Versatile and traditional Southern India!

Let me take you to this amazing world of ancient traditions that stole my heart with its versatility and pureness.
Want to know if this goes for you too? If you check some of the following points, chances are it does.

What has Southern India to offer?
- Ancient traditions that are still lives with full intentions
- Characterful people who have life engraved in their faces
- Colorful festivals
- A culture rich of rituals for prosperity
- Knowledge of cooking with tasteful herbs
- Rain forests that are a home to a diversity of wildlife, such as the Indian elephant, Bengali tiger and leopards
- World’s largest tea plantations
- The famous backwaters
- Mountain areas with peaks above the clouds
- Located on the gorgeous south and west coast

Together with my business partner in Kerala, Destination Oryx, I went on a 14 day search for the best places for photography…and we succeeded! It’s nice to go out with experts that will take you to places tourists normally don’t come. Here you’ll experience India at its purest. I love to share some of the highlights and I invite you to allow yourself this experience and join me on a tour. I have no doubt that you too will love southern India!
It is nice to go out with experts who are able to take you to places where the average tourist does not come. Here you will experience the real India in its purest form.
I gladly share some highlights and I invite you to come along and experience this country for yourself. I have no doubt that you too will cherish northern India and remember this again and again.

Ancient Churuturuty

• In Churuturuty, I had the honor to be invited to a family that lives of a puppet show for 13 generations already. Until today they still study 400 year old manuscripts, written on banana leaves. A giant collection with hundreds of characters, one even more beautiful than the other, are formed by oil lamps behind a curtain. Accompanied by traditional music, it’s an impressive show that takes you back to times long gone.

Magical Martial Arts

• Martial arts, ‘a day with masters’. A combination of some kind of conservatory for music and elegant martial arts, decorated with traditional clothing and instruments. This study impresses, the sounds of old instruments guide elegant movements that follow each other seamlessly. It’s a joy for your senses, something to experience for yourself.

• Along the coast and inland waters, you can see old fishing methods that are brought in by Chinese fishermen. Large nets on a pole construction are put into the water and once full, they’re brought up by six strong men to secure the catch. On the spot, the catch gets sold by a rambling auctioneer. A sight to capture in the gorgeous evening or morning light. A good reason to get up early.

• Early morning on a bumpy rocky road, heading to a mountain top to get a treat from mother Nature. During the dawn of the morning, when mist clears up and mountain tops are shown in the first rays of sunlight, for a moment you are speechless. This is nature at its best! I cannot think of a better way to start my day.

• Talking about nature. With Hadlee, a wildlife spotter, you’re guaranteed a day filled with excitement. He has a way of spotting wildlife that is almost un-human. Driving through tea plantations and rain forests, which are a feast for the eye and camera by the way, he regularly hits the breaks to show us some wildlife. Elephant or frogs, he finds everything. It’s a real feast to be joining him.

• Remote villages, a visit to people’s homes and a local school shows you the real day to day life. This not only provides you with characterful portraits, but you also get to know the real India. Friendly as they are, they really open up if the feel your intentions are honest. And they love to see the photos you took of them. A big smile and twinkling eyes, enjoying the little things in life. You just want to be a part of this.

• Drifting on a private boat in the backwaters is something that belongs in this journey. These typical floating homes are a decoration for the already beautiful backwaters. Floating on small boats through narrow channels, getting closer to the villages and their local inhabitants; this scenery brings you unique photos. It’s so nice waking up with the first sunrays on the water, the smell of a delicious breakfast and the boat floating silently on the water.

• Without a doubt, the highlight is in joining the Theyyam ritual. This age-old ritual is a tradition that villagers still believe in. It’s an impressive spectacle where Theyyam, in the embodiment of a God, comes at night to bring the village prosperity. You never know how the rituals will go, you can feel the tension in the village. Normally this isn’t something you get to see as a tourist. It’s a real honor to be invited and surely a must to experience it yourself!

Are you, just like, enthusiastic about what Southern India has to offer? Than please check here the photography trip Kerala Southern India, or here to see the gallery.

Travelmarks photography.. your experience!

Till clicks!