Vinayak Hegde

Recently I went to Kerala – a trip I had planned at the beginning of this year but could not do as I broke my arm during a trek to Thadiyandamol . I travelled to Kochi, Thekkady, Alleppey, Athirampally falls, Calicut and the Wayanad region during this 12-day trip. I travelled further along the coast to the towns of Udupi, Honnavar, Idagunji and Murudeshwar in Karnataka.

Some random trivia / observations from Kerala:

• The buses are open air with canvas drapes – the poor man’s idea of air cooled buses.
• Keralites love films. Every 500m you will find a big hoarding proclaiming the presence of a mohanlal fan club.
• Southern Kerala is thickly populated – so much so it is difficult sometimes to ascertain whether you have left the city.
• Everywhere you will see signs of influence of expats from the gulf – from majestic houses to the shops selling the latest goods (and flaunting arabic scripts). This is even more true in northern Kerala as compared to Southern Kerala.
• Because of the backwaters, using boats is pretty much a standard form of public transport – especially in the towns on the shores of the Vembanad lake.
• Everywhere around Kerala, you can see the traces of it’s trading past (and present) – from well developed ports to several large trading outpost handed down generations.

Kochi

I reached Kochi early morning by overnight bus from Bangalore and my parents reached Kochi by an evening flight from Mumbai. We were lucky to get accommodation in a home-stay that was by the waterfront near Bolgatty palace. The best part was however that the property had a licensed Chinese fishing net. It was a great experience to see the Chinese fishing nets in action. There is a hanging stretched net attached to a long poles. The net itself is attached to an intricate cantilever system with a variety of weights (attached with ropes of varying sizes). At the center of the net is a generally a light bulb which is meant to attract shrimps, crabs and other fish. The net is lowered and then hauled back up again after 15-20 minutes. The catch is collected from the larger net using a smaller handheld net and the net is lowered back. There is also a small hit attached to the Chinese net platform which is used for waiting when the net is lowered. Kochi is sea-food lovers paradise and there is a wide variety of fresh water fish available. The other attractions in Kochi are the Marine drive (an evening cruise there is recommended), the Jewish Synagogue and the St Francis church (the oldest European Church in India).

Thekkady

From Kochi we proceeded to Thekkady. The ferry on a Periyar wildlife sanctuary was closed as an overloaded ferry had capsized killing 45 people. All the hotels were deserted due to this when we reached there. We visited a spice garden nearby where we were able to see and listen about how various spices are cultivated and harvested. The downside to the spice boom has been that the natural vegetation in the area is being cut to make way for tea gardens (in Wayanad especially) or spice gardens. We also saw Kalaripattayu and Kathakali performance on consecutive evenings. I will cover that in another blog post though.

Alleppey

From the high hills and forests of Thekkady, we came back to Alleppey on the shores of the Vembanad Lake to stay on a houseboat. We boarded the houseboat at the same place where the annual Nehru boat race is held. Later on the cruise, I was able to see long snake boat used in the race. The houseboat stay was the best part of the trip – just listening to music and just hanging around the deck looking at the endless water and leaning coconut trees. The food was excellent as well with rice and fish being staple diet in Kerala. My idea of perfect idyllic holiday

Athirampally Waterfalls

The Athirampally waterfalls are located in the middle of pristine forest about 80 kms from Kochi. They are often called the Niagara falls of India. They are wide and have a fall of about 80 feet. The view from the foot of the falls is majestic. There was a lot of water gushing from the falls as we had visited just after the rains.

I shall cover the Northern part of the trip in the next blog post.

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