Well before starting this post, let me explain something. I’m still being asked if we are overseas at the moment, well like everyone else we are at home and apart from local trips, we can not travel overseas. These posts are all related to our previous trips. This one is the third part of our first trip to India many years ago.
After spending a week in Kutch desert in Gujarat, it was time to move south and taste a little bit of southern India. We decided to skip Goa and get further south to get more authentic taste of Southern India. While we were staying in Bhuj, we managed to book our flight tickets for the rest of the trip. The prices were really affordable. We paid 150 USD for 4 flights. Bhuj to Mumbai and from Mumbai to Cochin in Kerala and then from Cochin to Varanasi via New Delhi. We booked most of our flights with Kingfisher and my Indian colleagues just told me that Kingfisher Airline is no longer available in India but I still think, there are lots of reasonable and affordable domestic flights available in India which considering the size of India and distances, makes travelling by air a good option, especially on a tight schedule travel plans.
Kochi formerly known as Cochin, which is the most populated city in the Indian state of Kerala is also the most popular tourist destination for both domestic and international visitors in the area. Our flight landed in Kochi airport just before the sunset and from there, we went directly to our home stay in rural area of Kochi close to Kochi fort beach. A lush green neighborhood which was a huge contrast to the dry desert atmosphere of the Kutch desert, where we came from.
After spending a hot humid night under the fly net on the roof top, it was time to get out and visit southern India. Apart from the huge contrast in the scenery and plantation between central India and Southern India, in south, everything was much calmer. Unlike the central India, which most of the population are Hindus, in south it was a combination of Hindus, Muslims and Christians and it caused a more diverse cuisine in the area. As a result after few weeks, we finally had some non veterinarian dishes.
One of the main attractions in Kochi is its old traditional Chinese nets , still in use ( mainly as a tourist attraction) in Kochi Fort beach along side the Arabian sea. After spending the morning in Kochi and have a nap back in our room, it was time to sit at the beach and watch the sunset over the Chinese fishing nets.
Visiting Munnar:
It has been more than two weeks that we were in India. Since the beginning, we were struggling with the heat, especially in the big cities when it was topped with pollution too. That’s why we decided to give ourselves a break and head to one of many hill stations in Kerala for few days.
A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia (particularly India), but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by European colonial rulers as refuges from the summer heat, up where temperatures are cooler. In the Indian context, most hill stations are at an altitude of approximately 1,000 to 2,500 metres (3,300 to 8,200 ft); very few are outside this range. There are almost 62 hill stations in India and they are a perfect destination for domestic tourism as well. We picked Munnar, for it’s cool weather, and its lush green tea plantations. It’s 3-4 hours ride in local bus from Kochi bus station.
Getting off the bus around 3:00 pm, after an uphill ride for couple of hours, the cool refreshing breeze hit us in the face and we knew that it was the best decision we made, despite the long bus ride. It was end of March, beginning of April and Munnar was quiet. We walked from the bus station to a small family run hotel on the edge of a tea field on top of a hill by the main road and got a comfortable room for 5 USD a night. For the first time ever in India, they had thick blankets on the beds. The third sunset view in Kerala was overlooking the amazing lush green hills covered with clouds. The interesting bit about Munnar for me was looking for the internet cafe to check my emails and finally got to a place with internet sign in front of it. we walked in and a nice welcoming old lady, asked us to follow her inside her house, after passing through her house and a shed for their buffaloes we got to a small room with floors covered in hays where in the corner, they had an old PC and a printer with internet access. Internet speed was actually pretty good and this is pretty much one of the reasons that it’s really easy to travel around in India. First thing is English being spoken almost by everyone in the country and after that, internet availability even in remote areas, where you don’t even expect it. I’m not talking about 2020, this trip was back in 2008 and yet we could manage lots of things online and got access to Internet pretty much from everywhere.
On the second morning, we left our hotel early and went for a day hike along side the hills around Munnar. There are a lot of nice roads/pathways all around Munnar which gives everyone the chance to go on a hike without a guide or someone that knows the area. We had a great walk without getting lost and stopped from time to time to catch up with locals working in the tea fields.
After spending a nice quiet day walking in nature and breathing the clean air in higher altitude and having nice food in Munnar, for another day, we were ready to move back to Kochi to get to the last destination in Kerala.
Visiting Alleppey, Venice of the East:
Officially called Alappuzha, Alleppey is a city in the South Indian state of Kerala. Bordering the Laccadive Sea, it is known for its wide network of interlinking, palm-fringed canals called backwaters. Allepey is also popular for its Houseboat cruises that pass through the serene backwaters and makes it possible to catch glimpses of green paddy fields, choir making activities, beautiful avifauna and witness the life of locals in Kerala. Towards the shore lies the Alleppey beach in the Arabian Sea, From Kochi bus station, Alleppey is only an hour bus ride south and it offers different types of accommodations from beach resorts to fancy house boats on the canals to small family run hotels in the Alleppey township. As always we picked the last option and stayed in a small hotel running with a big family and they were offering the best home cooked meals that we had in the whole India. They arranged a small boat ride for us for the next morning to watch the life in the back waters of Alleppey.
Witnessing the life by the backwaters of Alleppey is truly a unique experience and definitely worth it, especially visiting the backwaters in small boat, as they can get into smaller canals. For most of the villages that we visited the only means of transportation is the boat. early in the morning, kids were going to schools by boat, women were washing the dishes in the water and some were taking a bath or brushing their teeth by the water.
Visiting Alleppey was such a great experience, we didn’t expect much from it as it is a popular tourist destination in Kerala but surprisingly, it was calm, authentic, real and peaceful. The brothers who took us for the boat ride, suggested us to stay somewhere on the water canals and have lunch in the small family run restaurant by water. In Kerala and Southern Indian cuisine, main meal is usually served on banana leaf and it is usually a combination of vegetarian and non vegetarian curries, rice and vegetables. Well we decided to order a grilled fish too to try the back waters fresh water fish. Like the rest of India, we had our lunch including the fish with hand and got back on boat to get to our room and pack for our next day flight.
As soon as we got off the boat on a hot humid afternoon in Alleppey, my left hand started to get slightly itchy for no reason. We were walking through the Alleppey city center to get some fruits and snacks for the next day and as we were walking, I realized that my hand is getting from being only itchy to puffy and itchy. Within half an hour, my left hand puffed up so badly that we had to go to a jewelry shop in the town and ask them to cut my wedding ring, as my finger was puffing around the ring. I had the worst night back at the hotel as my hand was itching so badly. In the meantime, we had to take a taxi to get to the Kochi airport the next morning to take a flight to New Delhi and after a long layover, take another flight to Varanasi. After a sleepless night, we went to the hospital, first thing in the morning.
To be honest, I was so nervous to go to the public hospital in a small town in India, but after getting into the emergency unit reception and visiting the doctor, all my fears were gone. As soon as he looked at my hand, he smiled and said, “did you eat the river fish by hand?” and in less than five minutes, I got the injection under my hand skin to calm down the allergic reaction. That has been the first and last time in my whole life so far that my body did an allergic reaction to anything. Interestingly enough, I ate the whole fish and I was fine but my hand skin didn’t like the fish skin apparently.
They gave me extra prescription to calm down my allergic reaction and we rushed back to the hotel to pack the backpacks and head to the airport for a long day trip to Varanasi. My hand didn’t let me relax even for a minute for the whole day and the heat didn’t help it either. But yet, it didn’t affect the amazing and diverse experience that we had in Southern India. In the next post, we travel through the last leg of our journey together and will travel back in time to visit sacred Ganga river in Varanasi, my childhood dream destination and will tell you why I always wanted to get to Varanasi since I was a kid. Till then take care.
Michael Chernishov
August 7, 2020 at 8:59amGreat post Azadeh and Amir! I visited Kerala in 2002.
What a great experience, so many interesting tastes and smells and so much colour, a sensory overload! I have some similar photos from my backwater cruise there too! (But your photos are better) I took the train to Trivandrum, Keral from Delhi via Agra (2-1/2 days by train). India has an excellent rail network. While in Delhi I visited a friend and had some great experiences. Thanks for your post. I have a similar photo of the sunset from Mumbai. I’m looking forward to reading your post about Varanasi.
akhodaparast
August 17, 2020 at 5:35amThanks Micheal. didn’t know that you’ve been to Kerala too. We’ve been there in 2008. I hope that you are doing well. Will catch up with you guys when weather gets better soon. Take care.