Yesterday, we dropped down from the heights of the Nilgiri Hills via a wild but very skillfully driven taxi ride down a steeply winding road (none of the dozens of wild monkeys dashing back and forth across the road were hurt in the process, whew!), and then a train to Fort Kochi (part of the larger town of Kochi) on the coast of Kerala state. We've just now stopped by an internet cafe after a morning of strolling through town.

As soon as we began our descent from the Nilgiris, I felt a little wave of nostalgia for that beautiful, green hill country. But here in Fort Kochi, we're staying at a wonderful homestay, or guesthouse, in a family's traditional Kerala house. As soon as we arrived, after a hectic day of travel, and were warmly greeted by Beena, the proprietress, we could tell that we'd landed in a quiet, restorative oasis. It's so clean, so graciously friendly, and none of the plumbing leaks! (Our observation so far in India: where there is plumbing, there is water dripping.) We're all capable of being very barebones travelers when needed, but this little bit of extra comfort is very welcome. And hence it's been easy to leave aside nostalgia for the mountains in favor of appreciation for Kerala's green and tropical coast and its welcoming residents.

We'll stay at the Beena Homestay for four days, and are already enjoying the included home-cooked Keralan breakfasts and dinners, eaten at a big dining table with our fellow guests. Two guests from Victoria, Canada, left last night to catch an overnight train to Rajasthan ("See you in Pike Street Market!," we called out as they departed). The other guests are British, so naturally, despite the blue sky, warm weather, and birdsong outside the windows, our breakfast conversation soon turned to winter weather in Yorkshire vs. Seattle. Given the warm sea breezes and blue sky we're enjoying now, it's otherwise hard to remember that it's still cold and grey back home.

Arriving at a new location, one of the first things to do is choose among the many options for activities we could do in the time we're here. Possibilities in this area include helping to bathe elephants (!! I accord this a high priority), taking a boat trip in the nearby backwaters, viewing some traditional dance and/or martial arts performances, and taking a ferry to a beautiful sand beach on a nearby island. Were we as efficient as we'd likely be at home, we might manage to tick off all these possible objectives. But the tropics have a way of inducing calm and settling the mind, and my guess is that we'll choose just two or three. There's nothing like a few palm trees and the scent of jasmine (K and I are both wearing jasmine necklaces, bought from a flower vendor's stall earlier this morning) to boost one's ability to just Be Here Now.