Kerala: God's Own Country!!


After many failed attempts and planning, finally the Kerala trip was happening. The joy was visible on my face and every person known to me personally, knew about my excitement. Tickets were booked three months in advance and during these months, due to various reasons, this trip also almost was on verge of getting cancelled, but thank God it didn't. Finally the week arrived and I had all the reasons to cherish and tease others who already had enough with my bragging about what all I am going to do on my trip (for which I am sorry, or not?)


So the day arrived and we had to catch up our early morning 9:30 am flight (yes, that's early for me). The first thing I kept was my camera that was of utmost importance and then I arranged my luggage in order as we waited for our cab to the airport. Yes, we were running late and as cab arrived, driver was kind enough to load all the stuff in the cab and we started our journey.

Mid-way to the airport conversation:

Me: Oh crap, where is my camera?
Wife: I told you to get up early but you had to attend office party last night which was more important to you.
Me: Why are you bringing up my office party into this?
Wife: Because I want to...
Me: (hoping my wife would have kept camera and now teasing me) Are you sure you didn't keep the camera?
Wife: No, I have not.
Me: *Calling Mom* is my camera in the living room?
Mom: yes, it is (and my heart sunk)
Me: *Long Silence* I forgot to pick it up!!*Phone disconnected*

My wife and I, both tried to console each other that technology has advanced so much and phone cameras are not that bad either as we almost reached IGI Domestic Airport, Delhi.  The check-in and security check was smooth and I don't remember much of it as I was almost lost and still mourning over my camera and cursing myself. We boarded the plane and my wife took out her phone and clicked our super cool selfies and pictures were actually quite cool and I started feeling little better. My son meanwhile kept staring out of the plane window and kept asking questions which had not so much logic and I kept answering with not much logic either.

Soon we took off and I will fast forward the flight part… we landed Chatrapati Shivaji Airport, Mumbai where we had to catch a connecting flight to Kochi. While waiting, we had lunch, tea and we started to cherish our memories from our last trip while munching snacks. We were so engrossed in the past that we almost forgot that we had a connecting flight to catch and we rushed towards the entry gate.

At 3:30 pm, we landed Kochi and the cab to our hotel in Kochi was waiting outside the airport. We wanted to spend a night in Kochi as we had to leave for Munnar early morning. So the hotel we chose was nearby airport and within few minutes, we were inside our hotel's room.

We were so tired that we all crashed on the bed immediately. In the evening, we explored local area, went to a church, tried Kerala cuisine in local restaurant, all nearby our hotel. After dinner, we returned to our room and watched some TV and slept early as we had to wake up early next morning. I hired a self driven car from Kochi for our entire journey.

At 8 am, our room's intercom rang and call was from reception that the car is here. I checked out the car and necessary documents along with testing of the car. Glad I chose an automatic car which was smooth and easy to maneuver. After breakfast, we checked out from our Kochi hotel and I turned on the Google maps as we started our drive to Munnar, 107 kms journey at 10 am.

The drive was scenic and roads were great which made the journey even more beautiful. On the way to Munnar you will see many waterfalls. One such was cheeyappara waterfalls which looked bit touristy. We stopped there for a while and clicked pictures and soon we were back on the road.

Munnar Tea Gardens
Munnar
At 2 pm, we reached Munnar and were astonished by the beautiful tea plantations. On the way also you will find many spice plantations which offer you visits and elephant rides. The weather in Munnar is unpredictable and it usually rains. When we reached, it was sunny and hot and in no time it started to rain.

We checked in to our Munnar hotel which was 10 kms away from the town centre and was located at a calm hill point. My son was not feeling well due to the driving in hilly terrains so we decided to relax in our hotel and took a nap. In the evening the receptionist told us that there is a river stream 5 minutes walk away and has a beautiful view. It was raining, so we carried umbrellas provided by the hotel and went near towards the river stream. It looked so calm despite raining and greenery all around. We even heard a bird singing which was kind of a unique experience for us. It started to get dark so we returned to our hotel. Next morning we had to go to Thekkady, but at dinner, my wife realized that my son has fever. Maybe too much traveling was not a good idea, I thought. So we cancelled Thekkady and Alleppey which was planned for the next to next day and straightaway booked Varkala hotel for two more nights. Night we gave him medicine which we were carrying along.

Morning, as woke up, he seemed fine and was active as well. After breakfast, we left our Munnar hotel to reach Varkala, 250 kms. Google maps showed three different routes, but we chose a slightly long one which was along the coastal line of Kerala. While my wife kept trying to make my son fell asleep and continued to fail, I concentrated on the drive and map instructions. We stopped for lunch quickly and were back on the road as I wanted to reach Varkala before sunset. The route was indeed beautiful in stretches as we could see beautiful view of Arabian Sea as we drove.

The Drive
At 6pm, we reached Varkala and we were so happy to see the beach and beautiful resort. We checked in and freshen up and soon we were outside sitting in the resort garden, hearing the waves crashing on the rocks. Varkala is the only stretch in the Arabian Sea coastline where you can see the ocean from a cliff. Famous for its beautiful sea view from cliff, Varkala is indeed no less than heaven. We had calm candle light dinner under the stars and hearing waves and that made us sleepy.



Next morning, we all woke up fresh and were ready to go to the Black beach. We had our breakfast while we looked at fishermen not too far away getting their daily catch. After breakfast, we literally had a sunscreen bath to avoid getting sunburns which we experienced in Goa (I still remember how painful they were). After indecent amount of sunscreen on us, we jumped into the waters and played as much as we could. We returned back to our hotel for a quick nap and in the evening we went to Varkala beach.

Varkala
Varkala Beach


My son was filled with joy as he loves the beach and it is literally impossible for us to drag him back. We were in Varkala for four days during which we explored Varkala beach, Varkala cliff and our most favorite, black beach which was in proximity to our hotel where we also spotted dolphins.

Intense Yoga at the Beach

Last day at Varkala, resort was kind enough to allow us for later check out. At 2 pm we left our resort to reach Trivandrum airport (50kms) where we had to catch our flight and also drop off the car. On the way we stopped for lunch and I bought Banana chips and other munchies for family and friends.


The route was nice and we drove along the coastal line while cherishing all our memories we made in Kerala. Though we cancelled Thekkady and Allepey due to our son's health, but these places will bring us back one day, one fine day maybe.

At airport we dropped off the car and headed towards the security check to catch our flight back home to Delhi via Chennai.

7 comments:

  1. Pictures has come so beautiful..you certainly have the art to click nice :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! and all are mobile clicks since I forgot my DSLR at home :D

      Delete
  2. Beautiful pics & wonderfully written your experience.

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