anexpatabroad

“Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspection.” Lawrence Durrell

The beauty of travel, besides the obvious memorable experience of exploring another country, is getting to meet the natives and observing how they live, how they embrace their old age traditions, rituals and religious values handed down through the generations. The people of Kerala, or ‘God’s Own Country’ as it’s known live a simple existence, living mainly off the land with agriculture, tea picking and fishing the main sources of family income.

Referred to as ‘Keralites’ the inhabitants of this lush and beautiful green part of Southern India are proud of their rich cultural heritage, welcoming tourists with open arms and huge smiles. Everyone was so friendly, eager to share their beautiful country and cuisine with us. It may be considered a simple life by us spoilt Westerners but these people seem so happy, always smiling completely free of the shackles of the modern world. Here’s a snippet of some of the people we met along the way, they were certainly not camera-shy.

Unless otherwise stated all photos © Jo Brett 2015. All rights reserved.

See more of Kerala in my previous post In Pictures: A Postcard From Kerala