Yoga Tourism

Kerala has long been a favourite travel destination for stressed out television producers and Islington’s ‘yummy mummies’, thanks to an interesting and beautiful geography; cool (some might say cold!) high tea stations to the east and a coastline situated across 850 kilometres of idyllic backwaters, not to mention the many yoga practitioners who base themselves there, .

Kerala has certainly worked hard at promoting itself. It is different to many places in India, with a history of communism, liberal attitudes and higher literacy rates, even amongst women, than anywhere else in India. So it was a pleasant surprise that our guesthouse owner in Fort Cochin was a bustlingly efficient woman in her late thirties who ran a very tight ship, with no apparent help from a husband or brother - it was good to see women take control of their business and livelihoods. This is a serious achievement as sexism in India is rife: for every woman seen in public there are about 30 or more men, so just by sheer force of numbers men dominate. Young Indian guys tend to hang around in groups, where many can’t help but leer at Western girls or take pictures without asking: intimidating if you’re on your own, and exasperating if you’re the boyfriend or partner. A couple of people have told us of their frustration at the general lack of respect towards their girlfriends; for a nation who gave the world the Kama Sutra, India is full of very sexually frustrated young men. Luckily for me, I've avoided much of the hassle that some women experience: the most frustrating thing I’ve found is being totally ignored by the man at the railway counter simply because you’re a woman.

For visitors, the done thing in Kerala is to take a houseboat made of bamboo along the backwaters, kick back and watch as life drifts slowly by, waited on by your captain and cook. The place where you get the boat, Alleppey, is described as the ‘Venice of India’ by various hyperbolic brochures and guide books, but Venice needn’t worry: it is a dusty, congested town with few restaurants or places to eat and a small number of expensive hotels along the beach. Only when you get out to the backwaters do you realise what the fuss is about.

The backwaters were peaceful and as lovely as their reputation hails them to be. We had great company in the shape of Jamie and Laura who we met in Goa, and the food was home cooking at its best. Somehow, though, as backpackers we couldn’t help feeling that we were just a few years too late for Kerala. Although the people are generally friendly, activities and accommodation are expensive, it gets very crowded with two week holiday makers at peak season and the touts are just as knowing as any in the North.

Down the coast, at Varkala, yoga tourism is in full force, as was another reason why people come to Kerala: Ayurvedic medicine. There are a number of hospitals in Varkala and we soon began to notice large amounts of terminally ill looking people wandering along the cliff top path. After our friends checked into a hotel that could have been described more accurately as a hospice, we realised that this was the last chance saloon for a lot of visitors. After a few sessions of yoga, an ayurvedic massage and an interesting meditation lecture, I was ready to move on.