Kerela, India

We stayed at Marari Beach Hotel, Kerala. Having spent  weeks touring Delhi, Jaipur, Agra and Varanasi we were glad to slow down the pace and enjoy the relaxation of this beautiful eco hotel owned by the CGH Earth Group.

we ate vegetarian curry for breakfast/dinner

Kerala is populated by the Malayali people, with roots of Sri Lankan descent and their own Tamil/Sanskrit based language,  Malayalam.  When we arrived in Kerala the first thing we noticed was the difference in the writing on billboards compared to other parts of India we visited.

The Marari Beach Hotel 

The hotel grounds had a butterfly garden (with black and white butterflies the size of sparrows), many birds, wandering cows, coconut palms and many dragonflies.

Mineral water pool

This was a peaceful, restful resort with a great emphasis on health and well being and focusing huge effort on respect for the environment.

If you are interested in the way the CGH Earth Group manage their hotels and produce their foods, they have a Facebook page and a website.

The bath water is sourced from harvested rainwater and the swimming pool is chemical free, using salt mineral water that is anti-bacterial and good for the hair, skin and eyes.

the hotel offers ayervedic doctors/medicine

The hotel has many eco friendly features which we had not experienced before:  Drinking water is processed by reverse osmosis method (for the detail on this see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_osmosis)  in recycled glass bottles.  There are Ayurvedic doctors on hand who can prescribe a suitable diet/herbal medications for those who have come to stay for recovery from illness.

The hotel had direct access to the public beach, which was sandy and the sea warm.

relaxing on my verandah

 Food is provided by the organic farm kitchen onsite, there is great emphasis on Ayervedic health which is evident in the healthy, varied menu.

 

cookery demonstration for guests (curry sauce base)

The mineral pool and a separate supply of fresh water/flowers for the birds

I went to a lecture on Ayervedic medicine and two cookery classes which were complimentary and well worth the time.  There are 5 acres of organic garden that supply the majority of food to the hotel guests.  I also learned about an experiment the hotel is working on to grow food soil free in water fertilised by fish.

Chef showing me the organic garden

The cottage style rooms have beautiful open air bathrooms (bathing to the sound of birds and seeing butterflies flutter past is wonderful)

open air bathroom and shower

There is very little outside the hotel, just homestays and a few little shack type shops selling basic  supplies for the locals and canned drinks to tourists.

local shops

this is a typical signage and the food is in someones house/homestay

homestays are plentiful

The nearest town is a 30 minute tuk tuk ride away in Alleppey, there is a small supermarket here and a market.  It's the hub of the backwaters of Kerala and where you pick up boat rides or homestays on housebouts 

Boat on the backwaters of Kerala

our boat

The boat was comfortable and gave us a wonderful view along the lakes and rivers of everyday life in the area.
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There were many people bathing, washing clothes or pots and pans in the river and along the bank we could see all their colourfull houses, the men in the fields bringing in sacks of rice and tapioca and children playing.

loading sacks of rice for delivery from the fields

Throughout our adventures we have eaten curry every day, for every meal and never got tired of it.
Although we experimented with caution in some of the cities, we found that eating a large breakfast, skipping lunch and eating a light dinner kept us within our budget and was more than enough.

Feeling a bit jetlagged as we only got back 24 hours ago,
so I will be back soon with more posts on our stops in Varanasi, Delhi, Jaipur and Agra...