Traveling to Kerala
It was October 2010 and with the schools on a two week break it was time to set out for the annual family holiday which had kind of become a religious yearly routine. I strongly adhered to my father’s philosophy that travel experiences contribute to 50% of the education for the children (and the adults, if I may add).
My planning for the annual holiday starts at least 3 months prior to the actual travel and this gives me enough scope to decide on the destination, mode of travel, hotel reservation etc. This year it was going to be Kerala with its world famous backwaters and houseboats. Since it had been some time since the kids had been to the beach I decided to add a visit to Thiruvananthapuram also which boasts of clean waters and golden sandy beaches.
The road distance from Bangalore to Alappuzha (Alleppey) and then to Thiruvananthapuram is about 750 kms single way and the journey would have to be spread over 2 days even though traveling in an Innova is very comfortable. My idea is to enjoy the journey and not to stress out focusing on reaching the destination totally fagged out. The decision was taken to travel by train.
There are ample trains between Bangalore and Ernakulam with the most convenient being Kanyakumari Exp (16526) which starts from Bangalore at about 2140 hours and reaches Ernakulam at about 1000 hrs the next day. The distance from Ernakulam to Alleppey is just about 60 kms by road and one take opt for different modes of transport. To our luck there was some rail repair work going on during that time period and the train instead of branching off into another direction from Ernakulam it went right up to Alleppey and saved us the road journey.
The hotel I had booked was the Lake Palace Resort www.lakepalaceresort.com and is located on an island which is reachable by motor boat only which is operated by the resort on regular intervals. It is one of the most beautiful places that I have seen in my life….pristine beauty, clear skies, refreshing water and a kind of undisturbed feeling of calmness all around. It felt like time had no place there…..it just did not exist.
The resort is built on an island and in the middle of the resort is a huge artificial lake around which the cottages are built. So, in either direction one is surrounded with views of water. The rooms are exquisitely and tastefully done and are well worth the time and effort that one spends filtering out the various options to stay.
The tariff for the resort can be quite intimidating but then the advantage of planning early is that one can hunt for fair game and not get caught up in last minute booking which does not leave any scope for negotiations. Taking advantage of this I did manage to obtain very reasonable rate. There is a lovely swimming pool right in the middle of the artificial lake and the entire atmosphere is very serene and the perfect place to de-stress. The kids kept themselves busy by either being in the pool or serving bits of food to the ducks or chasing rabbits around.
The majority of the trip of 4 days was spent on the resort with the occasional trips to the mainland to savor local street food. They say that no trip to the backwaters is complete without a night stay on a houseboat. I hunted around for a few options but the good houseboats came at a steep price of 15k per night. We opted for the cheaper option and took a smaller boat on a half day tour of the back waters. I found this to have its own advantage as we could traverse the narrow canals and at times almost peep into the people’s houses as they went across their daily chores.
It was time to move ahead to the next stage of the holiday and bidding farewell to the excellent staff at the resort we took the train from Alappuzha (Alleppey) to which is a journey of about 5-6 hours and we landed at the destination at about 2030 hours. About an hour drive away from the station is Hotel Samudra located on Kovalam beach. The hotel is a bit of a drab the rooms are extremely compact probably with a view to accommodate more number of rooms within the same property. The rooms are very basic, the linen has stains and the service is pathetic. It is a waste of time, effort and money. The two days spent here were quite uninteresting and uneventful with the exception that the kids enjoyed in the ocean waters to their brim.
I now reflect that we could probably have spent the additional time in the backwaters of Kerala rather than anywhere else. Only factor was that I had heard so much about Kovalam beach that it merited a visit but it does not live up to the mark. My suggestion is to stick to the back waters and just immerse yourself in its beauty and one can understand why they call Kerala – Gods own country.