundhuti Roy's brilliant novel The God of Small Things.   Ayamanam is also in the midland section, just east of Kottayam.  

LESS well known local attractions are places like the ancient Little Church in Kottayam - a Christian church belonging to the Orthodox tradition older than most in Europe, Waikom Temple - not only a stunning Shiva temple but the scene of a protest against untouchability by Mahatma Gandhi, the Ettumanoor Mahadeva temple with fabulous murals in the entrance tower,  and the royal palaces and temples at Tripunithira.

TRIPS can also be arranged by country canoe in the fabulous backwaters, to see the day to day activities of village people, rice farmers and rubber tappers.    Arrangements can be made to visit rural development projects and village areas.

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