It's been more than six months since we went to Kerala and I almost gave up on writing this post. But, a friend reminded me about it and I thought maybe I should be a bit productive during my break. While there are tons of good Kerala itineraries online, we didn't really follow them much. We decided to stay in one place and explore nearby areas. Our driver was really excited to take us to places that were three hours drive away and show us around, but we resisted. It worked out for us for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, because of how we wanted to travel. We didn't really want a very hectic trip as we had other things planned after this one ended. We were really looking forward to relaxing a little. Second, because the monsoon season had not been great last year, the waterfalls that everyone was recommending near Munnar were mostly dry. The other things that Munnar had to offer were also available in Thekkady (where we spent the week) and we enjoyed them. Staying in one place gave us the opportunity to explore that area well. We enjoyed animal and bird watching and hiking in the jungle. We did make a one day trip to Alleppey though.
Traveling to Kerala was much more convenient than what I thought it would be. You could of course very easily get a driver who speaks English. We rented a car for the entire week, but a lot of people don't find it necessary. Thekkady is a small enough place that you can walk around and take a rickshaw. The car was convenient though, especially as we contemplated changing our plans frequently. The other aspect of Kerala travel that I absolutely loved was the availability and cleanliness of public restrooms! The streets were equally clean.
Periyar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary
This is where we spent a lot of our time, hiking and watching birds and animals. A lot of itineraries suggest taking a boat tour on the Periyar lake and then move on to Munnar. This is not a bad idea if you are short on time. The boat tour allows you to see a lot of birds. If you want to see some animals as well, it's best to go as early as possible. Animals might come to the lake to drink water. But as the human activity near the lake increases, the animals retreat inside the jungle. The chances of seeing animals also increases on hiking trips. But again you want to get an early start. We took the boat tour one morning, went on a hike another morning and did a half-day hiking and rafting trip another day. We saw different animals each day. Don't expect to see any tigers. They are way inside the (large and dense) jungle and the tourists are not allowed anywhere near the real dense parts of the jungle. The tours are great though! The tours in the jungle are lead by locals employed by the government and we had good tour guides on all the trips. Here are some shots that we took on our trips:
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| Dead tree trunks at Periyar Lake |
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| Bamboo rafts on the lake |
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| Early morning at the lake | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| Snakebird |
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| Kingfisher |
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Egrets
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| Great Hornbill |
No, I did not upload all the pictures that we took :-) There were too many and it was hard to pick some, but I left out many of them! The Great Hornbill (state bird of Kerala) was majestic! As we clicked pictures, it took off from the branch that it was perched on. And as it took flight, it made this amazing
whoosh sound that was impossible to miss. It's 60" wingspan made that sound as it flew.
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| Elephants |
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| Monkeys Fighting |
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| Malabar Spider |
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| Indian Gaur |
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| Wild Dog |
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| Nilgiri Monkey |
The only reason we got pictures of most of these birds and animals was thanks to the nice lens that S was carrying. We were really far away from them, as you can imagine.
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| My guy in action :-) |
While there were many different types of trees and flowers in the jungle, the one that caught my eye was a fragrant one that grew in abundance in a single area where we saw the elephants. These flowers are called Sontaka in Marathi. I was totally surprised to see them growing in the wild and was happy to put one in my hair! The picture above was taken when S was trying to capture the elephants and the plants in front of him are the Sontaka plants (looked like a field!).
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| Butterfly Ginger Lily (Sonataka) |
Performance Art
While we spent the mornings hiking and boating, there were other things to do in Thekkady later on in the day. One such activity that we were really looking forward to was the Kathakali performance. Kathakali is one of the major classical dance forms in India and uses elaborate costumes and make up. The expressions of the dancers in this dance form are also beautiful to watch. We took so many pictures of the dancers' expressions that I can easily create several good gifs! While it would be really nice to watch an authentic performance in a temple, preferably during a festival, we didn't have that luxury. There are several theaters in Thekkady where you can catch a one hour evening show. We went an hour early to watch the dancers put on their make-up, masks and other elaborate costumes. Even today, only men perform Kathakali. Here are some of the shots that we were able to take:
The guy sitting in the back was the story teller and the performers only used their expressions to convey the story.
The other performance that we saw was that of south Indian martial art, called Kalaripayattu. We saw this at a theater as well, but if you can actually see practice sessions of this in the outdoors, I think that might be a better experience. The performance was good, but it was in a pit and the performers were in constant motion. So, it was hard for me to capture good images. Since a lot of the moves involve people flying in the air, pictures taken from below would look much better than the ones taken at eye level.
Cooking Class and Food
We both love trying different cuisines and enjoy all kinds of food. Having grown up next to Mallu neighbors for a significant period in my life, I especially enjoy Kerala food. So, the idea of eating authentic food in India was very inviting. Food in Thekkady was super tasty and cheap. The employees at the resort where we stayed were more than happy to oblige us with signature Kerala dishes such as appam, idiappam, egg curry, aviyal, fish currry and many more.
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| Fish Curry |
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| Puttu set for breafast |
We also took a cooking class one evening. One thing that I have enjoyed about cooking classes that I have taken so far are meeting other travelers and the chefs themselves. Our chef at this cooking class had a gregarious personality and he was very entertaining. All of the other people who attended the class were non-Indians, but he made all of us shred coconut using a traditional Indian shredder (a bit scary for those who haven't used it before!). We learned how to make several Kerala dishes, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, including the flaky parathas. This was a low key place, but great food and company. There are many fancy cooking classes in Thekkady, but I would totally recommend the family owned and run Bar-B-Que.
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| Making Beans Thoran |
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| Shredding coconut |
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| Making pineapple curry |
Backwaters
While we enjoyed our time eating, hiking and shopping in Thekkady, we took a day trip to Alleppey to experience the backwaters. It was a peaceful trip through the backwaters and we stopped at a small eatery for lunch. The food was amazing! We ate as if we hadn't eaten in a long time. Totally loved the thoran made from the florets of banana flower.
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| Houseboats and palm trees |
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| Fresh coconut |
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| Kerala thali served on a banana leaf |
Beaching
We spent some time at the beach in Alleppey. There is a lighthouse nearby. However, it was closed the day we were there. The beach was fun. Crowded as everywhere else in India but fun to just sit and people watch.
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| Alleppey beach |
Spice Gardens, Tea Gardens and Mountain Vistas
There are tons of spice and tea gardens near Thekkady. We decided to visit them instead of going to Munnar. The spices and tea make for great souvenirs. At the spice garden they gave us a tour, pointing out the various plants and trees and describing the properties and uses of each of the spices. Since, it was just the two of us on the tour, it was fun to walk around and smell and taste some of the spices. The tea garden also has a tour of their factory and you can see how it's made, but we skipped it and instead just walked in the gardens. It wasn't much of a hike all the way up and the views from the top were beautiful.
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| Tea Gardens from far |
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| Tea gardens up close |
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| Spices at the Spice Garden |
We then went to a small village, named Parunthumpara.This is not a highly popular tourist spot. But, this village is at a higher altitude and hence has some really neat views. It was nice to just walk and look around. Getting here was a little tricky though as a patch of road was unfinished in between. That made our driver a bit nervous for his car. But we managed to travel fine.
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| Path to a view point in Parunthumpara |
Shopping
We weren't very keen on shopping in Thekkady and really just wanted to enjoy the food (which we certainly did!). Shopping is also pretty cheap in Thekkady. I bought Kerala sarees for both of our moms. We also found this lovely lamp, which now hangs in our home. Of course, an ayurvedic massage is not to be missed and I would recommend the place inside Periyar National Park. There is a jungle lodge inside the park, called Aranya Nivas and they give good massages. Make your reservation during the day as entry to the park is only until 5 pm.
Kochi
Our flight on the last day was from Kochi and it was later in the day. We left our hotel early in the morning and reached Kochi as places were opening. We didn't have too much time and some of the touristy places were actually closed on Friday. There are some very nice places to eat in Kochi and it was hard to pick one. We picked Ginger House and were happy to have made that decision. This place is at the waterfront and has delicious food. Everything has ginger in it, including the ice cream. We ordered quite a bit and finished all of it! The place is huge and the owner has a large collection of antiques. We got to walk around and see some of it. They also sell most of that stuff and trust me, I would have bought some of it, if I had a traditional home in India. This place should not be missed!
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| Ginger House Museum Restaurant in Jew Town, Kochi |
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| Wall and Ceiling of Ginger House |
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| Colorful |
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| Delicious Food at Ginger House! |
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| Antique Front Gate of a Home |
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| More Antiques at Ginger House Museum Restaurant |
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| Typical shop in Jew Town, Kochi |
All in all this was a fun trip. Quite honestly, I don't mind flying to Kochi for a day just to do a few touristy things and eat some good seafood!
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