Goa

Day 14:

From Udupi we took the morning train to Goa. The train was supposed to come at 7:30 am at Udupi. As with any train journeys in India, it came late. It takes around 4 hrs to travel from Udupi to Madgaon (the central railway station in Goa). It was Gela’s first journey in a local train in India. It is quite slow and stops n number of stops on the way. But in India if one wants to know the pulse of India then the train journey is a must do activity. It is a unique experience, and I hope she enjoyed it.

 

Goa in west coast of India is a former Portuguese colony and therefore has a mix of Indian and Portuguese cultures in food and in architecture. The state is famous for its beaches and in the 60’s the hippie culture put it into the international limelight. Now the state gets visitors not only from the foreign tourists but also from the Indian tourists. It is also one of the most peaceful states in India.

We reached around 1 pm at Goa, and took the taxi to our hotel in the Bagga beach in Calangute. We had our reservation at the Little India Beach Resort, which was not so easy to find. But both of us found out choice of accommodation perfect in every sense. The resort was small in size with less than 10 cottages in total, but only few meters from the beach. On the beach front it was walkable distance from the main shacks and restaurants. So in a way away from the party sites but also close to the beach. Being in an offseason, majority of the accommodations and the restaurants are closed in Goa at this part of the year. The peak season in Goa is from mid-November to mid-February, which is almost the same south India.  So the only ones that are open are at popular beaches like Calangute or in Vagator.  So we were extremely lucky that we found this place.

 

We planned to stay for 5 nights there. Whenever I go for long holidays I make sure that the last 3-5 days I stay at one place doing nothing. It always helped me to relax and recharge myself both mentally and physically. So being at this place with Gela was perfect in all sense.  I loved it.

Other than the beaches the capital city of Goa, Panjim/Panaji, is famous for is churches which has kept the old-world charm all these years, especially the Bom Jesus Basilica, where the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier is kept. We didn’t feel like roaming around and we relaxed at the beaches the whole time. During our stay I ate mostly local Goan food (especially fish) at restaurants, which I liked very much.  The rest of the time we didn’t do much there other than just lazing around in the room, hitting the waters and the restaurants once in a while. It was beautiful times. We also got lucky with the rains as the monsoon didn’t reach Goa in full strength yet.

Day 18: Kochi

On the fifth day morning we flew back to Kochi from the Dabolim airport in Vasco da Gama, the Goa’s only airport. It took almost an hour to reach there. But the roads in Goa are well maintained and the less traffic when compared to other parts of India.

We booked in a hotel close to the Kochi International airport, which is about 15 mins from the hotel (Airlink Castle). The hotel was really good, but there is nothing around the hotel to see. Its mainly for the tourists coming and going from the International airport. We just relaxed and enjoyed the food in the restaurant. Gela flew back on the next day morning. And I took the train back home.

Altogether it was a good trip, with a mix of culture, landscape, wildlife and the beaches. We managed to stay ahead of the monsoon majority of the time. Being a peak summer season the climate was extreme only in Madurai, where we escaped the heat because of the air-conditioned rooms.

 

Udupi

Day 13:

We reached Udupi in early morning and we went directly to our hotel Kediyoor near to the bus stand. There was some confusion with out hotel booking through Goibibo. Though the booking wa confirmed when we booked the room, the hotel was not aware of it. And Goibibo changed the booking to another hotel without informing us. They said they tried to reach us by phone. So we sat there in the hotel lobby, tired after the trip, wondering what to do next. The hotel offered a triple room for the same price and I informed Goibibo to cancel my booking free of cost, which they agreed. A small hiccup I guess, though I was pretty much irritated at that time.

Udupi in the coastal town of Karnataka is famous for the Krishna temple and also famous in south India for the chain of vegetarian Udupi restaurants. The Sree Kirshna temple and the temple mutt or monastery  is around 1500 years old was established by Madhvacharya in the 13th Century. There is a beautiful temple pond on the sides of the temple. The statue of the temple faces west, away from the devotees. The story behind it is that when one of the lower caste devotee was denied entry to the temple, he started worshiping from a smll window outside it. Lord Krishna was so pleased by his devotion that he turned around to face the window. The window is now known as Kanakadasa's window and there is huge Gopura (or tower) built over this window.

Sree Krishna temple

After breakfast, we went to the temple. It was not crowded and we could move freely inside the temple without problems. Foreigners were allowed inside, which was nice as Gela could also come inside and look around in one of the oldest temples in south India, and also built typical south Indian temple architecture. She was also interested in visiting dance schools or watching some traditional dance performance. But as it was not the festival season, the local dance school was closed. We just walked around, visiting the local handicraft shops.

We cancelled our plan to visit the Murudeshwar temple as the train connections to go there and back was bad. The buses will take more time than the trains. And after a long overnight trip I was not in a mood for any more bus journey.

Mysore

Day 11:

 Once back in the camp, we had our late breakfast and had a rest till afternoon.  We caught a taxi to Mysore. On the way we saw a huge python crossing the road. The taxi ride to Mysore was not really comfortable as I felt the driver was falling asleep on the road. I had to shout at him occasionally to keep him concentrated.  Moron!

We had our booking at the Parklane Hotel, just walking distance from the city center. The hotel and its restaurant has a unique interior design. But it was nice. We had our lunch, and had a rest till evening. Mysore is the second biggest city in the state of Karnataka. It was the capital city of the erstwhile Wodeyar dynasty. I liked the city as it was very clean, and looked like a well organised city. What we didn’t know was that it was the coronation day of the young king of Mysore on that day and the palace, officially called Amba Vilas palace, was closed to the public. There were a lot of dignitaries around, which we didn’t really notice. The palace is the official residence and seat of the

Wodeyars —the former royal family of Mysore, who ruled the princely state of Mysore from 1350 to 1950. I was there once with my parents, when I was a kid. But I still remembered the beautiful and gigantic rooms inside the palace. We had plans to visit it only tomorrow. So we just strolled around the outside and also made a visit to the local market (Devaraja market). Gela was keen to visit the market where the locals shop for daily fruit and vegetables as well as the rows and rows of flowers and various spices and had a really vibrant atmosphere. On the way back we bought some Indian sweets.

 

Day 12:

 

The plan for today is to explore the city. Not really exploring as I am not a fan of crowds. But the first point on our list was the Amba Vilas palace. The palace with its huge garden around is situated at the centre of Mysore city facing the Chamundi hills.  The palace with its three storeyed structure and marble domes is one of the most famous palaces in India with more than a million visitors a year. It is not an old palace with the construction completed in the early 1900’s. There was another palace in its place which was burned down and the new one was built as a replacement. It is really beautiful to look at from outside and also from inside and the royal family still lives there in one of the extensions of the palace. It is usually completely illuminated in the evenings.

 

Amba Vilas Palace

We walked down to there in the morning itself. The crowd was already building up. The interior of the Palace is with its spacious halls and woodwork is breath taking. The walls are adorned with paintings, ivory and wooden sculptures, opulent halls with chandeliers, mosaic floors and gilded columns. The room included the chamber in which the king sat with the ministers, durbar hall where he gave audience to the people, marriage halls and museums where the armory and other items in display.

 

Old market

We came out and while walking round we met a rickshaw guy who offered us to show the old market, place where the special perfumes were made and carpentary works.  He was a nice chap. He took us first to the old market where the people still comes to buy the vegetables, meat and other items. Then we were taken to a place where traditional and beautiful wood works are still produced by the carpenters. The furnitures with intricate carvings and designs produced by them are extraordinary. But from their looks and the working conditions I wonder how much they earn for a living. Sadly, not much I think. We then went to a place house where the guy makes wide range of  perfumes and sandalwood agarbathi’s of his own. He was nice and gave us short explanation and demonstration of how the agarbathi’s were made (there was an old women who was making agarbathis by hand), and also let us smell and sample some of the perfumes in his collection. Both Gela and I bought small bottles of perfumes as gift.

The rickshaw guy dropped us back to the Palace gates from where we went back to the hotel for lunch and rest. In the afternoon we went for a movie, Bollywood movie with typical song and dance types. I am generally not a fan of Bollywood movies, which in my opinion 99% is nonsense. But the movie we saw was surprisingly not bad.  For Gela it was her first Bollywood movie experience in India, and I think she enjoyed it.

Traditional craftsmen

In the evening after sunset we went back to the palace gates. I wanted to take some photographs of the palace with illumination. Unfortunately there was no illumination for some reason and not only that, when we were there, the monsoon started with a vengeance. It was heavy downpour, monsoon in its full form. For Gela it was the first monsoon experience, and we were stuck there for almost an hour.  When we were planning the route for the trip I was expecting to stay just infront of the monsoon. But the monsoon caught up with us earlier than I expected. Not so bad, the rains has its charms.

This was our last day in Mysore and at night we caught the bus to Uduppi.  Our actual destination is Goa. Since it is a long journey I thought I will make a break at Uduppi so that I could visit the Sri Krishna temple there and also the Murudeshwara temple about 1.5 hrs by train from there. Murudeshwar is a small pilgrimage in the coast on the way from Uduppi to Goa. It is famous for the worlds largest Shiva statue, about 125 feet tall, situated on the coast of Arabian sea.

 

Nagarhole National Park

Day 10:

 

We reached early morning at Mysore. Our destination was not really Mysore. But to the Nagarhole national park in the Cauvery river basin, about 90 km from Mysore. We had a light breakfast at the bus stand and caught a taxi to the park from there. It took around 1.5 hours to reach the park. Immediately I fell in love with the place. Very calm, quiet, green and well maintained. The park is on the side of the Kabini river and we booked the 2 days/1 night package at the Kabini River Lodge. It included in addition to the food and accommodation two safari’s – one jeep safari in the evening and a boat safari in the morning.  The park is a dry tropical forest and was the exclusive hunting grounds of the rulers of Mysore. The main attractions of the park are the tiger, elephants and gaur.

Kabini River Lodge

Once we checked into our cottage in the beautiful banks of the Kabini river we went for lunch in the beautiful restaurant. We had nothing else to do other than just immerse in the wonderful atmosphere and the surroundings there. We took a small walk around after lunch. There were a lot of monkeys around the cottage displaying their acrobatic skills. I was worried whether they will try to steal the clothes that I left outside the cottage to dry. 

 

After a quick snack and tea we started our evening safari in the jeep. There was only two more people in the jeep other than us. The gentleman was a wildlife photographer along with his daughter. As the jeep entered an array of wildlife species  was immediately visible especially the antelope, peacock , wild boar, different varieties of birds etc. As we travelled deep into the forest closer to the water bodies the ellies started appearing. The wildlife guy photographer along with his pals in other jeep with their massive lenses was quickly in action. I had my own gear, but not as impressive as theirs and Gela and I got busy with watching the birds and animals with our binocular. There was an instant when I got extremely irritated with the so called animal expert photographers. One thing that any ranger will teach you is when you are in an animal kingdom you are the guest there and you are not supposed to interfere in their lives. Or in other words you have to respect them and are not supposed to disturb them.  The idiots, when they were not getting the correct shots of the ellies were making noises and moving the vehicle closer to them which was clearly irritating the ellies.  The ellie at one point was moving away and then moved the jeep to block its path. Absolute nut cases and they had an air of arrogance that they know everything!

 

We moved further to the river side and parked the jeep there and waited. It was evening time and we hoped the animals will come down for a drink. There were lots of antelopes on the other side of the river. Suddenly we heard an alarm call from a gaur and all of us were looking around for the reason for the alarm call. And then Gela spotted a tiger behind the antelopes. It was visible only for less than a minute, walking slowly from one of the bushes and disappearing behind another bush. I think we got extremely lucky there to catch a glimpse of the king of the jungle in the first safari itself. What a beautiful animal it is. We didn’t had any more luck that day. But we were very happy with what we witnessed on that day especially the ellies and the tiger.

Day 11:

 

The day started with an early morning boat safari. We had a quick snacks and tea from the restaurant and then got into a boat parked on the Kabini river. It is a beautiful sight with the sun rising on one end with the golden rays reflecting from the calm river surface. We could watch different varieties of birds in the water and also on the river front, though I I didn’t had any idea what their names were. After  a while we started seeing the antelopes, herd of ellies, bison, gaur etc. Most of the time the motor was switched off at a distance from the river front and the guide explained about the animals we saw.  That gave us enough time to take photographs and also watch them without disturbing them.

 

 

 

The highlight of the trip was when we saw a pack of Indian wild dogs. The wild dogs, be it the Indian or the African, are one of the most difficult species to spot as they operate over a very large area and also they are constantly on the move. So we were extremely lucky to have spotted them and not only that we saw them hunting a stag. Though an unsuccessful hunt, it was still an amazing show. We initially saw only a group of antelopes on the river front and then we saw the stag running right into the water. It was clear that it is running for it life and then we saw the animal chasing it – 3 wild dogs. The dogs didn’t go into the water and they simply waited in the river front. A waiting game started with the terrified stag in the water and the dogs waiting in the river front. After a while stag slowly moved towards the shore with the dogs watching it all the time without moving. Once closer to the shore the stag sprinted forward and the dogs started to chase. But the stag was too fast for them and finally the dogs gave up the chase. It was an amazing scene. I was happy that it didn’t end up bloody.

Madurai

Day 8:



Meenakshi Temple

Our next destination is the temple town of Madurai in Tamil Nadu state. If it is a direct bus then it should take around 4-5 hrs to reach there. Swami’s rickshaw dropped us in the KSRTC bus stand at Munnar at 7am. We took a bus to Theni in Tamil Nadu from there, our first stop. On the way the bus had a punctured tyre which delayed the trip by about  an hour. But we were not really in a hurry and the bus route was along the breath taking tea plantations and mountain ranges. I wish I could stop there on the way and enjoy the view for a few minutes. We passed through a place called Devikulam not far from Munnar.  I think it is better to stay at Devikulam than Munnar if one is looking for a peaceful stay in the tea plantations. The location is absolutely stunning, in the midst of tea plantations and as munnar is not far away one can always take a taxi or rikshaw to do the sightseeing trips around Munnar from there.  I would strongly recommend Devikulam than Munnar, just by the fact that it is not at all crowded here when compared to the mad rush of tourists in Munnar.
 

It was quite a long journey to Theni.  As we climbed down to the lower altitudes the temp also started climbing up. We reached Theni around mid-noon. We caught the next bus to Madurai from there which is around 80km from Theni.  It was an unimpressive journey amidst the summer heat to Madurai. The 80 kms took around 2 hrs to reach there. Once in Madurai we took a rickshaw to our hotel called Moskva.  The hotel was quite a surprise. I booked it from Munnar only a couple of days before and selected it simply because it is not far from the famous Madurai Meenakshi temple. It is located in a busy street about 500m from the temple. It turned out to be the best accommodation we had in the whole trip. Though a bit expensive than our normal budget levels, it was worth every penny. The rooms were quite luxurious in its settings and the hotel staffs were really helpful. We took rest, took food at the hotel restaurant, which was good, and went to have a look at the temple in the evening.

 

Madurai, a 2500 year old city, is the third largest city in the state of Tamil Nadu and the Meenakshi temple is its main attraction. Meenakshi is an avatar of the Hindu goddess Parvati – the consort of Shiva The temple built in the Dravidian style of architecture in the 1600’s is one of the most important Hindu pilgrim centres in India. The temple houses 14 gateway towers called gopurams which are multi storeyed structures around 45–50m in height, adorned with beautiful colourful sculptures of Hindu Gods, Goddesses, demons and animals. Millions of devotees visit the temple every year.  We didn't go inside the temple, but just walked around the temple walls exploring the shops and the spiritual atmosphere around. We bought jasmine flowers for Gela and she had a good chat with the ladies trying to sell the flowers and other jewelleries.

 

Day 9: 

I woke up early and went to the temple at 6am. It will be less crowded during early morning and one could pray peacefully in the temple at this time of the day. If I am right the temple opens at around 4: 30 am. The temple has four entrances facing four directions and has more than 30000 idols and statues inside. Inside there is also the sacred temple pond.  Adorned with carved pillars in stone it's a breath taking view inside. Also impressive are the 1000 pillars hall inside the temple.

I came back to the hotel, had breakfast and the proceeded to visit the Thirumalai Nayak Palace. Only part of the original palace remains. Still it is a massive structure with huge pillars inside. It had been the venue of many Tamil and Bollywood movies.

Thirumalai Nayak Palace

Our next stop was the Gandhi museum which houses Gandhis bloodstained clothes inside. It is in Madurai that Gandhi decided to change to loin clothes for the rest of his life. The museum gives a good view of not just on the life of Gandhi but also on the important events in India s freedom struggle. On display is the cloth worn by Gandhi when he was assassinated. On the way back we stopped at the shopping streets to have a look at churidars and saris for Gela in one of the local shops. After a long scanning of the shop (women do love shopping) we settled for a beautiful sari. Once back in the hotel we relaxed in the room till evening. After dinner we checked out of our wonderful stay and picked a cab at 9 pm to the KSRTC bus station for our overnight bus ride to Mysore.

Munnar

Day 5:

Tea plantations

 We left for Munnar today. Munnar, popular with honeymooners is a beautiful hill station famous for its tea estates which was originally started by the British. Munnar means  3 rivers in Malayalam. The 3 rivers - Mattupetti, Nallathanni and Periavaru which flow through the town, and join some distance away from Munnar.  It was the summer resort of the British. Now it is heavily crowded with Indian tourists especially in the summer when the temperature is very pleasant.  The mountains range from 1500-2500 m above sea level  and is home to the Eravikulam national park where one can see the Nilgiri Tahr which is listed as an endangered species.

We took the morning boat from Fort Kochi to Ernakulam and then a rickshaw to the transport bus stand. You can get buses to all parts of South India from there. Our bus started at around 9:30am and reached Munnar at 2:20 pm. The roads where narrow and curvwy passing through forests, water falls and scenic surroundings of tea estates on the way to Munnar. We checked in to Poopada hotel near to KSRTC bus depot. The place is about 10 mins walk from Munnar center, which in a way was good to avoid the crowd of tourists. 

 

Photo point

We met Swamy the rikshaw guy and he offered to show us around in the evening. We had food in a nearby restaurant from where we got the first hit of food poisoning. I had mostly stomach problems and for Gela it was much worse with vomiting n stomach problems. In the evening Swamy picked us up from the hotel and we did a roundtrip to the nearby tea gardens, and to a spice garden where we got a crash course on the different spice plants. On the way back we stopped at the photo point to have a tea and watched the cloudy sunsent without the sun. Still the landscape was absolutely beautiful.

Day 6:

The food poisoning hit Gela hard and she vomited multiple times at night.  As a result she was very tired in the morning. Swamy picked us up again in the morning for a trip to the top station which is around 36 km from Munnar. Travelling by a rickshaw was a mistake as the road was not in good shape and we had a rough ride. On the way Swamy managed to find a location where wild elephants came out of the forest to have a breakfast in the open.  It was a wonderful sight of a small herd with little ones tagging along.

We stopped at the Mattupetti dam which is about 10 km from Munnar. It is a picnic spot where one can go for boating or horse driving. We just had some snaps and then proceeded to the Echo point which is about 15 kms from Munnar. It is a small lake surrounded by beautiful woods where a loud call will produce an echo by the surrounding hills. We stopped at tea plantations on the way to have a look around and take photographs. Though you are not allowed to enter tea plantations without permission I think it is somewhat tolerated as long as you don’t do damage to the plants. The greenery of the tea plantations covering the hills like a blanket is breath taking. It is one of the most beautiful scenes.  

View from topstation

Top station is a worth a visit as one gets a wonderful view of the western ghats on a sunny day. The area is also known for small violet flower called Neelakurunji plant, which flowers only once every 12 years. But we didn’t see it as it was not the right season. On the way back we had lunch in the restaurant in the town and bought tea from Kannan Devan tea outlet in the town. Most of the tea estates here belong to Tata and Kannan Devan is the brand name of their tea that is cultivated here.

 
Day 7:
 

Botanical garden

We had a slow start in the morning. We had breakfast in the hotel and then took a rickshaw ride to the Tata tea museum. It was a good decision. We got a tour of the tea factory along with interesting information about the origin of tea plantations in Munnar and the production of tea.  On the way back from there we stopped at the tourist office to get information on Kalarippayat performance in the town in evening.  We dropped by at the botanical garden near to where we stayed. It is a nice place with wide variety of flowers. And it is also a nice picnic spot.

Kalarippayat

 

 

 

Kalarippayat is one of the oldest martial arts forms in the world which originated in Kerala. Some believe that it is the forerunner of all martial arts with roots back to the 12^th century.  Still there are schools in Kerala where one can learn Kalarippayat. So the performance was given by one such school. We went for watching the performance in the evening after taking a food in one of the vegetarian restaurants in the town. The Kalarippayat takes place in a rectangular arena called kalari with Hindu deities placed on the corner.  The performance went on for about an hour and it was very impressive. It’s a very long time since I have watched such a performance.

 

Kochi

Start: Day 0

Kochi was our start point and our end point. We agreed to meet at Kochi as it is well connected to the rest of the world and she could fly in and out of Kochi easily.  I had lived in Ernakulam (the town near to Kochi), but had never been to the islands. I have always wanted to go there, especially the Chinese fishing nets at Fort Kochi. The nets were gifted by the Chinese king to the King of Kochi and in olden times there were more than 100 of them. Now only a few in working conditions exist along the lake side. But still it is the official icon of Kochi.

Fort Kochi

Fort Kochi has a couple of churches built by the Portuguese, including the Santacruz Basilica (the first European church built in Asia) and St. Francis Church (where Vasco Da Gama was buried),  and beautiful old colonial style buildings. It is really nice to walk around, hoping in and out of the various souvenir shops, art galleries and heritage complexes, cafes and restaurant. Being a touristic place, Kochi is not really cheap. But it is still possible to get accommodation of your budget as the place has a lot of home stays in addition to the usual hotels.

I reached there one day in advance. We had a booking at Kimansion Inn. It is a 250 year old building, very spacious rooms and good service. It is about 1.5 kms from the tourist info point, but close to the river in a very quiet corner, with enough places to eat. The location was very beautiful and I liked the place.

 

Day 1:

From Kochi one gets non-stop A/C buses to the international airport and it takes an hour to reach there. I think it is the best way to go to the airport as it is cheap, comfortable and not to worry about the mad traffic outside. I took it in the morning to receive my friend Gela from the airport.  And we took the same to come back to Kochi.

Vembanad lake

I think she liked the place, an ideal slow start to get used to the chaos. We didn’t do much on that day. Had our breakfast and lunch and we walked around the lake front in the evening watching the sunset and the fisherman selling fresh fish.  One can buy the fish directly there and ask one of the restaurants to cook it according to your wish. We went to the tourist info at the boat stop and booked for the backwater trip next day.

 

 

Sunset at Fort Kochi

 

The boat trip along the backwaters was not really in Kochi, but around a place called Vaikom which is about an hour ride from Fort Kochi.



Day 2:

 

The travel agent picked us up from hour hotel in the morning after breakfast. There were 3 other people, a couple from Germany and a guy from England who was also an amateur film maker. He was making a documentary about the places during the monsoon if I remember correctly. The drive took about an hour to reach our starting place which is along the Movattupuzha River, one of the small canals leading to the Vembanad Lake. Our boat was a traditional ‘kettuvallam’ refurbished in the form of a small house boat. In olden times the kettuvallams were used for transporting rice through the backwaters which were one of the major transport systems in Kerala. The backwaters wind up through the beautiful paddy fields and villages and extend from the south of Kerala to the central regions. Once the road and rail transports become prominent, the water transport reduced and the use of kettuvallams almost completely stopped. Then someone came up with the brilliant idea of converting the old kettuvallams into houseboats for tourist. Tourism being one of the major industries in Kerala accepted this novel idea with both hands. A journey through the beautiful backwaters winding through scenic paddy fields and villages while enjoying all the comforts of a hotel and pampered with the traditional culinary of Kerala, the tourists loved the idea. So backwater tourism became a highlight of any trip to the God’s Own Country – Kerala. Though the old villages and the paddy fields are fast vanishing, a trip through the backwater still has its charms, even for someone like me who is born and brought up in Kerala.     



Backwaters

Our boat was not motorised and so we moved at a slow speed enjoying the wind and the scenery around. Sometimes the boat went through very narrow tributaries of the river which is wide enough only for one boat. All the way the guide informed us about the different parts, a little bit about the history and the region. We stopped on the way to a women selling water from the tender coconut. It is one my favourite drinks and at any time I prefer it over any kind of soft drinks. It’s the first time Gela had it and she liked it.

On the way, we stopped at a village where the coir and its products are made. They also had a small spice garden. The coir is made from the dried husk of coconut.  And it has been one of the traditional industries in Kerala. The guide explained how all the contents of the coconut – the husk, the shell, the flesh, the water - are completely used for different purposed in Kerala. All of them are environment friendly.  The old coir products can be thrown out and it is completely biodegradable. The flesh and the water of the ripe coconut are used as an ingredient in Kerala dishes. The shell is used for cooking. But unfortunately the industry is in a decline because of the high farm and labour costs and the availability of cheap plastic items, though it is not environment friendly.

Our next stop was in a house where we had a traditional Kerala lunch. Nothing new for me, but for all others who got a first-hand impression of how spicy the food can become. After lunch we were back in the river and then to the mighty Vembanad Lake which is largest lake in Kerala, and it is also the longest.  The boat  snailed though the strong currents of the lake before entering one of the tributary rivers and back to the boat stop where we started. The agent dropped us back to Fort Kochi around evening time.  We strolled around a little bit had our dinner and went back to the hotel.  A day well spend I think.

Day 3:

After breakfast we left Fort Kochi by bus to the royal Hill Palace at Thripunthra. It was a long drive partly through the morning crowd in the city. But we were not in a hurry. And it was also an opportunity for Gela to experience the local life. The bus that we took from Fort Kochi was a local one with people hopping in and out at every km. The crowd in the bus varied from heavily crowded to sparsely crowded as the it moved along.



Hill Palace

Thripunitra is the erstwhile capital of the kingdom of Kochi. The huge palace in the middle of a beautifully maintained garden was in a bad shape. I remember seeing it in one of the Malayalam movies about 20 years back. The palace in its traditional Kerala architecture looked majestic. The old charms are still there, but I wished they maintained it well. As with many old architectural beauties in India, the funding they get for maintenance is very poor and most often inexperienced and untrained people do the day to day maintenance. There was a museum which displayed the crown, the jewels, paintings, artefacts from old times.

From the palace we took a bus to the jetty and then a boat to the Dutch palace in Mattanchery.  When compared to Tripunithra palace the Dutch palace was really well maintained. It was gifte by the Portuguese to the Maharaja of Kochi.  The coronations of Kochi Maharajas are always held here. Though much smaller in size, the museum inside had really beautiful murals and wall paintings. We roamed around and then walked along the streets. It is proper touristic place with lots of shops on both sides selling handicrafts, clothes, jewellery at exorbitant prices. We decided to have a drink in one of the silent cafeteria on the lake side. It was a part of a big antique shop and the best part of it was the location. The worst part of it was the price. I think it was priced too expensive even for a foreigner. I really hate this greed in humans, and unfortunately I experienced it quite often in India. The only place in India I experienced the opposite was in Ladakh. I really believe that the Buddhist culture has a big role in that.



Kathakali

We took a boat back to Fort Kochi and then went to watch a Kathakali performance. It is one of the traditional art forms of Kerala and the masks used by the dancers always forms part of the tourism promotion videos of India. In olden times the performance last throughout the night and is usually performed at temple festivals. Now a days the length has been trimmed down to match the busy lifestyles. The stories told in them are usually taken from the epics of Mahabharata. To understand the mudras one usually have to know the stories. So the organisers usually give a leaflet at the beginning explaining the story. Even after knowing the story it is difficult to understand the performance. But watching a Kathakali performance is one of the must do activities in any tourist itinerary in Kerala. The elaborate costumes, the settings and musical background is eye catching and  special even if we do not understand each part of the play. I have watched Kathakali only few times in my whole life. So I found it nice to watch it there along with Gela.

 

 

Day 4:

We took the early morning boat to Mattanchery again today. Mattancherry is a former trading city. The destination was the Jewish synagogue and Jew street which was constructed in 1500 by the Jewish refugees from Jerusalem during the Crusades. The synagogue has a very unique architecture, and old, and includes some manuscripts from the old times.  A place to visit if you are interested in the history.



Jewish Street

 We roamed around the Jewish street and visited some interesting antique shops. But as expected everything overpriced, clearly  aimed at foreigners. Afterwards we took a bus to visit the Bolgatty palace, which is situated in the Bolgatty island. It is the island where the British established a Royal Residency. But it was time wasted as it was not open to visitors! The palace is now a 5 star hotel and so you have to book a room in the hotel to visit this historical building. From there we took a rickshaw to Marine Drive. We just sat on the lakeshore, chatting, enjoying the view and relaxing. Gela had some entertainment from local palm reader. Since he didn’t speak any English it became my task to translate whatever he nonsense he told in Malayalam to English. I don’t know how of what he said he believed, but she was having a lot of fun. Anyway it was good to see her laugh and relax inspite of paying him an exorbitant tip in the end against my liking. It was a good time. We took the ferry back to Fort Kochi. We spent some more time at the river side watching a beautiful sunset behind the Chinese nets. It felt really good to be away from the mad crowd and the traffic and just enjoy the simple things in life.

Chinese nets, Fort Kochi

South India in Summer : Chased By The Rains

This trip was virtually about staying ahead of the monsoon.  What I had in mind was a mix up of destinations that will give an impression about the people, culture, and landscape.

Start: Kochi, Munnar, Madurai, Nagarhole NP, Mysore, Uduppi, Goa, End: Kochi
 

There are few places in India where you could travel in the summer. And those regions are either in the mountain regions close to the Himalayas in the North or in some hill stations in the different part of India. Those places, for obvious reasons will be usually heavily crowded and expensive.  Being from the South of India I had only a couple of hill stations – Ooty and Kodaikanal -  as option. But I am sick of crowds and I was not interested in staying at one place for such a long time. The time frame I had in mind was 3 weeks.  And I was not travelling alone, but with a close friend who is from abroad. Its her first time in India and so it made more sense to travel around and being stuck at one place. Having said that I was not sure how she will cope with the heat, in addition to the chaos and pollution that India is famous for.