It's not always possible every year to take a long leave and go on vacation, no matter how much you long for it. However, at times it feels difficult not to quench the travel thirst. So, when we could manage a few days off work, we decided to get started. And our destination for the trip was going to be the place often dubbed for its beauty as God's Own Country - Kerala.
As its nickname already suggests, Kerala undoubtedly is a traveler's paradise. The state boasts of lush green forests, scintillating beaches, and mysterious mountains. And if you're a wildlife enthusiast, Kerala has so much in store for you. We decided to travel to Kerala in monsoon - a decision we first thought might not work for us, but now we are glad that we witnessed the beauty of Kerala in monsoon.
If you're looking for Kerala tour packages, you'll surely get many of them. However, not all of them are going to be great. Besides, these tour packages are usually high priced. So, we decided to plan our own Kerala trip.
When we had to plan our Kerala trip from Kolkata with only a few days at our disposal, we had to choose a few destinations. And that's not an easy task. Omitting some of the places from our list was difficult, as almost all tourist destinations in Kerala are enchanting. However, we had to finally zero in on a few places.
So, what could we include as the best places in Kerala?
We knew Kerala has lush green forests, mountains carpeted with tea plantations, and serene sea beaches. And we wanted to visit all of them. So, we decided that we would touch upon Thiruvananthapuram or Trivandrum, halting there just for a night, and then travel to Alappuzha or Alleppey, Thekkady, and Munnar.
Traveling by air from Kolkata, we had to change the flight at Bengaluru. By the time we descended at the Trivandrum International Airport, the sun had set for the day. The weather was pleasant. We came out of the airport and boarded the car we had reserved for the whole trip. Yes, this was supposed to be a Kerala trip by car. It took us to the hotel we had booked for Trivandrum - Hotel Venkateswara. We had our dinner at a nearby restaurant to taste the local cuisine - the Kerala dosa with omelet. After returning to the hotel, we retired for the day.
Let's Start Our Kerala Road Trip
The next morning, we had our breakfast of idli and sambar at the hotel and by 8:30, we were all set for our Kerala road trip. The day's itinerary included the road trip from Trivandrum to Alleppey. And on the way, we decided to visit some of the tourist places in Thiruvananthapuram.Some of the tourist places we visited in Trivandrum included:
- Kovalam Beach
- Vizhinjam Lighthouse
- Hawa Beach
- Poovar Island
- Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple
- Shanghumukham Beach
- Varkala Beach
The Kovalam Beach was beautiful with its enigmatic red and white striped lighthouse. However, we could not spend any time on the beach, as it was closed due to rough monsoon weather.
We also enjoyed a boat ride to Poovar Island through the beautiful Mangrove Forests of Kerala. The Poovar is a beautiful beach, which appears during low tide and becomes submerged during high tide. People who set up shops there carry their belongings away during high tide and comes back when the golden beach reappears.
We also came across the Cross Rock and Elephant Rock during our boat ride. After completing our trip, we started our journey toward Alappuzha or Alleppey, the city of backwaters of Kerala.
Alleppey - the Town of Backwaters of Kerala
Kerala is popular for many things. One of them is surely is the backwaters of Kerala, which attract innumerable tourists to this state every year. And Alleppey or Alappuzha is known for the wonderful backwater boat trips it offers.
There are quite a few accommodation options in Alleppey. You can stay in a hotel or also in houseboats, which are, of course, more expensive. We stayed in Hotel Padipura Residency, located a few blocks away from the ferry stop.
After reaching Alleppey in the afternoon, we spent time in the hotel. During the evening, we went out and tasted some of the most popular dishes of Kerala. These included dosa and beef fry. Next morning, we went to the ferry stop and booked a small boat or a shikara to go on a trip of the Kerala backwaters.
It took us a little more than an hour to go navigate through the backwaters of Alleppey, Kerala. The scenery on the banks changed as we moved from the dense populated areas to places where only a few people lived. There were small islands here and there. Besides, we also saw a few people canoeing their ways from one place to another through the backwaters. We visited Kuttanad Backwaters and stopped by the Pathiramanal Island. We also had a look at the Alleppey Lighthouse before returning. Soon after, we started for our next destination on the trip - Kumily.
Kumily - the Land of Forests
Before visiting Kerala, I had done most of my research about popular tourist places, such as Trivandrum, Alleppey, and Munnar. Kumily was supposed to be just a stopover during the trip from where we could visit the Periyar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary. However, Kumily surprised us with its beauty.
We had our stay booked at Hotel Woodlands Prime Castle, a beautiful hotel on the Kumily Thekkady Road. The rooms were cozy and the balcony in front offered an amazing view. We could see the green hills close by and the deep forests at some distance.
Just opposite to Hotel Woodlands Prime Castle was Kadathanadan Kalari & Navarasa Kathakali Thekkady (Periyar). We went there in the evening and bought a couple of tickets for the day's show.
The first of the evening was an outstanding show of Kathakali, the Indian classical dance form from Kerala. And after that, we experienced an amazing display of Kerala's martial art, Kalaripayattu.
After spending the night in the hotel, we went to the Periyar Tiger Reserve and the Periyar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary early next morning. We took a jeep safari and came across a few birds and animals.
Then came an hour-long boat ride along the Periyar Lake. It was an exciting one, as we could see herds of Indian Gaurs and elephants on the banks of the river.
Moving Forward to Munnar
We stayed back in Kumily for the night and started early next morning for Munnar, an enchanting hill station in Kerala. We had our stay booked at The Regency Hotel. It took us about three hours to reach Munnar from Kumily. We took some rest in the hotel and went out on a walk around Munnar.
Munnar, the town of tea gardens in Kerala, mesmerized us with it beauty and greenery. The slopes are covered with carpets of green tea plants. The black asphalt road meanders through the tea gardens to go in and out of the town. We spent some time on the roads and did a bit of shopping from the market before returning to the hotel.
The next morning, we started on our trip to visit some of the major tourist attractions of Munnar. These included:
- The tea estates of Munnar
- The Tea Museum
- Mattupetty Dam
- Kundala Lake
- Blossom Park
It was full monsoon and we halted at a couple of places to enjoy the rain. The splashes of heavy showers on the green tea garden slopes of Munnar created ethereal scenes.
The Journey Back Home
Our trip to Kerala ended with Munnar. Many other beautiful places in Kerala remained untouched. We promised to ourselves to be back. Our flight tickets were booked from Bengaluru to Kolkata. So, we boarded the night bus from Munnar to Bangalore and bade good bye to the God's Own Country.
