Till now, the most memorable trip I have had in my
life is that of Kerala. Kerala – God’s Own Country is really a stunning place.
Staying there for eight days, we visited four cities – Kochi, Alleppey,
Thekkady and Munnar and in each city, I found something new and
exhilarating.
Our trip started with Kochi. In Kochi, we visited
the famous Chinese Fishing Nets (Cheena vala), Jewish Synagogue, Dutch Palace
(now a museum) and St. Francis Church. Handicraft and antics shops near the Jewish
Synagogue are also worth watching.
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| Kochi |
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| Chinese Fishing Nets |
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| Jewish Synagogue |
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| Snake boat in an antics shop |
From Kochi, we went to Alleppey. Alleppey is
really a very exquisite place. The Pozhiyoram Resort, where we stayed was like
a cherry on the cake. The resort has its own beach and was truly, a great
place to stay in
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| Pozhiyoram beach resort (view from the beach) |
In Alleppey, we visited Vijaya Park and Allappuzha beach. We enjoyed a lot at the beach and had a coffee at Indian Coffee House located nearby.
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| Allappuzha beach |
Alleppey is mainly famous for its backwaters. Next day, we explored the backwater cruise. We took a ferryboat. It had almost 30-35 people on board, all foreigners, except two of us. The backwater trip was a breathtaking experience as river is surrounded with coconut trees and vast fields of rice which lends the region name – ‘rice bowl of Kerala’.
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| Backwater trip |
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| Rice fields |
Locals can be seen travelling in small boats, and schools and resorts are also there on the banks of the river. It was really an incredible experience. On our way, we also came across a Buddha temple known as Karumadi. There were snake boats parked at the banks, used during the annual snake boat race. The view of the sunset was also awesome.
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| Locals travelling in small boats |
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| Karumadi |
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| Breathtaking view |
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| Sunset view |
Our next destination was Thekkady. Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is the main tourist attraction there. It is a Tiger Reserve. Ferryboats carry tourists to view the sanctuary. We saw deers, nilgiri tahr, wild buffaloes and some birds from the ferryboat.
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| Ferryboats for viewing the sanctuary |
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| View from the ferryboat |
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| Nilgiri Tahr |
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| Beautiful view |
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| Birds |
There are special timings for trekking inside the sanctuary. For trekking, we had to cross the lake, which we did though river rafting. Trekking in the forest for two hours was a wonderful experience. We could see few deers and monkeys.
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| River rafting |
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| Trekking inside the Sanctuary |
The last destination was Munnar. On our way to Munnar, we saw spice plantations. Munnar is a beautiful hill station and a fabulous place. The hills are surrounded by tea gardens.
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| Tea gardens |
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| Stunning view of the tea garden |
In Munnar, we visited the Mattupetty Dam, where we had a horse ride. At the Mattupetty river, we took a motor boat ride. It was thrilling.
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| Mattupetty Dam |
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| Mattupetty River |
Other popular tourist destinations of Munnar are Chinar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kundala Dam, Echo point, Top station, Lockhart Gap, Luckkom waterfall, Sandalwood forest, Tea and Coffee plantations.
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| Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary |
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| Kundala Dam |
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| View from the Top station |
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| Lockhart Gap |
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| Luckkom Waterfall |
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| Sandalwood forest |
After visiting Kerala I truly believe that it is GOD’S OWN COUNTRY.
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