Mr. Angel Martinez Bermejo

Mr. Bermejo was recently in Kerala on a three-week trip after a historic one to the Andaman Nicobar Islands as part of a six-member team, the first foreign team to visit the islands after independence. A regular contributor to ‘Viajes National Geographic,’ the Spanish version of the ‘National Geographic Traveller,’ Mr. Bermejo hopes to return with a handful of treasures after digging up deep into the goldmine. 

In his third trip to Kerala, Mr. Bermejo is getting ready to pen a book on Kerala. His first tryst with Kerala was in 1997, followed by one in 2000 and now in 2003. He is now convinced about the subject i.e. Kerala for his upcoming book, since it offers unlimited themes for a writer. Among his favourites are Theyyam, Kalari, the backwaters, the Aranmula Kannadi (mirror) and Kathakali.

Mr. Bermejo has high regards for the people of Kerala and terms it a safe place, even while traveling alone. Travelling here is not only easy, it also gives you a good feeling, he says. With 
regards to food, Mr. Bermejo very much appreciates the good value for the money spend on food, and so his meal times were virtually feast times. 

To him, it is high time that Kerala should be reckoned as the top tourist destinations in India, where majority of foreign tourists are still stuck with the Agra, Kashmir & Rajasthan triangle. He was very appreciative with the efforts of the State Tourism Department in projecting Kerala as a brand name in tourism and cited the recent travel fair in Berlin as an example where the Kerala contingent unleashed a very good campaign touching other cities in Europe.

According to Mr. Bermejo “there are very few places in the world that can justify the description ‘God’s Own Country.’ Moreover, I always learn something new from Kerala, he added.”