Bringing in the New Year with a Prrumph!

As we go to relax on the beaches of Kerela - the most luscious, green and educated (with a literacy rate that goes through the roof) state in India - we welcome the new year with the drumroll and trumpeting of the elephant festival on Cherai beach.

It was a sight to see as the trumpeters continued from 4pm until the sun set, marking the end of a great year and the beginning of a new one.

I can’t lie though, this did bring back a vivid memory of the elephants and trumpeters that were depicted in Aladdin as he road into the city after getting a makeover from the genie. As my journeys end in this beautifully vast and diverse country, I can’t help but always remember India as the lost lands of Aladdin.