This blog is about the recent trip to kerala and kanya kumari. Our gang, Vikash, Navneet, praneeth and myself were quite excited about it. Well as far as I remember we planned the trip as a joke but it turned out into a fabulous experience. We covered close to 2200 Kms by road in 3 days and 4 nights (does sound like holiday package :)). This blog is to keep our memories fresh and share our joy.
We started on Friday 26th Feb 2010. The day was as usual a working day and I had couple of presentations as well. Praneeth had just few days back pledged to come to office at 9 (well our gang earliest reaches office around 11:30) so he reached at 10 a.m. that morning which was a great achievement :P. All of us were excited. Vikash, my flat mate, had also finished his packing in the morning . The only one left unorganized was me. I hurriedly put some clothes in my bag and of course my swimming trunk, DSLR cam too. We had slight snacks in the cafeteria around 6:30 p.m and like a nomad we made our ways out of office at around 7. On our way out we did attract some interest. My lead and friends joked with surprise saying we were expecting weekend support and I keenly replied -- on call support !
We met this guy Nagraj, our driver,(Control your imagination he wasn't from comics!) who could not speak hindi/English that well but was quite an adept driver. We did feel being in company of James bond at one point as he made terrific drifts and cuts along the journey. I remember the first super cut and we all said nothing just with an awe, looked at each other and that was it.The story how we got hold of Nagraj is also interesting and somewhat lucky too. On thursday we were searching for cabs, their costs at the travel agencies. After careful analysis we got settled for a qualis for 4 of us which charged 7 Rs/ Km and 150 Rs per day with nigh charges (from 10 p.m to 6 a.m) of 150 Rs extra. We had a discussion whether we needed such a big car for 4 of us but for comfort sake settled for it. During the journey we realized how crucial and comforting that decision was. Now back to the driver, me and my collegue were doing some office work on friday afternoon when Navneet informed me about the unavailability of the earlier cab we booked the night before. I became a little concerned. However, praneeth and navneet had already arranged another car (Nagraj's car). Nagraj knew both telgu and kannada so praneeth came handy while negotiating and arranging the cab as he spoke telgu too. So all was well again!
We met this guy Nagraj, our driver,(Control your imagination he wasn't from comics!) who could not speak hindi/English that well but was quite an adept driver. We did feel being in company of James bond at one point as he made terrific drifts and cuts along the journey. I remember the first super cut and we all said nothing just with an awe, looked at each other and that was it.The story how we got hold of Nagraj is also interesting and somewhat lucky too. On thursday we were searching for cabs, their costs at the travel agencies. After careful analysis we got settled for a qualis for 4 of us which charged 7 Rs/ Km and 150 Rs per day with nigh charges (from 10 p.m to 6 a.m) of 150 Rs extra. We had a discussion whether we needed such a big car for 4 of us but for comfort sake settled for it. During the journey we realized how crucial and comforting that decision was. Now back to the driver, me and my collegue were doing some office work on friday afternoon when Navneet informed me about the unavailability of the earlier cab we booked the night before. I became a little concerned. However, praneeth and navneet had already arranged another car (Nagraj's car). Nagraj knew both telgu and kannada so praneeth came handy while negotiating and arranging the cab as he spoke telgu too. So all was well again!
We started around 7 p.m amidst some traffic in the city but the fun had already decided to spill its magic. We bought some beer cans and chips to keep us going on our trip. We finally got down at around 9:40 p.m for food in karnataka hotel (Adyar Anand Bhavan). It was quite a drama there too. They asked us to take a table from where they would take the orders. But little did we realize that all were already occupied. We saw one with 4 seats but out of them one was already occupied by a lady. We did not mean to disturb her with our endless chatters and remarks so decided to irk another middle aged man sitting alone on distant table. The interesting thing about the hotel was their prices which rounded off to 14.18, 58.82 which was quite absurd under all circumstances.
We had our plan already chalked out the night before so were quite sure of our journey. We also took maps and vikash had a laptop which kept us busy noting the tourist spots around. we reached mettur which is in-between bangalore and coimbatore around 1:30 a.m. Almost all the shops were then closed. We stopped at a small tea/cigratte shop where we sipped hot cup of tea and relaxed our muscles. We continued our journey amidst the fine weather, the slight chill and the gust of wind through the car windows.
Suddenly we saw a checkpost with roughly 4-5 policemen. One quite drunk and others like sniffer dogs longing to join the party. They had sniffed the beer we had an hour ago. As Nagraj slowed down the car, he asked praneeth, sitting in front, to pretend as if he was Ramesh, his brother. I wanted to intervene but it was then too late. The police had already reached our car. They asked a few questions from Nagraj who told praneeth was his brother Ramesh, and they were going for kerala trip. Well it was quite clear from our appearance that we were in no way Nagraj's brother. The policeman also realized it and asked suspiciously praneeth's sir name and he fumbled. We were caught! They rummaged through our car, bags for whisky I guess, but couldn't find one. They had to appease themselves with a single can of beer they could find. Well, while we were packing to continue our journey the drunk guy gave praneeth a piece of his mind. He said, "This is a car, not a bar". We stifled our snicker for the moment and went along.
Suddenly we saw a checkpost with roughly 4-5 policemen. One quite drunk and others like sniffer dogs longing to join the party. They had sniffed the beer we had an hour ago. As Nagraj slowed down the car, he asked praneeth, sitting in front, to pretend as if he was Ramesh, his brother. I wanted to intervene but it was then too late. The police had already reached our car. They asked a few questions from Nagraj who told praneeth was his brother Ramesh, and they were going for kerala trip. Well it was quite clear from our appearance that we were in no way Nagraj's brother. The policeman also realized it and asked suspiciously praneeth's sir name and he fumbled. We were caught! They rummaged through our car, bags for whisky I guess, but couldn't find one. They had to appease themselves with a single can of beer they could find. Well, while we were packing to continue our journey the drunk guy gave praneeth a piece of his mind. He said, "This is a car, not a bar". We stifled our snicker for the moment and went along.
Then we were back on track, where we mostly took NH47 and closed in tamilnadu kerala border. We reached kochi early morning around 7 a.m. Navneet wasn't feeling that well and we planned for a stay to freshen up. Me, praneeth and navneet had dosa while vikas enjoyed iidiupum which appeared like perforated idli. The tea was tasty enough to freshen us up and we got back for the ride. We were a little delayed and got caught in the busy traffic near alapuzza and kollam. Alapuzza is famous for its backwater and the scenery was mesmerizing too. We took pics, played songs and cracked jokes all the way. Seldom did we even felt the urge to answer natures call.
The things that caught our attention were coconut trees lush green fields, Musjids and church. We had never seen so many church's in a state before. There were peaceful rally's of muslim students, perhaps some silent demonstration. With our journey nearing kerala beach the atmosphere was getting humid too. The heat had already taken its toll on us. We stopped several places to buy soft drinks to keep us going. Coconut water is a famous drink in kerala. I had once sipped it when I was in Mumbai 8-10 years ago with my family. There are two types of coconuts the one with more water and the other offers more fruit inside to eat. We savored the sweet water coconut all the way long.
Eventually we reached kovalam beach around 3 p.m. We booked two cottages in holiday home for 2800 Rs per day. The best thing about the resort was its small hut shaped dinning space which gave just the right feel of the personal dinning. We had our first meal in the resort and left for the Kovalam beach in about an hour. The beaches were quite close, within walking distace. These were Lighthouse, Eve's and groove. The greenish water with white rising waves drew a fabulous view. There were hotels just next to the beach where sea food lovers could enjoy the delicious food and drinks. The evening turned even more dramatic as the sky turned yellowish orange giving a scintillating experience. We spent the evening relaxing along the waves and finally called the day off after a nice dinner. Me being vegetarian did really have troubles finding vegetarian food but was great for my non veg friends :P.
The next day we planned to visit poovar beach and kanyakumari. We found interesting place near poovar that offered both the fun of backwater and even covered the silent, serene and soothing poovar beach. It was backwater leela craze. The boat charged 1500Rs for two person with 350 added/head for any extra member. The backwater took us from the vast water spread to the experience of a tunnel made of overlaying trees. We could see the local people carrying out their daily chores , animals bathing and profound rise of the sea waves. We were also lucky to get the glimpses of the kingfisher bird which is not easy to descry. We were told even King George took the same backwater tour while his visit to kerala. We had tons of fun relaxing in the breeze flowing past the boat. The floating houses moreover added their magical beauty to the place. The journey lasted 2 hours and we headed towards Kanyakumari which was around 70 Kms from poovar.
We reached there around 4 o clock when the sun was still high. The sea shore spread all the way from east to west giving it immense vastness and strength. I can't understand but I was deeply moved by the gravity and grandness of the sea. Its profundity, strength and calmness overwhelmed me beyond description. I wished I could store this feeling of unknown happiness within me for rest of my life. At Kanyakumari one can witness both the sunset and sunrise. We could also see moon in the east direction along with sun setting in west. The feeling was incredible. We stayed there till around 8 p.m and made our way back to kovalam. We planned to go to the beach and sip cans of beer but were too tired and called off the day.
The Monday morning marked the starting of the return journey. We jumped in our car, praneeth in front with Nagraj, me and Vikas in the center and Navneet on the back seat. We visited two famous waterfalls near challakudy which is in between kochi and thrissur. The first one was Athirapally and the other vazachal. The Athirapally waterfalls were 80 feet high which started at the high ranges calmly and came crashing down through the gorges. Vazachal was more of picturesque waterfall like a picnic spot. I was cursing myself for not having a tripod but still managed some great shots. We left from vazachal at around 6 p.m and steadily made our way back home. We eventually reached bangalore around 4 a.m. on Monday morning. Our gang was though tired felt satisfied and contented with the mesmerizing experience we shared all along.
The things that caught our attention were coconut trees lush green fields, Musjids and church. We had never seen so many church's in a state before. There were peaceful rally's of muslim students, perhaps some silent demonstration. With our journey nearing kerala beach the atmosphere was getting humid too. The heat had already taken its toll on us. We stopped several places to buy soft drinks to keep us going. Coconut water is a famous drink in kerala. I had once sipped it when I was in Mumbai 8-10 years ago with my family. There are two types of coconuts the one with more water and the other offers more fruit inside to eat. We savored the sweet water coconut all the way long.
Eventually we reached kovalam beach around 3 p.m. We booked two cottages in holiday home for 2800 Rs per day. The best thing about the resort was its small hut shaped dinning space which gave just the right feel of the personal dinning. We had our first meal in the resort and left for the Kovalam beach in about an hour. The beaches were quite close, within walking distace. These were Lighthouse, Eve's and groove. The greenish water with white rising waves drew a fabulous view. There were hotels just next to the beach where sea food lovers could enjoy the delicious food and drinks. The evening turned even more dramatic as the sky turned yellowish orange giving a scintillating experience. We spent the evening relaxing along the waves and finally called the day off after a nice dinner. Me being vegetarian did really have troubles finding vegetarian food but was great for my non veg friends :P.
The next day we planned to visit poovar beach and kanyakumari. We found interesting place near poovar that offered both the fun of backwater and even covered the silent, serene and soothing poovar beach. It was backwater leela craze. The boat charged 1500Rs for two person with 350 added/head for any extra member. The backwater took us from the vast water spread to the experience of a tunnel made of overlaying trees. We could see the local people carrying out their daily chores , animals bathing and profound rise of the sea waves. We were also lucky to get the glimpses of the kingfisher bird which is not easy to descry. We were told even King George took the same backwater tour while his visit to kerala. We had tons of fun relaxing in the breeze flowing past the boat. The floating houses moreover added their magical beauty to the place. The journey lasted 2 hours and we headed towards Kanyakumari which was around 70 Kms from poovar.
We reached there around 4 o clock when the sun was still high. The sea shore spread all the way from east to west giving it immense vastness and strength. I can't understand but I was deeply moved by the gravity and grandness of the sea. Its profundity, strength and calmness overwhelmed me beyond description. I wished I could store this feeling of unknown happiness within me for rest of my life. At Kanyakumari one can witness both the sunset and sunrise. We could also see moon in the east direction along with sun setting in west. The feeling was incredible. We stayed there till around 8 p.m and made our way back to kovalam. We planned to go to the beach and sip cans of beer but were too tired and called off the day.
The Monday morning marked the starting of the return journey. We jumped in our car, praneeth in front with Nagraj, me and Vikas in the center and Navneet on the back seat. We visited two famous waterfalls near challakudy which is in between kochi and thrissur. The first one was Athirapally and the other vazachal. The Athirapally waterfalls were 80 feet high which started at the high ranges calmly and came crashing down through the gorges. Vazachal was more of picturesque waterfall like a picnic spot. I was cursing myself for not having a tripod but still managed some great shots. We left from vazachal at around 6 p.m and steadily made our way back home. We eventually reached bangalore around 4 a.m. on Monday morning. Our gang was though tired felt satisfied and contented with the mesmerizing experience we shared all along.
http://picasaweb.google.com/singhankitiit/KeralaPics# http://picasaweb.google.com/vikasing/KeralaTrip?feat=directlink# http://picasaweb.google.com/vikasing/KeralaTrip?feat=directlink#
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