I have dedicated this blog so far to show places in and around Pune that I visit. But after a long time, I went a bit far. I visited Kerala, "God's Own Country". In this post, I will share my experience on visiting the place. Some of the information I am sharing is useful if you want to plan a trip to Kerala as it would avoid a lot of hassle that I had to face.
We had booked a package tour from KTDC which also included a local transportation arrangement in A/C Indigo. Instead we got a Swift Dzire. Our package cost in total was around INR 66K which included following for 2 Adults + 1 Child:
- 1-Night stay (Dinner + Breakfast) at Kochi at Bolgatty Island Resort
- 2-Night stay (Dinner + Breakfast) at Munnar at Tea County
- 1-Night stay (Dinner + Breakfast) at Thekkady at Periyar House
- 1-Night stay (Breakfast) at Alleppey at Suvasam Lake Resort
- 2-Night stay (Dinner + Breakfast) at Kovalam at Samudra Resort
- Local transportation in A/C Indigo starting from Kochi on 11 Nov and ending at Kochi on 18 Nov. This included all the tolls and parking charges.
We booked the packages very late and so we got budget hotel at both Thekkady and Alleppey while at other places it was premium hotel with deluxe room.
Pune to Kochi: We started our journey on 11 Nov in 6 AM flight from Pune to Kochi via Bangalore. I got off on the wrong foot by forgetting all my keys in Pune Airport security check. I only realized I have missed them when the plane took off. When we reached Bangalore, my wife asked a security staff there to call back Pune and made sure our keys are kept somewhere safe since we would be collecting it only after we come back from vacation. There was some rain at Bangalore but the flights were on time.
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| Bangalore Airport |
Boarding for Kochi |
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| Bangalore to Kochi | Welcome at Kochi |
We had our first breakfast of vacation at Bangalore aiport at MTC (Malgudi Tiffin Center). We took Idlis and Masala Dosa along with filter coffee. I have become a big fan of filter coffee since I took one at Up South restaurant in Pune. The total bill came to around INR 411 which I found reasonable.
Kochi : We reached Kochi at around 11:30 AM. Bolgatty Island Resort was good with spacious rooms. The hotel is around 35 KM from airport so we reached there around 12:45 PM. We had heavy breakfast in the morning so we didn't want to waste time on lunch. We used the time to freshen up ourselves and departed at around 2 PM.
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| Bolgatty Island Resort | Bolgatty Island Resort room |
There are not many places in Kochi for site-seeing but our itinerary included Dutch Palace (Mattancherry Palace), Jewish Synagogue, Chinese Fishing Nets, St Francis Church (Vasco Da Gama Church).
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| Shops near Jewish Synagogue | Dutch Palace 1 |
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| Dutch Palace 2 | Dutch Palace 3 |
Though it was not in our itinerary, we thought of watching Kathakali. We visited Folklore Cultural Theater in Fort Kochi. The show typically starts at 5:30 PM and continues till 6:30 PM. It includes Mohiniattam and Kathakali. There is a one hour make up time from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM. There were not many viewers in the show when we went. There was just one more couple other than us and one more group of 2 friends joined after Mohiniattam completed. The fees included INR 300 for Kathakali + INR 100 for Mohiniattam and child is free. I would suggest you to reach there at 5:15 PM to see how make-up is done and then continue watching the show.
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| Chinese Fishing Nets | Folklore Cultural Theater |
We didn't spend enough time on visiting Marine Drive and some retail shops like Lulu Mall to do shopping of silk sarees etc... If you have time, please go ahead and visit them. We had a dinner at Bolgatty Island Resort but we didn't feel the taste was good enough. The only thing my daughter liked was Vegetable Pulao, Dal Tadka and Gulab Jamun. Even punjabi sabjis were not tasty enough. People have already complained about the food quality of the resort and we agreed.
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| Bolgatty Island Resort Dinner |
Kochi To Munnar : We had breakfast at our resort at 7:45 AM which included Idli, Bread Toast, tea, Corn-flakes, Uttapam, etc... We filled our stomach with it as the previous night dinner was not fulfilling. We started for Munnar at around 8:15 AM. There are two waterfalls on the way to Munnar and some spice gardens that you can visit. We visited Kerala Farm which had entry fee of INR 100 each for adult and children are free. They show you different herbs and spices and gives a demo of 25-30 different plants they grow in their farm.
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| Valara Waterfalls 1 | Valara Waterfalls 2 |
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| Cheeyappara Waterfalls | Kerala Farm |
My mother-in-law had asked us to buy some cardamom so we bought two 250gm packs for INR 240 each from Kerala farm. We also bought some medicinal food for allergy for my wife as she has allergy with dust/fungus and hair oil for myself to cure dandruff. After reaching Munnar, when we visited Kannan Dewan retail store, we saw better quality cardamom but at a higher price. If you are worried about quality, you better buy it from Kannan Dewan. There were some hiccups on the way to Munnar as my daughter started vomiting and I started feeling dizzy due to hilly roads. We had to slow down the car and put some mint in our mouth to avoid the ill effect of climbing high hills. We reached Munnar at around 2 PM.
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| Kochi to Munnar |
Munnar: We had one and a half days to cover Munnar site-seeing so I had to plan something that evening. We decided to go for Ervaikulam (Rajamala) National Park. It was a 25 minutes ride from our hotel. There is typically half hour to one hour queue at the national park for tickets. Instead, there is a Forest department reservation center in Munnar itself near State Bank of Travancore where you can book reservation ticket for INR 50 up until 3PM. These tickets you can submit at the national park and you get immediate tickets instead of lining up in queue. The entry fee for national park is INR 90 for adult Indian and INR 65 for children. There is a fee for Camera too which is INR 50. The camcorders attract a fee of INR 300 but I was saved since I didn't carry any. We reached there at 3:45 PM and the national park bus picked up and dropped us at the top. There is a 25-30 minute walk at the top till you reach a place where you see some Nilgiri Tahr. There is scenic view along the way which I captured in some of the photos.
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| Ervaikulam National Park 1 | Ervaikulam National Park 2 |
The next day we started for Top Station at 10:15 AM. There are multiple attractions along the way and first among them is Rose Garden. I don't recall correctly but it has fee of INR 20 for adults and INR 30 for camera.
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| Rose Garden 1 | Rose Garden 2 |
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| Rose Garden 3 | Rose Garden 4 |
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| Rose Garden 5 | Rose Garden 6 |
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| Rose Garden 7 | Rose Garden 8 |
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| Rose Garden 9 | Rose Garden 10 |
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| Rose Garden 11 | Rose Garden 12 |
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| Rose Garden 13 |
Mattupetty Dam was our next destination. There is a facility of boating, children play area and recreation at the dam. Boating charges are INR 600 for a 5 person boat. Since we were 3, we went for a joint boat so our cost came to around INR 360 only. The boat ride is typically 13-15 mins and since it is a speed boat, my daughter was really scared.
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| Mattupetty Dam 1 | Mattupetty Dam 2 |
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| Mattupetty Dam 3 | Mattupetty Dam 4 |
There were some activities available like Zorbing, Balloon shooting and my daughter was initially eager to do it but then we thought of time and decided to leave it. On the way we saw another dam at Kundala Lake.
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| Kundala Dam 1 | Kundala Dam 2 |
There were other view points like Photo Point, Echo Point along the way to Top Station but since we didn't have time, we decided to directly reach Top Station first. We reached there around 1:30 PM. We didn't take any lunch. The view at Top Station was mesmerizing as you see clouds below you. The point is at more than 6K+ feet above see level. There are many hills merging and creating the view at that place.
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| Top Station 1 | Top Station 2 |
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| Top Station 3 |
It took around one and a half hour to complete our visit at Top Station. We started from Top Station at around 3 PM. On the way back, we stopped at Echo Point to see if echo is heard for our voice but there was nothing. There were some shops selling bags and other items but we had to visit Tea Museum so we left.
The website of the tea museum mentions 5PM as closing time but when we reach there at 4:45 PM, we found that the museum closes at 4 PM only. So we lost chance to visit it. We then took a walk in the tea garden maintained in front of the museum.
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| Tea Museum 1 | Tea Museum 2 |
We almost became free at 5:30 PM so we went to Munnar city and shopped for tea, spices and homemade chocolates. We visited Kannan Dewan Retail Store in the center of Munnar city and bought tea, coffee and spices. We were pretty tired and reached hotel at around 7 PM. The dinner at Tea County hotel was good and we enjoyed it fully. There were many varieties and the taste also was good.
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| Tea County Dinner |
Next morning, we took some photos around our hotel Tea County. The gardener had grown a lot of flowers and the whole hotel was full of colours. If I had one more day, I would have spent staying at the hotel and enjoying the view and pleasant climate.
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| Tea County 1 | Tea County 2 |
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| Tea County 3 | Tea County 4 |
Munnar to Thekkady: We started for Thekkady from our hotel at around 8:30 AM. There are places to visit on the way such as Lock Heart Gap. The view is very scenic and you want to just stay there forever.
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| Lock Heart Gap 1 | Lock Heart Gap 2 |
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| Lock Heart Gap 3 | Lock Heart Gap 4 |
Thekkady: We reached Thekkady at around 1:30 PM. There is an entry fee of INR 33 per Indian at the entrance of Periyar Tiger Reserve. There is fee for camera too. The Periyar House hotel is inside the tiger reserve and you have to enter tiger reserve before 5:30 PM otherwise you cannot stay at your hotel. There are two other hotels which are of higher category namely Aranya Nivas and Periyar Lake Palace but both were full and we didn't get reservation there.
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| Periyar House 1 | Periyar House 2 |
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| Periyar House 3 |
The Periyar House and all other KTDC hotels book boating for their guests once they check-in but by the time we checked-in, all the tickets for that day were already booked. The only tickets we were getting were for the next morning 7:30 AM. But apart from KTDC boats, Forest department also run their boats and their tickets are booked on periyarfoundation.org but we hadn't booked them online. So I physically stood in the queue at their office next to Aranya Niwas resort and got the tickets for 3:30 PM boats. The timing of the boats are mentioned on the Periyar Tiger Reserve website. The charges are INR 225 per Indian adult and INR 75 for kid.
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| Periyar Reserve 1 | Periyar Reserve 2 |
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| Periyar Reserve 3 | Periyar Reserve 4 |
We were supposed to see animals like Elephants, Deer and Gaur but we were only able to see some deer and gaur. The boating on periyar lake was an experience of its own but we were disappointed with the animal sightings. We had dinner at the restaurant which was not up to mark but was eatable.
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| Periyar House Dinner |
Thekkady to Alleppey: We had our breakfast early morning but my daughter had slight vomit and we left for Alleppey at 7:45 AM. Before reaching Alleppey, we visited two places along the way. The first is Thirunakkara Mahadeva Temple which closes around 11 AM but we reached at 11:10 and it was still open. The temple has dress code for men that nothing to be worn over the waist. I had to remove my Shirt and Baniyaan. We also visited Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary which is next to Water Scapes resort of KTDC. There is an entry fee of INR 50 for adult and children are free. The bird sanctuary is very big and a walk inside will take around one hour at least. We didn't have that much time so we went half way and came back. There were many birds chirping but there were no sightings. We left the sanctuary around 1 PM.
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| Thirunakkara Mahadeva Temple | Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary |
We had got booking at Suvasam Lake Resort but my wife was insisting on staying at a houseboat. So we booked an extra houseboat of Cosy Tours from stayzilla. This included one night stay including lunch, dinner and breakfast. So after checking in the hotel, we went to Cosy Regency near Finishing Point from where houseboats pick up tourists. We boarded the houseboat at around 2 PM. We were given welcome drink of fresh juices and a cake with some chocolates.
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| Houseboat 1 | Houseboat 2 |
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| Houseboat 3 | Houseboat 4 |
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| Houseboat 5 | Houseboat 6 |
The ride on houseboat in backwaters of Kerala was a very refreshing experience. The coconut trees on both sides of the water way was simply astonishing. It was really peaceful and nice till the houseboat kept moving in the backwaters. But at 5:30 PM, the houseboat was parked near a village to get power supply to keep A/C running at night. We took a stroll around the village where we saw locals living in a very poor condition. Just after sunset, we moved back to the boat which was completely covered with mosquito net to guard against mosquito attack. There were thousands of them outside the net waiting to come in and grab our blood but we were saved. We had dinner at night and we slept. Early morning we had breakfast and we were dropped again at Finishing Point. Our car driver picked us up and we started towards Kovalam at around 8:45 AM. There is no site-seeing on way to Kovalam from Alleppey.
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| Samudra Restaurant |
Kovalam: We reached Kovalam at 1 PM and checked-in to Samudra Resort. We went for lunch at around 2:15 PM ordering Sweet corn soup, Paneer Makhani and Chapati which turned out to be delicious. The total bill came to around INR 500. We had a look at the resort for a while and then left at 3 PM for Light House. There is an entry fee of INR 20 for adult and INR 3 for kids for Vizhinjam Light House. The view from the top of the light house is amazing. It gives a complete view of Hawa beach and Light house beach. We spent the rest of the evening at Hawa beach and Light House beach enjoying bathing in the sea. There are some jellyfish in the water so you need to remain agile.
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| Kovalam 1 | Kovalam 2 |
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| Kovalam 3 | Kovalam 4 |
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| Kovalam 5 | Kovalam 6 |
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| Kovalam 7 | Kovalam 8 |
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| Kovalam 9 | Kovalam 10 |
The next day we woke up early and spent some time at the hotel in the morning. My daughter insisted on using swimming pool and I insisted on spending some time using hammock to relax myself. The weather was a bit hot and humid so I had to ask my daughter to finish the swim early.
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| Kovalam 11 | Kovalam 12 |
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| Kovalam 13 |
We left the hotel at around 10:15 AM for visiting the Padmanabhswamy temple. The temple has a dress code of dhoti for men and saree for women. But since we didn't carry any with us, we bought three dhotis for a total of INR 175 for three of us. In 2012, six vaults were discovered in the temple with only one vault carrying jewels, diamonds and ornaments worth INR 1 lakh crore. So I and my wife agreed to not donate a single rupee to the temple as it was already very wealthy :). We completed visit of the temple at around 12 PM and left for other places.
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| Padmanabhswamy Temple |
We reached the Trivandram Zoo at around 12:30 PM. There are multiple activities available there including Napier Museum, Chitra Art Gallery, 3-D shows, Aquarium and the Zoo itself. I first decided to cover museum and art gallery which has INR 20 entry fee for adult and INR 5 for children.
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| Napier Museum |
By the time we finished the museum it was 12:45 PM and we reached the entrance of the zoo. There is an entry fee of INR 50 for adult and 25 for children. We enquired about electric car ride and I was told the last ride left at 12:45 PM only. The next was at 2:45 PM so we had to cover the zoo on feet. This enraged my wife as she was completely tired and was not willing to walk for an hour. I had to arrange for some cold drinks to pacify her. Finally we did decide to cover the zoo on feet.
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| Trivandram Zoo 1 | Trivandram Zoo 2 |
After zoo, we visited Veli tourist village which is being developed by KTDC to counter Poovar Island. But there was not much to see there. We then reached our hotel at 4:30 PM and decided to spend rest of the evening at Samudra beach.
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| Samudra Beach 1 | Samudra Beach 2 |
Kovalam to Kochi to Pune: We left from Kovalam the next morning at 7:45 AM for Kochi and reached airport at around 2 PM. We took our lunch at Kochi airport ordering Veg roll, Medu wada sambhar and idli sambhar. The total bill came to around INR 400. We had flight at 4 PM which via Bangalore brought us to Pune at 10:30 PM. We had really a good trip and nobody got any illness except for vomiting from my daughter on hilly routes. As of this writing, my daughter has some fever due to throat infection but we were lucky it didn't happen on the trip. The air travel back was good too as there was heavy rain at Kochi and Bangalore and when we reached Pune, we got our left out keys back from the airport security check too.
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| Back to Pune |
I would really recommend to visit Munnar and Kovalam at least once as they are amazing places. I would suggest you keep enough time not just for site seeing but also to just spend time at hotel and enjoy the hills at Munnar and beach at Kovalam.
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