They are on a mission to see the world together and learn about different cultures. For David Wagstaff, it is a revisit after 35 years, but his wife, Inn Corner, is visiting Kerala for the first time.
Hailing from East Anglia in the U.K., they are here as part of the 134-day holiday in India, Bhutan and Nepal that commenced in December from Delhi.
Long holidays away from home and their daughters, Jennifer and Sarah, is nothing new for the couple as they visit foreign countries every year during winter. They have completed 82 days and are happy that the trip has been smooth, without any hitches.
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Kicking off from Varanasi, they visited Agra, Jaipur, Bharatpur, Ranthambore, Pushkar, Jaisalmer, Golden Temple in Amritsar, Chandigarh, Shimla, Mumbai, Goa, Mysore, Hassan, Ooty before coming down to Wayanad.
The spotting of a tiger at Ranthambore, Christmas in Udaipur and rains while visiting Taj Mahal will be remembered, says David, a former property developer. David, who is an ardent lover of architecture, got an opportunity to have a close look at the different styles in places of worship and houses.
Trekking in Thekkady, visit to Munnar, Kochi, and a two-day house boat cruise in the backwaters was part of itinerary in Kerala. “It is truly God’s Own Country. The people are friendly, healthy and wealthy,” he adds before proceeding to Kovalam.
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Ms. Corner, who works as an Office Manager, says she had been looking forward to the visit as many of her colleagues are from India.
“We could see and learn so many things from the people we interacted with. The best thing about India is not the towns and cities, but the villages and the people,” she adds.
David says India is safer than South America and Africa and they never felt threatened or encountered pickpockets. Ms. Corner says the only thing that frightened her was a man sneaking into the tent in the early hours of the day while in Thar Desert.
God’s Own Country is a fascinating experience for U.K. couple