Trip to God's own country - Kerala

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Well it was December time.. and we were just married 😊 .. and Kerala was the chosen destination for our honeymoon...
So what were we waiting for .. we packed our bags and set off towards God's own country - KERALA .

We started from Bangalore towards Cochin ( Kochi) on the 17th of Dec, 2009 around 9 pm and landed in Cochin the next day . We had booked a 5 days package tour thru trip organisers ' Make my trip' . As soon as we got down from the bus in Cochin , a car awaited us to be picked up. We got into the car and thus began our journey of honeymooning Kerala.

Day 1 - We first headed towards Munnar , a popular hill station . On the way , just stopped by a couple of waterfalls. The drive was like a roller coaster ride with a lot of twist and turns minus the high speed . We reached Munnar at around 4 pm and checked in at the ' Tea Valley' resort.
If i have to rate the resort , i would give it a score of 7.5 on a scale of 10. Location is apt , given the tea estates surrounding the resort.
Food is gud not great. Service is ok.
We freshened up , had tea and just strolled around the resort as it was getting dark and colder . Had dinner later . Campfire was arranged with popular Bollywood numbers being played. We danced to the music in our Balcony 😉 .

Day 2 - Next day , we were geared up for sightseeing in Munnar. Munnar is a beautiful hillstation which is also famous for its tea plantations. We started at around 10 am and visited a small Botanical Garden , the Mattupetty dam and lake, theKannan Devan Tea Museum and the much hyped - Ervikulam National Park ,a forest reserve. This national park is a home to the Nilgiri Tahr. They are found in plenty there. We were all excited about visiting the national park when we heard about it. Undoubtedly , the bus ride to reach the top of the mountain is just awesome. The bus takes you through the narrow roads of the mountains. The mountains are the green lush Nilgiris . The park is breathtakingly beautiful. But apart from the tahrs and the nature's beauty , there s nothing much to see there .
Got back to the resort and it was gettin colder by night.

Day 3 - The next morning we checked out at 10 am and headed towards Thekkady - known for its wildlife and jungles.
We stopped by few tea estates for taking pictures. The route to Thekkady from Munnar is breathtaking. Tea estates, tea estates and tea estates.. whatever you set ur eyes on.. its tea.. lush green tea plants spread all over the mountains.. I just wonder how do they manage to pluck tea leaves from plants on the steeper side of the mountains !!

And when the tea estates become difficult to spot and you are driving thru jungles, u know your are nearing Thekkady.

We stopped at a Spice plantation garden that grew spices of all kinds . Oops! i forgot .. u plan to buy spices.. then u shud do it at Thekkady which is also famous for its spices. This spice garden also sold spices apart from growin them. They have a guide who walks you thru the garden and also imparts gyan on the spices being grown. Well..well.. its not for free.. u gotta pay the guide 75 bucks per head. After trying to digest the spice gyan given by the guide, we landed at the spice store. This store had all kinda spices - cardomom , cinamon , cloves.. u name it and u have it . And mind it.. they are all fresh farm grown.. needless to say a lil expensive ( but not as expensive as compared to the market standards).

We started from there at around 1 pm and on the way grabbed some lunch ( we had a tough time though searchin for restaurants that did not serve the big fat cooked rice ) . Reached Thekkady at around 4 pm. Immidiately stopped at an Elephant ride counter that promised us a ride on the elephant in the jungle. Hmm.. i dont deny it.. Although we got to ride the elephant , the jungle was missing !! I felt sorry for the elephant.. 😞 .. i guess it was all tired taking people for walk on its back since morning.. I dunno .. but i felt it was kind of overpriced .. they charged us 800 bucks for 2 people !!

We bought tickets for the Kerala Martial arts show and then checked in at Wildernest - Bed and breakfast . Though the hotel serves only breakfast as its name suggests , its a nice cosy place . I give it a 4.5 on a scale of 5. But one thing to be warned of.. u have lotsa monkeys around who are waiting to just grab anything thats in ur hand.
Freshened up and then went to Periyar lake or the Periyar reserved forest area. After the unfateful boat accident which happened in the Periyar lake that killed people on board including foreigners , the boat ride in the lake has been stopped. So there was nothing much to see there and within half n hour we were out and heading towards the much awaited Martial arts show. Well.. it was a one hour show.. but at the end of it i was not very happy.. may be because the expectations were very high. Came back to our nest and settled down as we were already tired .

Day 4 - I wanted to stay at the Wildernest for some more time , but as our iternary had it.. we had to check out of the place and head towards Alleppy where the Boat house was awaiting us.

Reached Alleppy by 12 pm . This is a land of paddy and backwaters. Checked in at the boat house . 'Fortuna ' was its name. I had heard about the boat houses and was very eager to experience it. It was to be one day and one night stay in the boat house.
There were a lot of boat houses just like vehicles on a road in Bangalore . Our boat started and i felt nice. Tender coconuts were served and we just relaxed. At noon , lunch was served on the boat. Food was gud but you could actually smell the coconut oil in it. This was a turnoff and also my husband had a stomach upset because of the coconut oil cooked food 😞 . The boat house ride is along a 32 kms stretch in the backwaters. The Kerala government has constructed canals for the backwater flow for easy commutation of boats. As we have government buses , they have government boats that carry people from one place to another.

At dusk,our boat house was parked at a small village called Kainagari. This was one of its kind . Very unique. There is this backwaters canal and the village on the banks of the canal on either sides and beyond the village are the paddy fields. The mode of transportation in this village is only by water and that is only by boats. No cars , no buses..Total pollution free...Can u believe this ?
After we were stationed at the village , we went on a small boat ride and the boat would accomodate only 3 people. We rowed the boat along with the boatman though our rowing nowhere helped the boat sail . It was all in the hands of the boatman. We sailed through a small canal which gave us a better view of the village on the banks.
After dinner on the boat house , we rested . Our boat house was scheduled to start sailin back to Alleppy the next day morning at 7:30 am.

Day 5 - The next day morning we had breakfast with the boat house on the move . Our boat house attendants told us about the boat races that are held on the second sunday of August every year - the Jawaharlal nehru trophy. There is also a stadium for the same which is the end point of the race.
Before i could even realise , our boat house journey was over . Our driver was waiting for us. We thanked the boat house attendants and then took leave.
We then headed to the Alleppy beach . spent some time there and then started towards Cochin.

Cochin is a tourist place with lotsa small streets and European style buildings. While in Cochin , we visited the St. Francis church , shopped at the Marine drive area and visited the Dutch Palace .

Hmmm.. our 5 days tour to Kerala had come to an end and it was time to head back to Bangalore .

Overall the trip was good with no hiccups . Personally i felt that Thekkady was a little dissapointing as the Periyar river lake boat ride was not operational. Thanks to 'Make my trip ' and our driver Sadiq for making our trip a very memorable one.

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