Tag: kerala

Travelogue: The Varkala Chapter

Our initial plan was to return to Ernakulam and after spending some time there around the city, to head back to Bangalore. But all of a sudden, we thought why not go to Varkala?

And the next moment, we took a bus for Varkala. Don’t you love it when impromptu plans work out? I do.

Changing two different buses, we reached Varkala. Reviews showed that the place will have more foreigners than Indians. And it was actually true.

 

 

We were lucky enough to get a decent room at just 600 INR. We freshened up and headed for the beach-side restaurant for dinner. Sizzlers, prawns and juice, and we were already full. Along the beach, there are a series of restaurants and we randomly entered one of them.

Tired as we were, headed back to hotel along while indulged in a conversation with a french whom we befriended on our way to Varkala. We talked about issues ranging from politics , culture, and religion. Like every foreigner, his questions were based on things they hear back from their own media. It was around the time when the documentary on the Delhi Rape accused was Banned in India and most of the questions centered around the topic.

The next morning started with a great breakfast.

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An interesting thing happened, while we happened to have our Breakfast, we were told that “French Toast” isn’t actually french!! Thanks to our french friend.

Post breakfast, the moment we saw the beach. OMG!!

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It has to be the best, out of all the beaches, I’ve seen till date. We had no second thoughts on NOT getting into the waters. Like kids, we splashed around and just enjoyed the course.

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When sanity prevailed and we headed back to have our lunch as we needed to rush over to Ernakulam to catch our train. But before that, it was time for food.

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Finally, I could taste beef fry from Kerala at this seaside restaurant. The best part was not just the food, which comprised of amazing Tuna laden pizza too, but also the decor of the place.

Filled with books around, it was as if we were eating inside a library overlooking the beach.

The weather was excruciatingly hot and humid. I can’t even recall how many bottles of water I would have gulped down to compensate for the loss by sweating.

Varkala is one of those places where you should not visit during summer unless you are okay with the hot and humidity. However, my bet is, you’ll still end up loving the place.

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The beach is amazing and we could see a lot of trekking options available along the beach like the one Gokarna offers.

Varkala_Travelogue_Beach_scenesWe had a shortage of time and hence could hardly explore anything apart from the beach.

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We ultimately ended up reaching Ernakulam late, very late. We were supposed to reach by 8.30 PM to catch our train, but then we reached only by 10.30 PM.

It all was because we started late, and then took a bus instead of the train, which everyone suggested. We ended up spending the night on the platform, like a couple of nomads and the next morning boarded the train, but not before having a nice breakfast outside the station.

 

It’s a wrap of the Kerala adventure. There are of course many places to visit in the state which is termed as “God’s own country”, and hopefully will visit them soon.

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Read the other two parts of the Kerala Trip as well and share your thoughts in comments.

Kochi Travelogue
Allepey Travelogue

Travelogue: The Allepey Chapter

A good nights’ sleep, and a bus to catch for the most anticipated part of our trip, Allepey, or as it is now referred to as Alappuzha Our morning at Fort Kochi started off on an adventurous note. We ended up missing our bus stop and the wait to catch another bus literally took ages!!

We had planned to reach Alleppey before 11 AM, in order to catch the government-run-ferry. Time was of the essence.

From figuring out, where to stand in order to catch a bus for Alleppey by confirming multiple times with different people, we finally made it.

[Related: Travelogue: The Kochi Chapter]

 

Ferry boats, Shikaras, and colorful houseboats greeted us, along with hordes of boatwaalas asking us to take their boats instead.

On time for the Government boat, with a ticket costing 400 INR, we started off our ride. Alleppey to Kollam in nearly 8 Hours, with two stops for meals. Awesomeness was expected, and it was indeed what we got to see.

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The backwaters. If you’re wondering, what is a Backwater?

A backwater is a part of a river in which there is little or no current. It refers either to a branch of a main river, which lies alongside it and then rejoins it, or to a body of water in a main river, backed up by an obstruction such as the tide or a dam.

The Kerala backwaters are a chain of brackish lagoons and lakes lying parallel to the Arabian Sea coast.

 

From what I had imagined the backwaters in my head, the view definitely did justice to it. And yet, the feeling of being in the midst of the green serenity was just pure bliss.

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Our eyes turned into cameras, capturing the green and colorful.  Of course, cameras gave them company too. Waving to the street children along the banks and rushing around the deck to get the best view kept everyone in the boat busy.

The locals could be seen rowing their boats around like it was just another day. While the fishermen were busy in readying their ships as these fishing net gateways welcomed us.

 

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Along with this, one could see the birds scattered around our boats, as we moved along to our destination, Kollam.

This bird watching experience as they fly behind the boat was pure bliss. The video isn’t clear but the view is still fresh in my head.

In between, we stopped for lunch. Eating an all-vegetarian Kerala meal with its boiled rice, curries and vegetables,  was a unique experience. Definitely not my first Kerala meal experience, but eating it there was quite nice. A stamp of authority, maybe?

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By the time we reached Kolam, we were tired but the experience was inspiring enough to keep us upbeat.

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The trip didn’t end here but got extended to another day. How ?

Well, read about it, in this Travelogue here.

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