It was the first anniversary of our wedding and obviously we wanted to make it special. So, After listing out places like Goa, Andaman & Nicobar islands, Dubai etc and after a lot of discussions (read Heated Arguments) between us, we came to a point that since we went to Island of Gods on honeymoon, we should see what God's own country has to offer.
We packed our bags for our visit to Kerala from 29th Jan 2017 to 05th Feb 2017.
We opted to reach Kerala by train because we wanted to enjoy the beauty of Konkan railways and we were not disappointed at all. One could enjoy the scenic beauty of Western Ghats while travelling through Konkan route and once you enter Kerala, you will see greenery and water all around you. Coming back to our trip, we reached the capital city of Kerala and went to our guest house to get fresh. We were in no mood to waste time, so we went straight to one of the most renowned beaches of India - Kovalam Beach.
Kovalam beach has lovely coconut palms and the golden sand fringes the beach during sunset. You can seat for hours looking at the sea and the sun. Ofcourse, due to its popularity, the beach is very crowded, but still you can get a space for you to sit on the sand and gaze the sunset.
The start of our trip was so refreshing that we were not at all tired to wake up early in the morning to catch the Kanyakumari express. It is a 2 hour journey by rail from Trivandrum and again you will be busy throughout your journey peeking out of your window to capture the beauty of the rocky hill and the greenery around.
You have not much to do in Kanyakumari except the famous Vivekanand Rock Memorial and the Thiruvalluvar statue standing tall besides it. Also, there's Kanyakumari temple opposite to these structures on the land.
The jet boat ride from the land to the rock is full of frills and thrills with waves splashing your boat, wetting your faces. The sea is so clean and blue.
Vivekanand Rock memorial is said to be the place where Swamy Vivekanand attained enlightenment here. In the Memorial, there is a happy and harmonious blend of all the architechtural beauty of the country. It was a dream come true for me to visit this place.
The Thiruvalluvar statue is so tall and rock solid. There are stair cases beneath the statue which take you up to a point from where you can have a panaromic view of the entire city and the Arabian sea.
Just like most of the temples in Kerala, if you are male then you need to enter the Kanyakumari temple topless! That was another kind of experience for me. The temple is also big and beautiful and one feels peaceful and heavenly inside it.
Coming back to the base, we went to the iconic Padmanabhaswamy temple. The temple showcases the ancient Indian architecture at its best. There are various timings of darshan and you need to wear only dhoti or saree to enter the temple. Its better to bring one than purchasing it from the counters outside the temple.
After getting out of the temple, we went to explore the city and bought some spices to take back home.
In the evening, we once again went to Kovalam and spent the entire evening in Lighthouse beach (which is more calm and beautiful) lying on the sunbed staring at the sun setting inside the Arabian sea.
Day 4: Allepey:
It was the first anniversary day and we had also planned accordingly to make this special day the most memorable one. We baorded Jan shatabdi express in the morning from Trivandrum to Allepey which is again just 2 hours away. We had booked houseboat for a day, the details of which are as below:
The Grand Cruise
Doney.Pulickattil:09061644464
Well, spending a day in the houseboat in Allepey is one of the best and unique experiences of life which you can not get to experience everyday. However, booking a houseboat is not that easy, with plenty of websites offering houseboats at different rates and you will never be too sure whether to book this or that. We were lucky enough to book The Grand Cruise. The houesboat was very new and well maintained. Doney, the owner also arranged cake and candle light dinner for us on special request. The captain and the cook were also very friendly. The cruising start at 11 am in the morning and ends at 10 am next day. Water and water everywhere. No hustle and no hurries. Just a limited set of people around and nature at its best, thats how one can try to define the experience of a day in houseboat. Even though you have nothing to do, but still you feel like time is running fastly and you want it to stop for a while and let you go deeper into the beauty of back waters.
They park the houseboat near to a village in the evening as per govt. norms and then you can take a stroll through the beautiful and green farms in the village. It was definitely an amazing day for us, the memories of which will be treasured by us forever.
Day 4 and 5: Munnar:
After checking out of the Grand Cruise, we were welcomed by our driver cum guide for the next 2 days for the trip to Munnar and Kochi. We had booked a package for Munnar and Kochi trip because its better to hire a professional driver in hilly areas as the roads were full of hair pin curves and slopes and also the navigation wasn't working on many parts of the journey. Munnar- Tucked away in sunny, tropical Kerala is a cool green paradise. Away from heat and dust, sprawling tea plantations, picture book towns, winding lanes makes it the best Hill station of Kerala.
We stayed in Madhumantra resort which was very clean and well maintained resort, though the only negative thing about it is that it's located at a very remote place.
Our sightseeing in Munnar included Cheeyappara and Vallara waterfalls, Blossom park, Pothenmedu view point and Tea Museum, Elephant ride, Mattupetty Dam , Echo point, Shooting point, Kundale Lake. We also went to watch an hour long show of Kathakali dance. We bought some tea from the stores of "Ripples".
Day 6: Kochi:
Towards the end of our trip was the last and the largest city of Kerala most famous for its dockyard - Kochi / Cochin / Ernakulam.
Here, we visited Jewish synagogue, Dutch palace, St. Francis church, Santa Cruz cathedral, Maritime museum, saw Chinese fishing nets and visited India’s largest shopping mall (Lulu mall).
We boarded our flight for home the next day from country's first Green Terminal!
An amazing trip came to an end but it gave us lots of beautiful memories to cherish. Now I came to know why it is called God's Own Country (and rightly so). It is a complete package of mountains, sea, flora, fauna and what not.
viṭa God's Own Country & attaraṁ atbhutakaramāya ōrm'makaḷ nandi . (T.C - Google.translate !)
Day 1: Trivandrum: (Kovalam Beach)
We opted to reach Kerala by train because we wanted to enjoy the beauty of Konkan railways and we were not disappointed at all. One could enjoy the scenic beauty of Western Ghats while travelling through Konkan route and once you enter Kerala, you will see greenery and water all around you. Coming back to our trip, we reached the capital city of Kerala and went to our guest house to get fresh. We were in no mood to waste time, so we went straight to one of the most renowned beaches of India - Kovalam Beach.Kovalam beach has lovely coconut palms and the golden sand fringes the beach during sunset. You can seat for hours looking at the sea and the sun. Ofcourse, due to its popularity, the beach is very crowded, but still you can get a space for you to sit on the sand and gaze the sunset.
Day 2: Kanyakumari: (Extended trip to Tamil Nadu !!)
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The start of our trip was so refreshing that we were not at all tired to wake up early in the morning to catch the Kanyakumari express. It is a 2 hour journey by rail from Trivandrum and again you will be busy throughout your journey peeking out of your window to capture the beauty of the rocky hill and the greenery around.
You have not much to do in Kanyakumari except the famous Vivekanand Rock Memorial and the Thiruvalluvar statue standing tall besides it. Also, there's Kanyakumari temple opposite to these structures on the land.
The jet boat ride from the land to the rock is full of frills and thrills with waves splashing your boat, wetting your faces. The sea is so clean and blue.
Vivekanand Rock memorial is said to be the place where Swamy Vivekanand attained enlightenment here. In the Memorial, there is a happy and harmonious blend of all the architechtural beauty of the country. It was a dream come true for me to visit this place.
The Thiruvalluvar statue is so tall and rock solid. There are stair cases beneath the statue which take you up to a point from where you can have a panaromic view of the entire city and the Arabian sea.
Just like most of the temples in Kerala, if you are male then you need to enter the Kanyakumari temple topless! That was another kind of experience for me. The temple is also big and beautiful and one feels peaceful and heavenly inside it.
Day 3: Trivandrum: (Padmanabhaswamy temple, Spice shopping, Kovalam)
Coming back to the base, we went to the iconic Padmanabhaswamy temple. The temple showcases the ancient Indian architecture at its best. There are various timings of darshan and you need to wear only dhoti or saree to enter the temple. Its better to bring one than purchasing it from the counters outside the temple.After getting out of the temple, we went to explore the city and bought some spices to take back home.
In the evening, we once again went to Kovalam and spent the entire evening in Lighthouse beach (which is more calm and beautiful) lying on the sunbed staring at the sun setting inside the Arabian sea.
Day 4: Allepey:
It was the first anniversary day and we had also planned accordingly to make this special day the most memorable one. We baorded Jan shatabdi express in the morning from Trivandrum to Allepey which is again just 2 hours away. We had booked houseboat for a day, the details of which are as below:
The Grand Cruise
Pulickattil Tour Links
Alleppey | Kerala | S.India.
Shop No.17 | Municipal Shopping Complex,
Opp. To Boat Jetty,
Opp. To Boat Jetty,
Doney.Pulickattil:09061644464
Well, spending a day in the houseboat in Allepey is one of the best and unique experiences of life which you can not get to experience everyday. However, booking a houseboat is not that easy, with plenty of websites offering houseboats at different rates and you will never be too sure whether to book this or that. We were lucky enough to book The Grand Cruise. The houesboat was very new and well maintained. Doney, the owner also arranged cake and candle light dinner for us on special request. The captain and the cook were also very friendly. The cruising start at 11 am in the morning and ends at 10 am next day. Water and water everywhere. No hustle and no hurries. Just a limited set of people around and nature at its best, thats how one can try to define the experience of a day in houseboat. Even though you have nothing to do, but still you feel like time is running fastly and you want it to stop for a while and let you go deeper into the beauty of back waters.
They park the houseboat near to a village in the evening as per govt. norms and then you can take a stroll through the beautiful and green farms in the village. It was definitely an amazing day for us, the memories of which will be treasured by us forever.
Day 4 and 5: Munnar:
After checking out of the Grand Cruise, we were welcomed by our driver cum guide for the next 2 days for the trip to Munnar and Kochi. We had booked a package for Munnar and Kochi trip because its better to hire a professional driver in hilly areas as the roads were full of hair pin curves and slopes and also the navigation wasn't working on many parts of the journey. Munnar- Tucked away in sunny, tropical Kerala is a cool green paradise. Away from heat and dust, sprawling tea plantations, picture book towns, winding lanes makes it the best Hill station of Kerala.We stayed in Madhumantra resort which was very clean and well maintained resort, though the only negative thing about it is that it's located at a very remote place.
 |
 |
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Day 6: Kochi:
Towards the end of our trip was the last and the largest city of Kerala most famous for its dockyard - Kochi / Cochin / Ernakulam.
Here, we visited Jewish synagogue, Dutch palace, St. Francis church, Santa Cruz cathedral, Maritime museum, saw Chinese fishing nets and visited India’s largest shopping mall (Lulu mall).
We boarded our flight for home the next day from country's first Green Terminal!
viṭa God's Own Country & attaraṁ atbhutakaramāya ōrm'makaḷ nandi . (T.C - Google.translate !)
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