India

India - what a whirlwind of a trip. This trip was to celebrate some very good people and lots of love as our friends were getting married in Bangalore, India. Bangalore is in South Central India so we decided to also include a stop in Kerala and take a houseboat through the backwaters.

Finding flight deals was a priority and since Atlanta does not make any direct flights, I think I prioritized cost over comfort a little too much and would probably take a different route if I were to take this trip again. We got $600 RT airfare on Delta/Delta partner airlines from ATL -> London -> Mumbai. Since our end destination for our first trip was Kochi, we did inner country flights for pretty cheap from Mumbair to Kochi, Kochi to Bangalore and Bangalore back to Mumbai for our return flight. Trying to use miles for this flight proved to be impossible as they wanted over 100K skymiles for the trip and that is a really poor dollar to mile ratio. With that said, all of our inner country flights were $40-$50 dollars so total flight costs were really inexpensive for getting to the other side of the world.

We flew from Atlanta on an overnight flight to London and spent our 7 hour layover visiting the Tower of London, something I had missed out on a previous London trip and was dying to see. Seriously, if you go to London it is very worth it and the guides are amazing (shout out to @billybeefeater). I will say, I was on about 3 hours of plane sleep so I maybe looked and felt exhausted, but the layover to stretch our legs and to see another country helped break up the travel.

From London we had another 10 hour flight to Mumbai. We arrived in Mumbai at 6:20AM local time and thought would be PLENTY of time, but that turned out being incorrect. First thing to note, you need to get a visa to travel to India in advance of travel, and it is unfortunately kind of expensive. If you're traveling in a group you can apply for multiple visas at once to cut down on expenses as they only charge one processing fee per order. Second, I did not get any immunizations prior to travel and that was a mistake. You can go to a local minute clinic or any pharmacy or primary care physician and they will provide you with a complete list of what you need to do before travel. The World Health Org recommends a long list, but I think the most important ones (assuming you've been vaccinated at some point in your adult life with MMR, Hep A and B, tetanus and the normal panel of vaccines) are for yellow fever and malaria.

Back to our commute....we landed in Mumbai with 3 hours before our flight from Mumbai to Kochi which in most airports would mean that we would have time to sit around before our next flight. What we learned was that Mumbai has an international airport, which we had flown into from London, and then a domestic airport that we would have to take a taxi to that was down the road. Again, we felt we had plenty of time, but traffic in India is a whole new thing and a 2 mile drive took half an hour. Upon arrival to the local airport we had to go through security again and fortunately made our flight, but it was a learning experience. Pro tip, if you're booking same day travel, book all your flights through the same airline rather than stringing them together to save money because the extra stress was not worth it!

We arrived in Kochi and took an Uber from the airport to our hotel close to Alappuzha where we stayed for the evening. I know all of my pictures are going to look like the weather was bad, but unfortunately it was smog as the pollution was pretty bad during our time there. The culture is definitely of a developing country and likely reminiscent of Europe and the US during the industrial revolution.

Kerala is along the coast and the main reason we decided to visit here prior to the wedding festivities was to experience the backwaters on a houseboat. We booked through the Alleppey Houseboat Club and had a 3 room cruise with overnight stay. Upon arrival we were given fresh coconuts to drink and the houseboat staff cooked lunch, dinner and breakfast the next morning. It was a really interesting way to see India and definitely a popular tourist thing to do as we passed plenty of other groups on the water.

This was super fun and I definitely recommend it if you're making a trip to southern India.

From here we were picked up by a van that took us to see some sights before we had to be at the airport that evening to head to Bangalore. Our driver scheduled a couple of neat stops for us where we were able to go dip our feet in the Indian Ocean, visit a folklore museum with burial pots, old war armor and artwork and architecture. We also visited a place that had a couple of elephants that they were asking us to pay to ride and we quickly left. Please please please, never ride an elephant or pay people that are not part of elephant sanctuaries to be able to photograph, touch, or do anything potentially harmful to these amazing creatures. These poor guys looked to be in really rough conditions and my desire to pet an elephant was far outweighed by the pain I felt for how they were being treated. I know our cultures are so different but as tourists, we dictate what is acceptable by how we choose (or don't choose) to spend our money.

From Kochi/Kerala we took a short flight to Bangalore and on to meet the happy bride and groom. Again, our expectation of travel time fooled us. We took a couple of ubers from the airport to our hotel, the Blu Petal in Koramangala which was pretty central and allowed us to go shopping and eat and drink within walking distance. The price was also amazing (~$50/night) and there was a continental breakfast that served dishes from around the world. This was the first time we took Tuk Tuks as well, and it was like playing Mario Cart except without any control.

For dinner for the evening we went to an English style pub called Toit that I would recommend. Good food and drinks and a fun atmosphere with lots of travelers. Bangalore is a business haven so any kind of food you were looking for, you could definitely find.

On our first day in Bangalore we we shopping for sarees and jewelry to wear to the Mehndi ceremony that evening and also ended up bargaining for fabrics to make pillow covers, curtains and anything else we wanted. Everywhere we went prices were negotiable, which for someone that's not very good at haggling over fifty cents was really hard! I think it's important to note that the currency exchange was 1 rupee to 0.01 USD, so 500 rupee bargaining down to 450 rupee was not really worth the effort. Also, cows are sacred in this part of India, so they are allowed to roam any part of the city that they want to and were frequently seen on sidewalks and streets.

The Mehndi ceremony was held at at the Woodrose Club in Bangalore and it was the most fun "rehearsal dinner" I've ever been to. Seriously, why have we not adopted some of these customs? First, as everyone arrives there is the typical cocktail hour and meet and greet, but then the bride is decorated with henna from toes to thigh and from fingers to shoulder while the groom is showered and blessed separately.

After everyone is decorated, we had dinner served and then there were a series of plays, dances and songs that friends and family put on the celebrate the bride and groom. It was such a wonderful display of love and affection for the new couple.

The next day was the wedding day and was filled with activities. We had someone come to our hotel to help dress us in sarees that the bride provided to the four ladies that had come over from the US and had no idea to put a saree on for ourselves. The wedding celebration was at the Tamarind Tree and was a full day affair. We arrived and were ushered in to a breakfast that was served on massive leaves and encouraged to eat with our hands. Then we, as the grooms friends were able to dance him in to the ceremony, where they were blessed and had rice put on their heads by every guest. The event last hours and was an impressive display from beginning to end. There was a break for lunch and then another ceremony in the evening with more food, blessings and photos with the couple.

The entire day was so different than any wedding I had attended, with so many bright colors and customs and I was so grateful to have had the opportunity to celebrate such an authentic display of love.

Unfortunately we were limited and had to head home the next day, but this experience was one that helped broaden my horizons and teach me so much. I hope to return to India one day when I have more time, to visit one of the seven wonders of the world and to experience Northern India which I've been told is like night and day to where we were.

#tamarindtree #bangalore #blupetal #alleppyhouseboatclub #toweroflondon #spicejet #kerala #cochin #tuktuk