How's the weather where you are?

Take a break from the drudgery of winter and check out where we've been the past 4 days. Right now we're in Madurai which is home to one of the most famous temples in India, but prior to that, we were cruising down the coast of Kerala by land and by sea. After we left Kochin, we went to Allepey where we took an 8 hour backwater boat ride to Kollam (heading south). The backwaters are a complex system of waterways that weave in and out along the coast of the Arabian Sea. Along the way, there are villages and temples strewn about in the most remote of locales. It was beautiful and perhaps the quietest place I've visited in India. A surprise to all of us, was learning that hundreds of people in this area died in last year's tsunami. Kerala is on the west coast, not the east where the vast majority of the damage was. Apparently, the water surge wrapped around the southern coast, and washed away thousands of houses. I took a picture of a shelter that was erected in the aftermath to house families whose homes were decimated. It was a very sobering moment, but then again, these "moments" come a dime a dozen in this country.

When we got to Kollam, we had to make our way down further to Varkala, which is one of the developing beach resort towns that have sprung up everywhere in order to draw tourists. Apparently, it's still in a nascent phase because there was hardly anyone there. The white sand and red cliffs were reason enough for me to plead to my travel companions to stay there for the rest of the trip, aware as I am of what awaits me upon return to Boston. Unfortunately we had to take off after less then 24 hours and get on an 8 hour train to Madurai, where I sit now.

We've done about 6 cities in 6 days I think, which is wearing us down. We get to stay here for 2 nights, then go inland to the Ghats (Mountains), then to Chennai, where I fly from.