Silver streaks in God's own country

And this follows the 'The most desired sojourn'... Goa or Kerala???

The decision was made by a surprise that made things easy for us, literally! Our daughter, the drama queen that she is, 10 days prior to our Anniversary, post dinner, in middle of a family tête-à-tête, takes the centre stage in our humble living area and asks for attention in no uncertain terms. Once gained, she with her nose up in the air (very loyal to her this distinct trait) and hands animatedly spread, as if those were the parts that were to do all the talking, announces - 'Yoohoo, you are booked for Kerala!!! Travel, stay and authentic Southie meals all taken care of (more exclamation marks)!!! You both just have to pack and leave home in 4 days and stay out of my way for 10 days after that.' Husband and I look at each other and give the daughter our trade mark look, husband - a frown and me - a smile. Please explain, I demand. She nonchalantly looks at us and factually states,' oh, your brother set it all up. From a fortnight he's been plotting and planning and interacting with the tour operators to gift you both this holiday to mark your 25 years of togetherness'. We were zapped to say the least. What followed were skype/phone calls to thank the family...brother as usual, very underplaying but very generous...wanted us to extend our sojourn for a total of 15 days, including more places of interest...but we declined. Sis-in-law, more enthusiastic than us...promised them Rajasthan would be the whole lot of us together. Bags packed, left home very early, at 4 am for the Airport and were happy that we had good time on hand to get the boarding passes and then check in. Appalled, when the security guard at the entrance said, our flight takes off from the International Terminal and not the domestic one, managed to persuade a cabby to take us there and thus began our whirlwind tour of GOC, Kerala. Must say, our sliver anniversary was befittingly celebrated by the two of us amidst rivers, forests, tea estates, spice gardens, bird sanctuary and beautiful blossoms. And yes, we did toast to our good fortune of having such a supportive and enthusiastic family - to Brijesh, Abhilasha, Anisha, Ansh & Pooja! 

A few pictures of the magnificent land...