Holidaying in God's own Country.......
Had been on a family vacation to kerala.
Here's a long,detailed account!!!
We(Dad, mom and me) left for B’lore on Friday as we had to attend a family function. Needless to say finding the house was a Herculean task (with my kind of geographic sense finding an address in b’lore would probably take ages!!!). The function was a ‘house warming’ ceremony .After the function and all the usual chit-chatting we headed for the railway station. Our train for Ernakulam was scheduled at 9.45p.m.
The journey was a pleasant one(I remember nothing more than dozin off …). We reached Ernakulam on the following morning at 10am. After much speculation whether to alight at the Erakulam junction or Ernakulam town station we finally decided to alight at the latter. (we asked numerous people which station would be closer to our hotel and got varied answers so finally our instincts helped make a decision!).Thankfully we had made the right choice and the autowaalah knew our hotel “Bharat tourist home”popularly
Called as B.T.H.
At Ernakulam:
We were supposed to meet up with two more families at the hotel.
The hotel was not too assuming from the exterior. Our room was on the 4th floor and it was a pleasant surprise when we checked into the room. The view from the window of our room was indeed breathtaking!! We could see the Cochin harbor…….the vast sea……studded with ships which were making funny noises(later I learnt that it was the ship sirens)…there were also large number of ferries ……I felt like I was being beckoned by the sea!!
For people like us who don’t live by the sea-coast the seas have always been a fascination. The hotel room was very elegantly furnished in old teak and the transition from the hard train seats to the cozy beds was more than welcome!!
My mom’s sis and fly from b’lore( from now referred to as B.aunt) had already arrived and they were in the 5th floor.
Quickly gave them a visit and the kids were totally thrilled about the place. Very soon the other aunt and fly from Trivandrum(from now referred to as T.aunt) also arrived.Their room was also on the fourth floor.
It was fun watching these kids(b’lore cousins) shuttle between 4th and 5th floors and make merry.
We cousins went exploring the hotel and landed at the terrace of the hotel. It had these huge tables ,the front portion of which was carved in the shape of a kerala boat it looked so much like those onam boats…….we sat there and enjoyed the view from the terrace top………on the left was the clear blue cochin harbour……the front of the hotel was a typical kerala style temple ….which looked so earthy and the traffic was so minimal!!
Ernakulam and Cochin are twin cities and huge, happening cities of kerala yet it was so surprising to observe that the traffic was so bleak in comparison with B’lore!!!
After a lil more of exploration of the hotel( it included a sprawling garden adorned by some beautiful earthenware and the amusement park……..since there were no guards I managed to swing too…..) we had lunch at “Subhiksha” the restaurant of B.T.H.
It was a complete kerala vegetarian meal which was served in a very homely manner on plantains. The ambience of the restaurant was very warm and ethnic.Soon after the sumptuous meal we hurried to the ferry-ride at the Cochin harbor which was scheduled at 2.30.
The Mechanised boat Ride:
We(now 3 families or 10 people)walked from our hotel to the Vembanaad Lake(it’s so huge that I’d prefer calling it a sea…..this lake then joins the Arabian ocean) which was just a little less than 500 mts. It was indeed very hot yet the breeze was very soothing. After getting totally geared with caps and goggles We occupied the first floor of the boat where the chairs were neatly tethered to the boat with ropes. The ground floor was mostly occupied by some foreigners….our floor comprised of 3 bengali families…..1 tamil family…..2 newly weds…….and one other family probably telugu……..
The boat sprang into action and we were off into the
sea….
It was pretty exciting to be there on the boat for three hours!!!
Our guide (or atlest it semed so) briefed us in typical mallu accent about the trip …..as soon as he descended to the lower portion of the boat we began giggling and commenting…..it seemed as if they could understand us and the next time around another guy (with a neutral accent )emerged and took on from there.
The boat took us to the vast lake where we were shown the Taj-retreat( it’s a mammoth hotel which is awesome and the tariff is 10,000 per day!!),the civil and the defence portion of the harbor which comprised of lofty ships and carriers, and large number of beautiful islands.
The first destination was Mattancherry (it has this old fort),the museum which housed some very fine paintings and murals.
The murals on the walls were depicting the stories of Ramayana &
were really old…..infact parts of it were still being restored….
It was getting damn hot ….and we managed to grab a cool-drink before we got back on the ferry
Our next destination was the island on which there were these “Chinese fishing nets”. These nets are one of it’s kind in the world and was invented by the Chinese. It is a manual fishing technique …..comprises of huge bow shape structures facing the sea(made of bamboo and teak),the other portion made of erect structures which have heavy loads functioning like pulleys. 6-7 men pull these ropes with pulleys and the net which is connected the bow shape structures emerges from the sea upward……one of the folks wud go to the other end and inspect if there is any PRIZE CATCH and then report to the others ……and they wud gently release the ropes….
Indeed a very trying task!! And at the end it’s hardly ½ to 1 kg of fish they wud manage to get.
On the same island, we headed off to St.Francis Church.The speciaity of this church is that Vasco-Da-Gama was originally buried here. on the way to the church there were beautiful villas built in typical dutch style ……..they looked so elegant painted in pure white,adorned with fences .
The church showcases the Dutch, Portuguese influences. It was a real calm and serene atmosphere.
The ferry now made it’s way back . We were now able to see King size ships making their way into the expansive sea……mostly carrying goods. My parents and me got all excited to see the P&O neddlloyd carriers on board (as tht’s where my brother works!).
We also saw the sea’s mouth (tht’s the entrance of the Arabian sea).
B.aunt was complainin tht we din have any music on our ferry (coz some other ferries we saw had some playing).But there was more entertainment on our ferry.what with the newly weds romance,and the two toddlers (one tamil baby which was sooooooo cute and another Bengali toddler tryin to act smart with it’s newly acquired neon plastic sun-glasses with it’s mouth stuffed with peanuts!!).
B’uncle was constantly getting match updates and tht seemed to strike a chord with all the other passengers!
We alighted the boat after a whole 3 hours and the experience was truly thrilling!! Felt slightly wobbly as soon as we descended ( tht was perhaps the wave like motion which made us feel so).
After freshening up we decided to explore the Ernakulam city .
it was late evening and we decided to walk down to M.G.Road looks like every city in India has one with this name).It seemed like quiet a happening place…with high-rise buildings and huge shopping malls .One thing u can never miss in kerala cities r these arcane Jewellery shops .We witnessed so many such shops which were infact MultiStoreyed jewellery shops!!
After having a light dinner we finally retired for the day.
Indeed one can call it a long day!!
Early next morning we set off to Muvatipuzha(I’m sure I spelt that wrong……the names of some of these places r indeed tricky!!).
We had to attend an upanayanam function there. We were meeting some of these relatives after a really long time and hence my mom was all excited. The upanayanam was that of an NRI boy from London and wat was very striking to me was that this little boy was unlike most snobbish NRI kids. (and he knew how to have payasam in a plantain leaf!!) .
The people out here speak a totally different dialect of Konkani( it’s called the cochin konkani) and I was just wondering if wat I was tryin to communicate went across or were my efforts futile.
Meanwhile it was fun tryin to pick up few of the “cochin konkani ” words and experimenting with the same!!
We had a sumptuous meal (wat with the ada prathaman which tasted like kulfi…..to beat the scorchin heat!!) .I’d rate it the best lunch of the trip!!
It was late noon when we set off to our next destination PERIYAR.
(This part of the vacation did not include the B.anut,T.aunt and families)
Getting to Periyar:
It was a tremendous effort getting there. We had to change a couple of buses. First to Kottayam and than from kottayam to Thekkady.The bus we boarded from kottayam was already full and had no seats……but that din deter us coz the next bus was 2 hours later! It was an ordeal to travel on such a bus ,what with a rash conductor…….no seats ….and a driver who seemed to use the brakes as often as he wud breathe!!
I was feeling totally nauseated ,somehow managed to get a single seat near the driver’s cabin.
Nevertheless the way to thekkady(it’s the town where Periyar lake and sanctuary is located) was spellbinding!!There were dense forests all around with deep purple mountains setting the perfect backdrop and as the bus climbed the steep ghats the view became more and more enchanting.
The bus was negotiating steep curves and taking hairpin like curves. Since our destination is located at an altitude there was this cool wind which seemed to soothe our frayed nerves…….
Finally we reached Thekkady after 5 hours of journey.
Luckily the auto guy knew our hotel .At 9p.m we reached Michael’s Inn(for which we had booked online after lookin up some websites).
Michael’s Inn is quaint lodge with very decent accommodation. The thing that struck me most bout the place was the limy-lemony fragrance as soon as we entered .It seemed to be an ultimate mood-enhancer. The fresh and lingering fragrance was just what was needed for dreary travelers like us!
We dined at the restaurant and the Hot-n-sour soup did the trick for my tired soul and I went off into deep slumber without even giving a thought bout watchin my daily dose of serials!!
Periyar Lake and thekkady:
Next morning we were up and ready by around 8.30a.m and went to the hotel’s travel desk. We were informed that the boat ride at the periyar lake had timings like 7a.m,9.30a.m,11.30 a.m and 4p.m .We were also told that one cud witness maximum number of animals in the early morning or the evening session . However we din want to while away time until 4 and so decided to go for the 9.30 ride.On the way to the Periyar lake we saw a whole lot of K.T.D.C inns and hotels. There were really beautiful right in the middle of the sanctuary!! The tariffs were pretty high but considering the view and the surroundings guess it would have been worth!
We were just on time or perhaps a little late ……we bought the tickets and rushed to the boat which had already started off and had got instructions to stop and wait for some more passengers.
The run towards the boat was real fun! We ran down the stairs to theground and from there it was bout 400mts to the boat
There were steep valleys covered with green and huge rocks bordering them……on either side of the river were dense forests covered with a plethora of trees. We were out of breath and panting when we reached the boat which was waitin for us and some foreigners who closely followed us….
We managed to get onto the boat and started off…..
It was a two hour ride in the deep green serene waters and the view was just scintillating!!we din have much hopes of spotting too many wild animals .Initially we did see a lot of species of birds and a few wild boar…….we also had a glimpse of some creatures which rolled their bodies on the mud (on the shores of the lake) guess it’s called the sea-otter.We had almost lost hopes of finding any elephants but lo-n-Behold ……..to our luck after nearly one hour of the ride we did seee 2 herds of elephants!! They were really majestic! The first herd comprised of three elephants and they were quenching their thirst at the banks of the river…..the boat meandered really close to the elephants reducing any noise so as to not scare these creatures away…… it was such a close encounter!!! The second herd was larger one and included a cute baby elephant which was trying to pour mud all over it and was duly being protected by the other bigger elephants…….
On the way back too we spoted some elephants and some wild buffaloes….all thru the ride I was wishing that I should have been a good photographer to capture the wild encounters!!!
On the way back from the periyar lake we found an over enthusiastic auto driver who offered to be our guide for the day!
We were initially taken to the tea plantations ……..the ride was really pleasant and the temperatures seemed to be falling……
The lush green tea plantations in a calm and cool environment was very soothing to the eye! It looked like bright green carpets were about to be laid on the concrete roads.
We also saw the tea-picking ladies at their work……these days the leaves are not hand-picked …….there are some special simple equipment to pick the leaves……we chatted with them for a while and left for the tea factory…..the Conemara tea factory looked more like a quaint little guesthouse to me……
Since visitors are allowed we had the opportunity to look at the entire process of tea- making…right from the leaves being unloaded from the trucks……the drying of the leaves pounding the leaves into a fine paste …..subjecting them to an entire process of heating ,filtering cooling and finally separtion of the tea powder according to the sizes of the granules!!
We just could not resist the temptation of buying a pack of tea from the factory outlet just ouside the factory……..
On the way back to our hotel we stopped at the “abraham’s spice garden”. This small cottage had a sprawling backyard which had all imaginable plants under the sun! A dextrous guide who seemed to know all languages including kannada and hindi began showing us around the garden…….we saw some rare beautiful orchids,plums,cocoa,arecanut,yam,cinnamon,bay leaf….the list is endless…….My mom who has a green thumb was truly overwhelmed!!
In the evening just went down the streets of Thekkady and explored some souvenier shops. Entered quite a few beautiful souvenier shops which housed one of the most intricate antique pices I’ve ever seen!
Finally time for dinner……..some local shops had suggested that we should visit a certain restaurant called “ambadi” and we set out looking for it……..The restaurant had a beautiful ambience and was set in pure kerala ethnic style n it was filled with dining foreigners…….but the food was so bland and awful …… tht
i’m bloggin bout this as a statutory warning!!!
Well we set out for good old Mysore next morning…..and the journey was absolutely strenuous…….nearly 19 hours of Bus-journey!!(coz we din have our train reservations confirmed!!).
Just keying in the whole experience makes me relive it!!
God’s own country has definitely a lot to offer and holidaying in Kerala is truly rejuvenating!!
Finally must say that family vacations certainly bring with them a whole lot of sweet memories to last a lifetime!!!
Here's a long,detailed account!!!
We(Dad, mom and me) left for B’lore on Friday as we had to attend a family function. Needless to say finding the house was a Herculean task (with my kind of geographic sense finding an address in b’lore would probably take ages!!!). The function was a ‘house warming’ ceremony .After the function and all the usual chit-chatting we headed for the railway station. Our train for Ernakulam was scheduled at 9.45p.m.
The journey was a pleasant one(I remember nothing more than dozin off …). We reached Ernakulam on the following morning at 10am. After much speculation whether to alight at the Erakulam junction or Ernakulam town station we finally decided to alight at the latter. (we asked numerous people which station would be closer to our hotel and got varied answers so finally our instincts helped make a decision!).Thankfully we had made the right choice and the autowaalah knew our hotel “Bharat tourist home”popularly
Called as B.T.H.
At Ernakulam:
We were supposed to meet up with two more families at the hotel.
The hotel was not too assuming from the exterior. Our room was on the 4th floor and it was a pleasant surprise when we checked into the room. The view from the window of our room was indeed breathtaking!! We could see the Cochin harbor…….the vast sea……studded with ships which were making funny noises(later I learnt that it was the ship sirens)…there were also large number of ferries ……I felt like I was being beckoned by the sea!!
For people like us who don’t live by the sea-coast the seas have always been a fascination. The hotel room was very elegantly furnished in old teak and the transition from the hard train seats to the cozy beds was more than welcome!!
My mom’s sis and fly from b’lore( from now referred to as B.aunt) had already arrived and they were in the 5th floor.
Quickly gave them a visit and the kids were totally thrilled about the place. Very soon the other aunt and fly from Trivandrum(from now referred to as T.aunt) also arrived.Their room was also on the fourth floor.
It was fun watching these kids(b’lore cousins) shuttle between 4th and 5th floors and make merry.
We cousins went exploring the hotel and landed at the terrace of the hotel. It had these huge tables ,the front portion of which was carved in the shape of a kerala boat it looked so much like those onam boats…….we sat there and enjoyed the view from the terrace top………on the left was the clear blue cochin harbour……the front of the hotel was a typical kerala style temple ….which looked so earthy and the traffic was so minimal!!
Ernakulam and Cochin are twin cities and huge, happening cities of kerala yet it was so surprising to observe that the traffic was so bleak in comparison with B’lore!!!
After a lil more of exploration of the hotel( it included a sprawling garden adorned by some beautiful earthenware and the amusement park……..since there were no guards I managed to swing too…..) we had lunch at “Subhiksha” the restaurant of B.T.H.
It was a complete kerala vegetarian meal which was served in a very homely manner on plantains. The ambience of the restaurant was very warm and ethnic.Soon after the sumptuous meal we hurried to the ferry-ride at the Cochin harbor which was scheduled at 2.30.
The Mechanised boat Ride:
We(now 3 families or 10 people)walked from our hotel to the Vembanaad Lake(it’s so huge that I’d prefer calling it a sea…..this lake then joins the Arabian ocean) which was just a little less than 500 mts. It was indeed very hot yet the breeze was very soothing. After getting totally geared with caps and goggles We occupied the first floor of the boat where the chairs were neatly tethered to the boat with ropes. The ground floor was mostly occupied by some foreigners….our floor comprised of 3 bengali families…..1 tamil family…..2 newly weds…….and one other family probably telugu……..
The boat sprang into action and we were off into the
sea….
It was pretty exciting to be there on the boat for three hours!!!
Our guide (or atlest it semed so) briefed us in typical mallu accent about the trip …..as soon as he descended to the lower portion of the boat we began giggling and commenting…..it seemed as if they could understand us and the next time around another guy (with a neutral accent )emerged and took on from there.
The boat took us to the vast lake where we were shown the Taj-retreat( it’s a mammoth hotel which is awesome and the tariff is 10,000 per day!!),the civil and the defence portion of the harbor which comprised of lofty ships and carriers, and large number of beautiful islands.
The first destination was Mattancherry (it has this old fort),the museum which housed some very fine paintings and murals.
The murals on the walls were depicting the stories of Ramayana &
were really old…..infact parts of it were still being restored….
It was getting damn hot ….and we managed to grab a cool-drink before we got back on the ferry
Our next destination was the island on which there were these “Chinese fishing nets”. These nets are one of it’s kind in the world and was invented by the Chinese. It is a manual fishing technique …..comprises of huge bow shape structures facing the sea(made of bamboo and teak),the other portion made of erect structures which have heavy loads functioning like pulleys. 6-7 men pull these ropes with pulleys and the net which is connected the bow shape structures emerges from the sea upward……one of the folks wud go to the other end and inspect if there is any PRIZE CATCH and then report to the others ……and they wud gently release the ropes….
Indeed a very trying task!! And at the end it’s hardly ½ to 1 kg of fish they wud manage to get.
On the same island, we headed off to St.Francis Church.The speciaity of this church is that Vasco-Da-Gama was originally buried here. on the way to the church there were beautiful villas built in typical dutch style ……..they looked so elegant painted in pure white,adorned with fences .
The church showcases the Dutch, Portuguese influences. It was a real calm and serene atmosphere.
The ferry now made it’s way back . We were now able to see King size ships making their way into the expansive sea……mostly carrying goods. My parents and me got all excited to see the P&O neddlloyd carriers on board (as tht’s where my brother works!).
We also saw the sea’s mouth (tht’s the entrance of the Arabian sea).
B.aunt was complainin tht we din have any music on our ferry (coz some other ferries we saw had some playing).But there was more entertainment on our ferry.what with the newly weds romance,and the two toddlers (one tamil baby which was sooooooo cute and another Bengali toddler tryin to act smart with it’s newly acquired neon plastic sun-glasses with it’s mouth stuffed with peanuts!!).
B’uncle was constantly getting match updates and tht seemed to strike a chord with all the other passengers!
We alighted the boat after a whole 3 hours and the experience was truly thrilling!! Felt slightly wobbly as soon as we descended ( tht was perhaps the wave like motion which made us feel so).
After freshening up we decided to explore the Ernakulam city .
it was late evening and we decided to walk down to M.G.Road looks like every city in India has one with this name).It seemed like quiet a happening place…with high-rise buildings and huge shopping malls .One thing u can never miss in kerala cities r these arcane Jewellery shops .We witnessed so many such shops which were infact MultiStoreyed jewellery shops!!
After having a light dinner we finally retired for the day.
Indeed one can call it a long day!!
Early next morning we set off to Muvatipuzha(I’m sure I spelt that wrong……the names of some of these places r indeed tricky!!).
We had to attend an upanayanam function there. We were meeting some of these relatives after a really long time and hence my mom was all excited. The upanayanam was that of an NRI boy from London and wat was very striking to me was that this little boy was unlike most snobbish NRI kids. (and he knew how to have payasam in a plantain leaf!!) .
The people out here speak a totally different dialect of Konkani( it’s called the cochin konkani) and I was just wondering if wat I was tryin to communicate went across or were my efforts futile.
Meanwhile it was fun tryin to pick up few of the “cochin konkani ” words and experimenting with the same!!
We had a sumptuous meal (wat with the ada prathaman which tasted like kulfi…..to beat the scorchin heat!!) .I’d rate it the best lunch of the trip!!
It was late noon when we set off to our next destination PERIYAR.
(This part of the vacation did not include the B.anut,T.aunt and families)
Getting to Periyar:
It was a tremendous effort getting there. We had to change a couple of buses. First to Kottayam and than from kottayam to Thekkady.The bus we boarded from kottayam was already full and had no seats……but that din deter us coz the next bus was 2 hours later! It was an ordeal to travel on such a bus ,what with a rash conductor…….no seats ….and a driver who seemed to use the brakes as often as he wud breathe!!
I was feeling totally nauseated ,somehow managed to get a single seat near the driver’s cabin.
Nevertheless the way to thekkady(it’s the town where Periyar lake and sanctuary is located) was spellbinding!!There were dense forests all around with deep purple mountains setting the perfect backdrop and as the bus climbed the steep ghats the view became more and more enchanting.
The bus was negotiating steep curves and taking hairpin like curves. Since our destination is located at an altitude there was this cool wind which seemed to soothe our frayed nerves…….
Finally we reached Thekkady after 5 hours of journey.
Luckily the auto guy knew our hotel .At 9p.m we reached Michael’s Inn(for which we had booked online after lookin up some websites).
Michael’s Inn is quaint lodge with very decent accommodation. The thing that struck me most bout the place was the limy-lemony fragrance as soon as we entered .It seemed to be an ultimate mood-enhancer. The fresh and lingering fragrance was just what was needed for dreary travelers like us!
We dined at the restaurant and the Hot-n-sour soup did the trick for my tired soul and I went off into deep slumber without even giving a thought bout watchin my daily dose of serials!!
Periyar Lake and thekkady:
Next morning we were up and ready by around 8.30a.m and went to the hotel’s travel desk. We were informed that the boat ride at the periyar lake had timings like 7a.m,9.30a.m,11.30 a.m and 4p.m .We were also told that one cud witness maximum number of animals in the early morning or the evening session . However we din want to while away time until 4 and so decided to go for the 9.30 ride.On the way to the Periyar lake we saw a whole lot of K.T.D.C inns and hotels. There were really beautiful right in the middle of the sanctuary!! The tariffs were pretty high but considering the view and the surroundings guess it would have been worth!
We were just on time or perhaps a little late ……we bought the tickets and rushed to the boat which had already started off and had got instructions to stop and wait for some more passengers.
The run towards the boat was real fun! We ran down the stairs to theground and from there it was bout 400mts to the boat
There were steep valleys covered with green and huge rocks bordering them……on either side of the river were dense forests covered with a plethora of trees. We were out of breath and panting when we reached the boat which was waitin for us and some foreigners who closely followed us….
We managed to get onto the boat and started off…..
It was a two hour ride in the deep green serene waters and the view was just scintillating!!we din have much hopes of spotting too many wild animals .Initially we did see a lot of species of birds and a few wild boar…….we also had a glimpse of some creatures which rolled their bodies on the mud (on the shores of the lake) guess it’s called the sea-otter.We had almost lost hopes of finding any elephants but lo-n-Behold ……..to our luck after nearly one hour of the ride we did seee 2 herds of elephants!! They were really majestic! The first herd comprised of three elephants and they were quenching their thirst at the banks of the river…..the boat meandered really close to the elephants reducing any noise so as to not scare these creatures away…… it was such a close encounter!!! The second herd was larger one and included a cute baby elephant which was trying to pour mud all over it and was duly being protected by the other bigger elephants…….
On the way back too we spoted some elephants and some wild buffaloes….all thru the ride I was wishing that I should have been a good photographer to capture the wild encounters!!!
On the way back from the periyar lake we found an over enthusiastic auto driver who offered to be our guide for the day!
We were initially taken to the tea plantations ……..the ride was really pleasant and the temperatures seemed to be falling……
The lush green tea plantations in a calm and cool environment was very soothing to the eye! It looked like bright green carpets were about to be laid on the concrete roads.
We also saw the tea-picking ladies at their work……these days the leaves are not hand-picked …….there are some special simple equipment to pick the leaves……we chatted with them for a while and left for the tea factory…..the Conemara tea factory looked more like a quaint little guesthouse to me……
Since visitors are allowed we had the opportunity to look at the entire process of tea- making…right from the leaves being unloaded from the trucks……the drying of the leaves pounding the leaves into a fine paste …..subjecting them to an entire process of heating ,filtering cooling and finally separtion of the tea powder according to the sizes of the granules!!
We just could not resist the temptation of buying a pack of tea from the factory outlet just ouside the factory……..
On the way back to our hotel we stopped at the “abraham’s spice garden”. This small cottage had a sprawling backyard which had all imaginable plants under the sun! A dextrous guide who seemed to know all languages including kannada and hindi began showing us around the garden…….we saw some rare beautiful orchids,plums,cocoa,arecanut,yam,cinnamon,bay leaf….the list is endless…….My mom who has a green thumb was truly overwhelmed!!
In the evening just went down the streets of Thekkady and explored some souvenier shops. Entered quite a few beautiful souvenier shops which housed one of the most intricate antique pices I’ve ever seen!
Finally time for dinner……..some local shops had suggested that we should visit a certain restaurant called “ambadi” and we set out looking for it……..The restaurant had a beautiful ambience and was set in pure kerala ethnic style n it was filled with dining foreigners…….but the food was so bland and awful …… tht
i’m bloggin bout this as a statutory warning!!!
Well we set out for good old Mysore next morning…..and the journey was absolutely strenuous…….nearly 19 hours of Bus-journey!!(coz we din have our train reservations confirmed!!).
Just keying in the whole experience makes me relive it!!
God’s own country has definitely a lot to offer and holidaying in Kerala is truly rejuvenating!!
Finally must say that family vacations certainly bring with them a whole lot of sweet memories to last a lifetime!!!