As usual, this summer too, we planned
for a vacation, but this time to cover some parts of Kerala. The plan was to
enter Kerala from North, travel down and touch the South most tip of India. The
journey was executed as per the plan. The day wise experience in brief, is shared
below.
Day-1:
Bangalore-Coimbatore-Thrissur-Guruvayur (570
Kms)
We started early in the morning from
home around 5:30 and headed to Coimbatore after the breakfast in Krishnagiri
&. As our journey is via Coimbatore, we thought to visit the Isha Adi Yogi
statue. As we had earlier visited the adjacent Isha Centre, we skipped that.
One more spot there was the Velliangiri hill trek that is pending for a long
time, which will be targeted very soon.
After having lunch on the way, we visited
the Thrissur Sakthan Thampuran Palace which is now a Museum. After spending some time in the
adjacent garden we headed to our final destination of the day.
We reached Guruvayur late evening as
there was some traffic on the highway & had to take some alternate route –
thanks to Google Maps.
Day-2:
Guruvayur- Thrissur-Athirapally –Kochi (170 Kms)
We got ready in traditional attire to
visit the Guruvayur temple. There was a huge crowd and we managed to finish the
darshan and come out within 3hours. The next target for the day was Vadakkunnathan
Shiva Temple in Trissur. We checked out of the hotel & started to Thrissur
around 9 am, again in traffic. As it was not at all crowded, we finished the
darshan very fast & headed for some breakfast.
The next destination was Kochi with a
detour to Athirapally Falls. We reached the falls in no time and trekked down to
the Falls view. The water floa/level was very low. Took some snaps & came
up to have our lunch. After lunch we visited the Thumboormuzhi Hanging Bridge on
the way back. After spending some time there, headed to Kochi for night stay.
Day-3:
Kochi
After breakfast, we headed to Vaikom in
a cab to start our backwater boating by 9 am. It was a half-a-day trip which
goes through the backwater & some villages. It was a nice 3-4 hours
experience that ended with a traditional Kerala lunch. We were dropped to the
hotel by 2 pm.
After some rest, we headed to the Mattancherry
Dutch Palace, visted the nearby Jewish Synagogue & surrounding palace. The
next thing to see was the Chinese Fishing Nets. After a visit to one of our
friend’s house, we retired back to the hotel that night.
Day-4:
Kochi-Alleppey (70 Kms)
We headed to Alleppey after breakfast
for our first House-boat experience. As the check-in time was 11 , we decided
to take a look at the Alleppey beach on the way.
We checked-in around 11:30 at the base
and were taken to the House-boat by 12. For a change, from 12 till 6 we were
travelling in water. In between, there was a small village visit too.
In the evening, the house-boats halted near
a small village. We took a small walk around the village too. All meals were
served in the house-boat.
Day-5:
Alleppey-Jatayu Statue-Trivandrum (150 Kms)
After a good night’s sleep, we woke up
to see the still water with the reflections of the surroundings. Around 8, the water journey started again and
we reached the base around 9. The house-boat was a different experience.
As our Kochi friend suggested, we headed
to see the Jatayu (of Ramayana) Statue in on the way to Trivandrum. The statue is
located at the peak of a hill and there is a cable car service to reach the
top. Here, Jatayu stares into the sky with an open beak and chopped off wing.
In his eyes, one can see the sparkle of brave warrior who fought tooth and nail
to preserve Sita's reputation. The inscription reads “Jatayu…, Dedicated to
Women’s Safety & Honour”.
Post lunch on the way, we checked-in the
hotel in the evening & headed to Veli Beach in Trivandrum. We spent a lot
of time playing in the beach & headed back to hotel at night.
Day-6:
Trivandrum
Again, time for the traditional attire
to visit the Padmanabhaswamy Temple. This time we planned & reached the
temple by 6 am. The view of the temple from the temple pond was awesome. As there was little crowd, we finished the
darshan in no time and headed to Attukal Bhagavathy Temple. The temple visits
was quick and we were back to the hotel by 8 am.
As we visited many temples, my daughter
now wanted to visit the zoo. The Trivandrum Zoo was good with lot of animals,
birds & reptiles. She enjoyed taking pictures of the animals. We also
visited the adjacent Napier Museum.
After lunch, the destination was Shankumugham
Beach, where we spent the rest of the evening before going to the hotel.
Day-7:
Trivandrum-Kovalam-Kanya Kumari (120 Kms)
Journey to the trip’s last destination
begins. A visit to Kanyakumari was long time pending one for us. On the way we
visited Kovalam Beach & played in the beach for a couple of hours. We
reached Kanyakumari in the afternoon. After some rest in the hotel, we headed
to take a walk on the Kanya Kumari Pier into the sea.
Later, my daughter was
happy to see the Tri-Sea Sangamam & the Southern Tip of India as I showed
her our present position in the Google Maps.
The night view of the Vivekananda Rock
Memorial & Thiruvalluvar Statue was also awesome.
Day-8:
Kanyakumari
The Sunrise on that morning was not as
great, as it was cloudy. We walked around the beach & come back to our
hotel disappointed.
The last day’s visit started with Vivekananda
Rock Memorial. There was a huge rush/queue for the ferry/boat, more than that
of in any of the temples we visited. Finally we reached there & the view
from there was nice.
Later we visited the Kanyakumari Temple just before
closing time. After lunch, we visited the Vattakottai Fort
nearby.
In the evening, it was my daughter’s
choice again, to visit the Wax Museum & 3D Art Gallery. Somehow she liked
it even though it had limited items.
The day there ended with some shopping
from the local market for her.
Day-9:
Kanyakumari-Bangalore (660 Kms)
After a good night’s sleep, we started
late in the morning after a tea nearby. The first 20-30 kms had a lot of wind
mills surrounded with mountains which was an awesome sight to see. We would
have missed that if we would have left early in the morning.
The rest of the journey had only 3
things: drive, drive & only drive. The roads were too good & empty that
it took only 9Hrs to reach home in spite of having 4-5 breaks. Finally we were
at home before dark & rains.
Bottom
Line: My wife enjoyed the temples, my
daughter enjoyed the beaches and I, as usual enjoyed the drive. 😜
Total Distance Travelled : ~1900 Kms
All images captured on Nikon D5600 & iPhone.
