Kerala trip: Kochin, Munnar, Thekkady, Alleppy, Poovar
I wrote only on Days 4, 6 and 7. On rest of the days I was too lazy to write. And while uploading this I'm again too lazy to recollect and write:
DAY 4:
We were ready by 5:45 am to visit Periyar Tiger Reserve.
After a cup of tea, we were still foggy and in semi-sleep condition. We were the first to reach at the ticket counter. But all this did not did not help much. After taking boat tickets for all 6 of us, we waited by the river (which was in reality an artificial lake!). Luck did not favour us much as there were not many sightings. All we could see were a male bison (it’s a Gaur as Vera says there are no Bisons in India), a deer, few black monkeys, a herd of wild boar, a wild squirrel. All this when we had the company of Vera who as legends have it, has been very lucky on all her wild life visits. On the way, we saw how a forest had given way to an artificial lake due to building of Periyar Dam.
How sad that we were clicking remains of the trees which would have been alive if not for our greed! On the way, we saw a Lake Palace hotel which charged 24000 INR for one night stay. Phew! We came back to a heavy breakfast and a fast pack-up from TreeTop hotel. Our next destination was Alleppy. We left Thekkady at 11 am. We were in Alleppy at around 4 pm. Sharu and I had a chilly-full lunch (Kerala rice, Fish curry and fish fry - Podimeen). On our way we passed through some beautiful houses in Kottayam and Kumaragom. Few of the houses were made completely of wood. We saw the check-dams which separated river and sea water in Kottayam and Alleppy.
In Alleppy we were booked for one night in Kondai Lip Backwater Resort.
[caption id="attachment_145" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Our cottage at Kondai"]
[/caption]
Siby left us as he had to go to his house for Good Friday. We were taken to the resort on a small boat. As soon as we checked in, we were taken on a boat ride in the backwaters of Alleppy. I realized once again why Kerala is called God’s Own Country!
[caption id="attachment_149" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Such beauty..."]
[/caption]
Where else would you find nature and man living in such perfect harmony? After the boat-ride, we had evening tea and then did (tried to do!) some fishing. Got to know that fishing required patience. By the time we were settling down with the bait and the hook, one of the locals had already caught 4 fishes thus, mocking us and our discussions over fishing techniques. We had two paddle boats and 10 acres of backwaters stretch all to ourselves.
[caption id="attachment_148" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Highly unstable boat"]
[/caption]
A well-cooked dinner followed a glass of Kingfisher and we ended it all with double scoops of chocolate ice cream.
Day 6:
Poovar Island (Off Trivandrum): We went to the beach at around 6 am. Walked along the shore but had to keep away from the waves because of the crabs – there were too many of them. We played volleyball for a while and clicked few pictures. Watched fishermen working very hard in order to pull the fishing net that they must have cast the night before. Suraj and I helped them in this task and sang Haiyaa ho with them. Once back we had our breakfast and left for touring around Trivandrum city. Our first stop was an aquarium – in rundown condition nonetheless had some interesting species. I saw live corals, Joker fish (reminded me of Nemo in Finding Nemo) and Sea Horse etc. Our next stop was Travancore Palace museum. Got an interesting guide to accompany us. The palace was quite huge. All we saw was 1/3rd of it. Rest 2/3rd was still under maintenance. From there we moved to the zoo. All this while we were traveling through the city as well. Siby pointed out few famous landmarks like the Secretariat, Coffee House, the first college in Kerala etc. The zoo was a disaster. Anyone who
Day 7:
We left Poovar Island resort by 8:30 am and started for Alleppey houseboat. Since we had had a very heavy breakfast, we did not stop anywhere on the way. Reached the resort by 1 pm. The boat was nice, comfortable. It had all the modern facilities like AC, TV etc. Very soon lunch (fish, fish and more fish) was served. After that everybody sat down for a game of cards while boat was cruising smoothly. There was water everywhere and except for the humming of the engine, the entire area was shrouded in complete silence. While I’m writing this, Indian Ocean is playing “Are Ruk Jaa re Bandeh” in the background.
DAY 4:
We were ready by 5:45 am to visit Periyar Tiger Reserve.
After a cup of tea, we were still foggy and in semi-sleep condition. We were the first to reach at the ticket counter. But all this did not did not help much. After taking boat tickets for all 6 of us, we waited by the river (which was in reality an artificial lake!). Luck did not favour us much as there were not many sightings. All we could see were a male bison (it’s a Gaur as Vera says there are no Bisons in India), a deer, few black monkeys, a herd of wild boar, a wild squirrel. All this when we had the company of Vera who as legends have it, has been very lucky on all her wild life visits. On the way, we saw how a forest had given way to an artificial lake due to building of Periyar Dam.
How sad that we were clicking remains of the trees which would have been alive if not for our greed! On the way, we saw a Lake Palace hotel which charged 24000 INR for one night stay. Phew! We came back to a heavy breakfast and a fast pack-up from TreeTop hotel. Our next destination was Alleppy. We left Thekkady at 11 am. We were in Alleppy at around 4 pm. Sharu and I had a chilly-full lunch (Kerala rice, Fish curry and fish fry - Podimeen). On our way we passed through some beautiful houses in Kottayam and Kumaragom. Few of the houses were made completely of wood. We saw the check-dams which separated river and sea water in Kottayam and Alleppy.
In Alleppy we were booked for one night in Kondai Lip Backwater Resort.
[caption id="attachment_145" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Our cottage at Kondai"]
[/caption]Siby left us as he had to go to his house for Good Friday. We were taken to the resort on a small boat. As soon as we checked in, we were taken on a boat ride in the backwaters of Alleppy. I realized once again why Kerala is called God’s Own Country!
[caption id="attachment_149" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Such beauty..."]
[/caption]Where else would you find nature and man living in such perfect harmony? After the boat-ride, we had evening tea and then did (tried to do!) some fishing. Got to know that fishing required patience. By the time we were settling down with the bait and the hook, one of the locals had already caught 4 fishes thus, mocking us and our discussions over fishing techniques. We had two paddle boats and 10 acres of backwaters stretch all to ourselves.
[caption id="attachment_148" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Highly unstable boat"]
[/caption]A well-cooked dinner followed a glass of Kingfisher and we ended it all with double scoops of chocolate ice cream.
Day 6:
Poovar Island (Off Trivandrum): We went to the beach at around 6 am. Walked along the shore but had to keep away from the waves because of the crabs – there were too many of them. We played volleyball for a while and clicked few pictures. Watched fishermen working very hard in order to pull the fishing net that they must have cast the night before. Suraj and I helped them in this task and sang Haiyaa ho with them. Once back we had our breakfast and left for touring around Trivandrum city. Our first stop was an aquarium – in rundown condition nonetheless had some interesting species. I saw live corals, Joker fish (reminded me of Nemo in Finding Nemo) and Sea Horse etc. Our next stop was Travancore Palace museum. Got an interesting guide to accompany us. The palace was quite huge. All we saw was 1/3rd of it. Rest 2/3rd was still under maintenance. From there we moved to the zoo. All this while we were traveling through the city as well. Siby pointed out few famous landmarks like the Secretariat, Coffee House, the first college in Kerala etc. The zoo was a disaster. Anyone who
Day 7:
We left Poovar Island resort by 8:30 am and started for Alleppey houseboat. Since we had had a very heavy breakfast, we did not stop anywhere on the way. Reached the resort by 1 pm. The boat was nice, comfortable. It had all the modern facilities like AC, TV etc. Very soon lunch (fish, fish and more fish) was served. After that everybody sat down for a game of cards while boat was cruising smoothly. There was water everywhere and except for the humming of the engine, the entire area was shrouded in complete silence. While I’m writing this, Indian Ocean is playing “Are Ruk Jaa re Bandeh” in the background.
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