Mar 01, 2009 05:07 PM
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Our trip was a family trip comprising of members from four families taking the total number of travelers to about 13. The trip was made during the latter half of February 2009 and lasted for 8 days (including the days of travel from Delhi to Kerala).
We chose Kochi (old name Cochin) as our gateway to Kerala as it is one of the only two (the other being Thiruvananthapuram) cities that have an airport. We were lucky to get cheap airline tickets which cost the same as 3AC Rajdhani tickets so we had no reason not to travel by air. We reached Kochi in the evening only to catch a train at midnight to Thiruvananthapuram which was our first place of interest.
We reached Thiruvananthapuram early morning and after freshening up at a hotel where we had prior booking set off to Kovalam beach. The Kovalam beach is around 15-16 Km from the Thiruvananthapuram railway station. I was very happy to see that even after 9-10 years (that's when I visited south India previously) the beach has maintained it's cleanliness. In addition, it's not a crowded beach like other beaches in India. Neither is the sea water here as muddy as other Indian beaches.
The shallow waters are a treat for swimmers. You can even take a boat ride in a boat made from tree trunks. While in the boat, we were able to spot a school of fish and the oarsman also caught a live sea urchin which we touched and saw from real close. We spent around three hours at the beach and then after freshening up left for Kanyakumari as Thiruvananthapuram does not have much to offer.
Since we were a group, we hired a tempo traveler, which is commonly available throughout south India. It was a three hour journey to Kanyakumari and it was quite humid. It became pleasant only during the last half an hour of the journey. But all complaints that we had about the weather till now were put to rest. Kanyakumari, with it's cool breezes in the early morning and evening, feels like heaven. Since this was not the peak season (nor the lean season), we managed to find a good and economical hotel. Compare to north India, the hotels in south are much cheaper. The next morning, we all got up early and went to the hotel's terrace eager to see the much famous sunrise of Kanyakumari. As luck would have it, the clouds ruined the show. And, this is what had happend during my previous visit to south India. So, people who are planning to go to Kanyakumari, please don't be very optimistic about catching the view of the rising sun. After getting ready for the day, we went to Vivekanand Rock Memorial which is a small rock (or island) in the sea. They take you to the rock in jetties and in this medium rush season also, we had to wait for about 45 minutes for our turn to catch one. The jetty first drops you at Vivekanand Memorial and once you have seen it, you can ride the jetty and go to the adjoining Thiruvalluvar statue. The Thiruvalluvar statue was completed in the year 2000 and is a huge statue of the great Tamizh poet. The Vivekanand Rock Memorial has a temple dedicated to Kanyakumari Devi. Then it has a statue of Svami Vivekanand and some information painted on the walls about the signifance of the place. As such, the place does not offer you any intriguing things to see except for the cool breeze and the excellent sea view. Moving on to the Thiruvalluvar statue, you can climb up to some height and have a 360 degree view of the place. They have also painted Thiruvalluvar's couplets on the walls, which I personally found difficult to understand. But for lovers of poetry, you also have the option to buy a book containing the great poet's compositions. Once we were done with the rock memorial and the Thiruvalluvar statue, we went back to the mainland and retired in our hotel. There is a Gandhi memorial also in Kanyakumari but since we were tired we gave that a miss. But I remember from my previous visit, that it's a nice place too and is worth a visit. Then, like any other Indian city, Kanyakumari also has a temple. We gave it a miss too.
The next morning, we again had to get up early as we had a train to catch to Kottayam. It was a five and a half hour journey and on reaching Kottayam we hired a taxi to Kumarakom (15 Km from Kottayam). Kumarakom was the place where we had to hire a houseboat and enjoy the backwaters of Kerala. Usually, the check-in time to the houseboat is 12 noon (and the check out time is 10 am the next day) but it was already 1-1:30 pm when we reached Kumarakom. And since we did not have a prior booking, it took as another one a half hour negotiating with the houseboat agent. It's always better to have a prior booking for the housboat. If you still don't want to do an advance booking, atleast go to the place one day before you want to check in and strike the deal. Rs.1000-1200 for a 22 hour houseboat is a good deal. But the rates could be higher in the peak season. Ours was a big houseboat with four AC bedrooms and an upper deck that had a big dining table and arragements for a karaoke dance party. It was a completely new experience being in a houseboat and sailing in the middle of the sea away from any disturbance. The cool breeze blowing in your face is soothing. In the evening, the captain of the houseboat anchored it along a narrow strip of land. We then had a dance party and our dinner. One thing we were thankful of of was that the cook of our houseboat was fantastic. Inspite of the fact that we were vegetarians and north Indians, he cooked some delicious food. The next morning we had another 2 hours to enjoy the boat ride before we checked out. All of us wanted the boat ride to continue forever. Before we got off, the captain let us try our hand at steering the boat for a while!!! We got off the boat with an everlasting experience etched in our memories and a desire to savour it once again.
We then left for Kumily which was about a 4 hour drive from Kumarakom. Kumily is a small town that basically thrives on tourism. It offers Kerala's traditional martial arts and Kathakali shows. It also offers the much sought after spa experience. Early morning, the next day we went to Periyar Tiger Reserve. They take you around in a jetty and if you are lucky, you can spot tigers along with some other animals. As it is with other national parks in India (atleast, I am sure about Jim Corbett Park), our eyes just kept craving to see a tiger. All we could see was a couple of birds, otters and bisons. The bisons were at such a distance that we really could not differentiate them from buffaloes. The boat jetty rides start at 7 in the morning and the last one is at 4 in the afternoon. I heard some people say that the one at 4 entails greater chances of tiger spotting. One good thing about the tiger reserve was the scenery. It made for good photography and some of the pictures that I took there look like professionally clicked wallpapers.
After the disappointing visit to the tiger reserve, we left for Munnar from which we had high hopes. But it turned out to be an even bigger disappointment as most of the tourist attractions are at a minimum distance of 30 Km from the main town.
All in all, Kerala is a must visit place for its backwaters.
