Kerala travelogue

I'm late in writing this travelogue but I plan to do a shree ganesha today. Post Diwali, I went for a very nice, relaxed and much wanted break to Gods own country Kerala. Apart from being a relaxed holiday, I also had some moments of adventure. Read on.

Nov 12 - We took a new and improved Air Deccan flight to Trivendrum. Thanks to Mallya, the aircraft took off on time and it was an uneventful journey. It was the first time for my niece in the aircraft and she refused to look out of the window pane. My niece means a world to me and my life revolves around her. I might highlight even her smallest of things here which may sound stupid to you but well people who love kids will understand me.

Back to the travelogue. On arrival we took a prepaid taxi to our hotel. We were a large group. My brother Nikhil, his wife and kid plus his friend Mahesh, friends wife and kid. Hence the luggage was also quite a bit since the plan was to stay for two weeks in kerala. The person at the counter was okay with our luggage and the number of people to travel in one cab. Btw the taxis in trivendrum are all ambassadors. We then got out to where the taxi was parked and God we were gheraoed by all taxi drivers demanding that we take two taxi. All the drivers were in a bad mood it seems. Finally the driver of our car said something in malyalam and he drove away everyone. Our luggage sat on the roof comfortably and we happily started towards our hotel. In
a dark, lonely street, our driver informed us that we will have to pay double the amount since we have luggage with us. We finally gave him extra money and bought ourselves some peace. That was the first brush with Kerala.

We were staying at Hotel Chaitram. Well hotels in Kerala are quite expensive (when I say quite...i mean it). My mallu friends were shocked to hear the costs of the hotel and they say that these costs are meant only for tourists else kerala is a very cheap place to stay. Well I knew I was tourist everywhere I went.

Nov 13 - Next day morning we went to the Padmanabh swami temple. As a rule, we girls were dressed up in sarees and the guys rented lungis at the temple which you tie on top of your regular clothes. BTW girls here is one good news. If you are in no mood for a saree or the lungi on top of your salwar kameez, you have an option. Wear full length skirts and decent tops. Its allowed.

Another funny incident happened. We got into the temple. Many florists were selling phoolon ki thali. I purchased one for 30Rs. The guy said, pls take a receipt from the counter. I was surprised...a phool wala giving a receipt! At the counter I got a recipt and the guy said "Rs10". I was puzzled...10 for what. He answered "Its for the ticket". LOL! I paid the guy and looked at what was called the Archana ticket.

Once inside the temple, there was a huge diya. There was a queue and everyone was handed a very small katori of oil. Each person was pouring the oil in that lamp. I did the same. As the queue moved ahead, they collected 10Rs for the oil. What a strategy!! We went near the main area of the temple where the idol is kept. Only I was allowed inside...reason...remember the archana ticket I purchased. Everyone else without a ticket was not allowed to take darshan. They shooed away my family members and asked them to take darshan from far away (from where they were not even able to see the lord). Its not about the 10 and 20 rupees. Its about being a tourist who does not know the language and being duped at every step.

The idol of Lord Padmanabh is quite huge and is carved out of stone. As the name suggests, a lotus comes out the navel of the Lord. On this lotus Lord Bramha is seated. The main statue is in the reclining position with a naag (snake) acting as an umbrella. There is a palace behind this temple. I loved the wooden carvings in the palace. The roof, corridors, columns everything had very intricate designs.

We went on a city tour that entire day seeing many meuseums like the napier museum and raja ravi verma meuseum (a must see). All these meuseums and the zoo are in the same area. The former houses many sculptures of previous centuries along with a wooden carved replica of the Guruvayoor temple while the latter has not only paintings of Raja Ravi Verma but also of some other artists mainly Raja Raja Verma (He was Ravi Vermas uncle and tutor as well). I have very high regards for this painter. His paintings capture the mood of the person as well as the innocence. They speak for themselves. The colours are so natural and the highlight is that ornaments actually shine as if its true gold....all created in colour. Check this link for some
of his work. http://indulekha.com/colours/2006/01/ravivarma-painter-prince.html

Some fo Ravi Vermas paintings (copies of original) of Lakshmi and Saraswati are actually used by many in the puja ghar. We had one as well. Check this link.
http://www.astrojyoti.com/ravivarma.htm

We also went to Velli village. After a long hot day, the kids were relaxed to be at this place. I still remember the sense of relief on their faces when we reached this place. They got to move around amongst variety of trees (and hence shade). There was a big flock of ducks and the kids were having a nice time feeding them and running after them. This place is quite picturesque.

Nov 14 - Tour of Kanyakumari. It was a long drive to Kanyakumari. This tour to Kanyakumari is arranged by a travel desk at Chaitram so please use their services (at least these people speak a bit of English). We used to be always late for breakfast and lunch. We were on a leisure trip and we didn't want to hurry to any place. Also with the kids around, you have to ensure that they get their sleep etc because however fun we (the adults) may have travelling, the kids are actually not in a position to acknowledge the nature especially in the hot and sultry weather and when the drive is long. So when in Kerala, here is one rule you must follow. Always be on
time for breakfast and lunch because after that time you dont get food at all. The answer is a big no.

The Kanyakumari Vivekananda memorial is at a very short distance from the shore. So the boat ride is not a long one. Its an interesting place. The sea looks wonderful although it is difficult to see the "V" shaped end of India due to construction. People had made me imagine a proper view of tip of India (not an aerial view) but sadly its bad than as shown in the picture.

On our way back from Kanyakumari we visited the Kovalam beach. It was getting dark but this is one place my kiddo enjoyed. She was afraid to get into the water on her own initially. The sand moving below the feet used to scare her. BTW, when in Kerala you expect to get abundant coconuts at a cheap rate but never forget you are a tourist and you have to pay Rs 13 for it while the locals say the cost is 5. We had understood this fact so it stopped bothering us that we were being cheated. Anywhere in Kerala you see so many Maharashtrian tourists (thanks to Kesari tours and travels).

Nov 15 - At this point our group broke off in two. Mahesh, Priya and kid headed off to Alleppy for a back water ride while Nikhil, Prachi, Ishita and myself headed off to Periyar. Ishita is a delicate kid and we took precautions that the travel does not become hectic for her. The road to Periyar is beautiful. Our driver took a shortcut and thanks to him we were able to see some very beautiful Kerala landscapes. We saw a lot of rubber plantations on the way. I must admit.

Kerala is rich in natural resources. First and foremost, they have plenty of water a boon they may not be even aware of. If you see the interiors of Maharashtra... towards the Solapur side the land is absolutely barren. Even the Vidarbha side, Akola etc they face extreme water problems especially in summer. Kerala is blessed. I wonder how they still have so many people in the lower income group inspite of good agricultural land. Coconuts, cashews, jackfruits, rice, rubber and tea plantations is what I know Kerala has in abundance. A natural port and therefore a flourishing trade centre coupled with 100% literacy rate should ideally make it the number 1 state. Where is the problem?

The drive is really very scenic. On the way we stopped at konni - an elephant park. We fed "gud balls" to the elephant. Elephant rides are arranged. Ishita thoroughly enjoyed being here. As we moved ahead of Konni, the weather started changing gradually as we climbed our way towards Periyar. The sultriness was gone and the air had a chill in it. It was at this moment that I knew I was going to enjoy Kerala.

We stayed at Periyar House, a KTDC hotel. This is inside the sanctuary and hence you have to reach this place before 6pm before the sanctuary doors close. Well this rule is just on paper and is broken for all the Kesari tours buses which I saw entering the sanctuary premises even at half past 8. Every time you enter the sanctuary, you need to pay a nominal fee per person. The hotel is good. Good food and nice place to stay. The jungle is thick and I mean it. The jungle is home to around 40+ tigers. We are not allowed to leave the hotel premises once it is dark. There are 3 hotels inside the sanctuary. The place is abundant with monkeys and we had to ensure that our room doors and windows are closed. The monkeys try to be your guests all the time whisking away anything they can lay their hands on. Some people have lost their cameras.

We had booked our entire tour from Omni travels. We had booked for a different hotel in Periyar ie Hotel Jungle Lodge but last minute the hotel guys cancelled the booking and we were left in a lurch. With much difficulty we had got the new hotel.

BTW, we later heard that Mahesh and family nearly escaped a major accident. Their driver dozed off while driving and crossed over to the wrong side of the traffic. Mahesh's alertness saved the family and the driver from a major accident.

Nov 16 - We got up early in the morning and went for a boat ride. We hoped to see animals coming for a drink. It was a very cold and foggy morning. We had taken the tickets from the hotel desk for the boat ride. When we reached the place, we were told that we need to pay extra for the ticket, God knows for what. We had to pay Rs 50 for a still camera and Rs1000 for the handycam. We dropped the idea of taking the handycam. The boat ride is good. We got to see only a family of deer but a good variety of birds. You get to see animals at the lake or river during times when the forest dries up in summer. You get to spot many animals at this time but we were not so lucky. In winters, it is rare to spot them. It was nearly a hour long ride. Once
we were off the boat, a scary incident happened. On our way back, my niece Ishita pulled out some chocolates from her pocket and a monkey leaped on us. Ishita was walking by my side and my first instinct was to pull her away to safety. The monkey was ready again. A woman yelled out telling me to throw away the packet. That strategy worked but poor Ishita started crying because she lost all her chocolates in one go.

The rest of the day was at leisure. I had a book for company. Till date Periyar remains Ishitas favourite place. The hotel had swings and slides and a see saw. She liked it so much that she refused to go anywhere else. While in Periyar, you have a number of options like trekking, night safari, jeep safari, elephant ride but frankly none of them costs below 1000 bucks per person. All are upwardly priced from Rs1000. The elephant ride is "not" via the jungle.

Nov 17 - Mahesh and family joined us in Periyar. We were fresh after a nice rest while they were a bit tired after a long journey. We went sight seeing and shopping. Funny incident again. We wanted to buy spices and so we entered a shop. While the purchases were being made, we realised that a couple of women in the shop were busy cutting branded packets of spices and putting it in plain polythene bags and they were selling it to us as their own local produce. The women shamelessly continued doing it even after they realised that we had seen them. Anyway. You can shop for cute Tshirts, spices, tea, handicrafts like wooden boats, coir items, copies
of ravi Verma paintings, kathakali masks. You can watch kathakali show but since it was in the evening we could not go there (remember the 6 pm deadline). Well we heard the Kesari crowd did watch it :) YOu can go for Kerala ayurvedic massage but it costs you around 1000 bucks.

Nov 18 - A day to say good bye to Periyar and we were off to Munnar. Before we left Periyar we took a stop at Eden spice garden. Please do not miss it. This is a privately owned place where they grow many medicinal and rare plants and herbs. This is where we got to see elaichi on a tree, coffee pods, bonsai pineapple (decorative plant), a real pineapple plant, other spices, natural aneasthesia leaves and many many more. A must see. We bought some oils for hair growth and pure branhmi oil which is good for memory and concentration. I also put my hand in oil which was being heated but wow it didn't burn.

As we move towards Munnar, the weather gets more colder. There is a stretch of road wich is in extremely bad condition. The entire route is green hills with tea plantations all around. There is also a beautiful waterfall on the way. I just loved the scenary. The kids were yelling "Tata Tea" (thanks to TV commercials). We were put up at Westwood Riverside garden resort. As the name suggests, this resort is by the riverside and the scene is wow :) They have breakfast and dinner arranged by the riverside. Another thing you get to see is a huge variety of flowers.

Munnar was cold (as cold as 2 degrees). Ensure that you have proper winter clothes when you go to Munnar.

Nov 19 - There are a lot of places in and around Munnar. Today we went to Medupatty dam. The place is beautiful. You get ample opportunities to shop wherever you go. Its mostly wooded articles - trays, elephants, accupressure stuff etc. We went to a place called echo point. This point is by the river side and sorry to say but you cannot hear the echo. There is a nice shop where you get a variety of caps. Dont miss it. I was busy in the entire trip clicking snaps.

Munnar is a photographers delight. For the first time I tried clicking using the panoroma setting in my camera. Unfortunately even after so many months I have not found the time (or say I have not found the inspiration to stitch those photos together.)

Next stop was top station......the highlight of the trip. This place is on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu and falss onthe other side of the border in Tamil Nadu. Initially we were wondering where we were going into nowhere. Thank God we persisted. YOu have to visit this place. Top station is private property it seems. There is a small ticket to enter in here. Basically this is a point from where you get ot see the view of the valley. You can trek downwards and the view is simply breathtaking. Every person who was returning was panting for breath after a long walk but all they had to say was pls go ahead, its worth it. The hills are alive with the sound of music... :) should describe it all.

Nov 20 - We got up early to the noisiness of the hotel residents. People who are travelling with the tour operators are always in a hurry. Their schedules are so time bound that at 5:30 in the morning the yelling on top of their voices start. First for hot water and then for people who are not ready. Once the lids are bathed and ready they all start running up and down the stairs and however you may want to have a good sleep, you are forbidden. Finally I got up and had a word with my neighbours but frankly that doesnt help. You have lost your sleep. The day started with many people from my group having an upset stomach. It looked like the day would be a waste with everyone staying indoors. I was restless. Relaxing is not my idea of a holiday. Once day in the trip for relaxing works for me but not more than a day. When on a trip,
I wish to make maximum use of every minute trying to explore new places, trek, participate in any sports activities if possible and shop. After breakfast, we just went on walk upto the Ramaswamy Iyer head works. I think there is a power station in there and we saw a very small dam nearby (I'd call it a bund rather than a dam).

By afternoon, NIkhil was feeling much better and he agreed to go along with me and I really need to thank him for that. I would have missed what we saw today. We went to the tea museum. The museum is not limited to being a miniature tea factory. It has many photographs of the pre-independance era. Each photograph is also associated with the history of that area, the start of the tea factories, the role of Tata industries, their estates in and around Munnar, the floods in Munnar and the current estate owners. The museum also has some equipment from that era like typewriters, telephone systems, engines alongwith some furniture, gramophone etc which belonged to the estate. The miniature tea factory visit consists of a guided tour followed by the demo of how exactly tea is powder is prepared from the tea leaves and the different varieties of tea powders that can be made from the same tea leaves. Very informative.

Next we went to the Rajamala eravikulum national park. This park is most famous for mountain goats. This is an endangered species and these goats are also called the nilgiri goats. The place is quite some distance away from Munnar. Again heavy fees for video shooting so the handycam was left behind everywhere. The sanctuary buses take you to a certain point and from there on you can wander around on your own upto a certain point. The sanctuary is also supposed to house many wild animals but it is still famous for the goats. We roamed around a bit but were unable to spot any animal. I was clicking some photos when I spotted these goats via my camera lens. These goats are well camouflaged with the rocks on the mountains and hence have a
black/brownish shade. These goats mostly walk on the rocky part (which was amazingly steep) and not through the grass and trees. The goats had a drink by the nearby waterfall and went back the steep slope with much ease. End of a succesful day.

Nov 21 - Time to say good bye to Munnar. I wish Munnar had air connectivity. It feels bad to go away from the cold weather back into the sultriness of the main Kerala land. Leaving Munnar felt like the start of a journey back.

Our next destination was Guruvayoor. The road to it was via Thrissur. On the way some where (i forget) we saw Shankaracharya peeth. Thrissur is a nice place. I loved watching the huge bungalows on the way. We reached Guruvayoor on Ekadasi day. Thank God our trip was pre planned and prepaid or else it would have been difficult for us to get a place to stay. Guruvayoor temple is supposed to be the second most rich temple in India after Tirupati. We were lucky to get to see the palkhi.

Another incident at the hotel. We were about to check out. We paid for whatever we had ordered at the counter when suddenly the women tells us to pay our hotel bill. We were shocked. Our trip was totally pre-paid and we had not overstayed anywhere. The hotel staff informed that after we did the booking the prices had gone up and we have to pay. We too were adamant that they cannot do such a thing. Speaking with the hotel manager was not allowed. We actually decided to walk away without paying heed to their nonsense but we ended up being picketed. Finally after an hour of arguments we were finally able to get in touch with the person who had done the bookings and only after he clarified in malyalam they let us go. Of course since we did not pay since we were not supposed to. This incident plus some earlier incidents really left some bad taste and all our enjoyment was sort off clouded.

Nov 22 2008- we went to cochin our last destination. We were put up at hotel sea lord which is a fantastic hotel. Shopping was the only thing on our itenary. The guys went off for a boat ride while the women folk went saree shopping. We took a train back and it was the end of a splendid vacation. Kerala is really nice for its scenic beauty but I would suggest people to go with the tour operators. The place needs to be more tourist friendly and more professional in their approach if it has to make tourism a big industry as it is showcased. Gods own country can be a paradise if these small things are taken care off.

Thanks for a patient reading. I know my blogs are quite lengthy but then its a travelogue and I want to capture all the information and experiences in it and I would love inputs from anyone who can tell me how to keep the content and still make this short. I will post the pics soon.