Darjeeling went to General Election 2024 on April 26. So as per the norm, all public places such as the zoo, mountaineering institute were closed. Accordingly we changed our plans.Instead of putting up in Darjeeling, we went to Mirik, famous for the lake with the same name.
The road from Ghoom to Mirik enroute Sukhiya Pokhri and Lepcha Jagat is known as Rishi Road and is the most picturesque road in Darjeeling.Road condition is excellent and the road goes through pine forests, tea gardens and small settlements.One part of road from Simana to Pashupatinagar nagar runs just at the friendly border of India and Nepal.
Lepcha Jagat needs a special mention. Its a quaint little sleepy villages with a handful of homestays surrounded by the pine forest. On a clear day,one can see the entire range from here.The homestays are run by the ethnic lepcha people of the place and they are trying to promote the place as a tourist destination in the coming days.We had limited number of days for this trip so we could not stay at Lepcha Jagat even though we think this place deserves a night stay.
From Sukhiya Pokhri, one road goes to Mane Bhanjan. Mane Bhanjan is the place to book cars if one is interested in going to Sandakphu.
From Simana to Pashupati Nagar, the road is on Indian side and the other side is Nepal.People can move
free from one side of the border to the other as many times as one wish in a day without any passport or visa. But I think to get further in, one would need some formal permission papers.At Simana, there is a viewpoint from where one can see the Mayu river and few houses in Nepal.
At Pashupati Nagar, there must be some popular temple because we saw devotees in large numbers.
As we went further down,we started seeing rea estates on either side of the road. Our route took us through Gopaldhara tea estate. At Gopaldhara there are 2/3 homestays and some restaurants. The tea estate has their own tea shop for visitors to sample their tea and buy. Okaitea tea gardens and Thurbo tea estate ( very beautiful ) will also be on the route approaching Mirik.
us
Gopaldhara
Gopaldhara
We reached Mirik Lake in the afternoon. Mirik Lake as known as Sumendu Lake stretches over 1.25km.The lake is naturally fed by spring and rain water and so it remains full all the year round.We checked in Pradhan Hotel which was just on the side of the lake before approaching the bridge. Our room was good with a balcony from where we could get a view of the lake, the horse track and the pine forests thereafter. Hotel staff was also helpful and friendly. Their restaurant makes great food so we had a good stay.
April 27 : Mirik to Kalimpong Night Halt: Kalimpong
Next day morning we explored the lake and the surroundings. Entry to the lake is absolutely free, but car parking charges are applicable.There are a lot of shops in the approach road of the lake.A lot of eateries, some permanent, some stalls. There are a lot of activities..One can just walk the entire periphery of the lake or do a horse riding.There is also option of paddle boat or row boat and fish feeding.Or one can spend the entire time browsing the shops and doing souvenirs shopping.We also visited the Saturday 'haat', which sells all local Gorkha items such as local food, sweaters, cardigans, plants, hair accessories even cloths and bags.
Boating at Mirik Lake
Haat
Haat
Afterwards we started for Kalimpong, back tracking the same way till Ghoom. Our family reached Kalimpong from Bagdogra that same day and we were excited to catch up with them to continue the rest of our vacation.
Morning breakfast was complimentary with our stay at the Kurseong Tourist Lodge. We were served puri subzi, bread toast,omlette, sweets, fruits and tea. Checkout time was 12 noon.
We headed for Darjeeling which took us almost an hour to reach. The next day was the general election day for Darjeeling district and interestingly the otherwise insanely crowded place was pretty empty. The weather was cold and cloudy and no where could one see the glimpses of the mountains.
Incase you are planning to visit Darjeeling in your own car, its good to know that hardly a few hotels have their own parking. So is the case in Ghoom. There is a MLCP paid parking but one has to deposit the car keys.
Luckily we found a homestay in Ghoom who have their own guest parking. I will share the details below.They have three rooms with a common drawing area.We were the only guests that day and hence we had the whole area for ourselves. We took the biggest room which came at 2200 INR. The other two rooms were at 1800 and 2000. Food was homemade and resonably good even though we felt quantity was little less and price was a little high compared to the food we had in the restaurants nearby. However the BEST thing about this homestay was we could see the heritage Himalayan Mountain Railway from our room window.
After a quick snacking on momos and chicken fry, we went to Batasia Loop. It is a war memorial where the Himalayan Mountain toy-train takes a 10 minutes halt for the joy riders to enjoy the mersmerising views of the Himalayas that Batasia has to offer. entry ticket for adult is 50 INR and for children its free.
April 26, Ghoom to Mirik Night halt : Mirik
Ankur went walking Ghoom station to take videos. I stayed back in the hotel with the kids. Since it was the election day at Darjeeling, so most of the public places like the famous zoo was closed. We did a quick change in plan. We headed towards Mirik, cruising our way through the picturesque Mirik Road. We will again be back in Darjeeling towards the later part of our trip.
Mercury was touching 42 celsius and the heat along with the humidity was unbearable. Added to the woes was the frequent power cut, although we do not blame the electricity supply department.As per the reports there were more than 1.5 lakh AC units sold in Kolkata alone during the month of April.
As inevitable, we headed to the hills. Our plan for this time was Darjeeling, Lava and Kalimpong.
I will not elaborate much, will only highlight the travel details so the blog series will be crisp and short.Also will provide the video links so that you can check the details for yourself.
On 23rd April, we started at around 6 am from our Kolkata home. We checked in our hotel at Malda at around 2 pm. Our route was as follows:
This is NH12 and the road condition is good, except for a 10 km stretch from Barasat towards Krishnagar. We took a small halt at Shantipur, the famous town of WB renowned for its 'taant' weavers who weave saris and gamchas. On the highway, there will be limited or no options of food, once you leave Kolkata, except for Krishnanagar and Murshidabad.
Malda is famous for its super sweet,honey fragnanted himsagar variety of mango.However when we went, the mangoes were still not ready.
We stayed at the suite room at Hotel Royal Park. Its a little old hotel but very spacious rooms and toilets.We even had an attached balcony overseeing the main road. You may check the hotel interiors in the video.
It is located at the prime location of Kurseong. Room size are standard and have very cozy wooden interiors. There is ample space for car parking, something which most hotels in Darjeeling and Kurseong do not have. Breakfast was inclusive in the room booking and it was a good fulfilling breakfast with choice of bread toast (butter and jam) , puri subji, egg boiled and omlette, sweets, fruit and a cup of darjeeling tea.
In the last blog of the Coastal Malabar road trip series, I am providing the trip summary. Do let us know if you require any help in planning your Kerala travel.
Kanyakumari to Kovalam: Excellent till you are in highway. Inside roads are bad at places.
Kovalam -> Varkala : Excellent
Varkala -> Odayam : Very Good
Odayam -> Kochi : Good but with diversions at places, not properly marked.
Kochi -> Kasargod : Low Average. Also people do rash driving.
Itinerary :
Day 1: Bangalore to Nagercoil
Night halt at Nagercoil at Hotel Udupi International. Booked through Goibibo.
Hotel Udupi International is old but good hotel.
Places to see:
1. Nagaraja Temple : The main temple after which the city is named.
2. Padmanabhapuram Palace : A beautiful Palace and museum made in Kerala style of architecture.
3. Kanyakumari: The southern most tip of India, Kanyakumari is very close to Nagercoil 4. Mathur Aqueduct: The aqueduct was built in 1966 to carry water for irrigation from one elevated region to another. We skipped it, because of time constraint. 5. Triveni Sangam: Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea meet and get a good view of Vivekananda Rock Memorial and Thiruuvalluvar Statue. 6. Kovalam beach of Tamil Nadu, not Kerala
7. Vattakkottai Fort
Day 2: Nagercoil to Kovalam
Night halt at Kovalam at Pebble Coast Beach Resort. Booked through Goibibo.
Pebble Coast Beach Resort is very BAD.
Places to see:
1. Explore Kovalam night market on the beach.
Day 3: Kovalam sightseeing
Night halt at Kovalam in Golden Sands beach resort. Booked through Goibibo.
Golden Sands beach resort is old but good. Just walking distance from Kovalam lighthouse and beach.Car parking is a little away from resort.
Places to see:
1. Kovalam beach 2. Kovalam lighthouse 3. Kovalam night market on beach
There are a. few other places as well but we skipped them because of priority and time.
Day 4: Kovalam to Trivandrum
Night halt at Trivandrum in a hotel booked through Goibibo.
Places to see :
1. Shangumugham beach: The city's beach. 2. Vettukadu Church
3. Napier Museum
4. Puthen Malika Palace Museum
Day 5: Trivandrum to Ernakulam/Kochi via Varkala and Odayam beach.
Night Halt at Ernakluam in Nambiar's Hotel booked through Goibibo.
Hotel is nice and clean and spacious.
Places to see on the way:
1. Sri Padmanavaswamy Temple: A very rich and important temple for the Hindus. 2. Varkala Beach 3. Odayam Beach, a black sand beach
4. Alappuzha Beach sunset
Day 6: Kochi sightseeing
Night Halt at Ernakulam in Nambiar's Hotel.
Places to see:
1. Fort Kochi 2. Kochi city 3. Sunset from Fort Kochi 4. Chinese Fishing nets 5. Lulu Mall
6. Kerala Kathakali centre
7. Dutch Cemetary
Day 7: Ernakulam sightseeing
Night Halt at Ernakulam in Nambiar's Hotel.
Places to see:
1. Ernakulam 'Marine Drive' bay 2. Boat ride on Vembanad Lake
Day 8: Ernakulam to Cheruvathur ( between Kannur and Kasargod)
Night Halt at Cheruvathur in Kavvya Riveria Resort.
Places to see on the way:
1. Kazhimbram beach 2. Guruayoor Sri Krishna Temple
Day 9: Kasargod sightseeing
Night Halt at Cheruvathur in Kavvya Riveria Resort.
Places to see :
1. Bekal Fort 2. Kappil beach 3. Bhoota Kola 4. Theyyam if you come knowing the dates.
If you have seen the movie Kantara, then you already know about Bhoota Kola. It is a possessed dance by the tribal people of Kerala and Karnataka.It is mostly done in the region between Kannur and Kasargod in Kerala and in parts of Udupi in Karnataka. We included Kannur and Kasargod as the last two destinations in our coastal malabar road trip so that we can get to know a little bit more about the traditions of this dance and if possible witness the dance as well.
We did checked out from or hotel at 8 am. Since our hotel do not provide room service so our plan was to have breakfast somewhere on the road after checking out.However on the road we found that nobody starts selling breakfast so early! We always keep some biscuits and chips as backup and so we had our morning hunger satisfied with those.
So we drove for 2.5 hours until we reached Thissur. The children were getting a little annoyed. We had interrupted their peaceful morning sleep and had put them in the car. So we promised them a playtime on a beach.
On reaching Thissur we took a small diversion and reached Kazhimbram beach. Since this beach was a sudden addition to our itinerary, we never had much expectation. However on reaching the beach we were so much amazed. This is such a well maintained beach yet nobody knows about it. The beach has a proper parking, a huge children's park with so many types of activity plays such as swings, slides, climbing structures. There are also free super clean toilet and bathing facilities for men and women. The beach is flat and ideal for beach combing.
After spending some good time on the beach our stomachs were growling.We stopped at some pure vegetarian restaurant and had our lunch.On the road we also stopped at some temple most likely dedicated to Vishnu. The temple structures and architecture.
When we reached our resort Kaavya Riveria it was already 8pm.The resort is in Cheruvathur a place between Kannur and Kasargod.We were greeted with freshly made passion fruit juice.Traffic from Kozhikode to Cheruvathur is pathetic. Drivers drive all recklessly without any obedience to the traffic rules.
Our room was on the first floor of a duplex.We had one big bedroom, one bathroom cum toilet, a huge drawing room cum dining and a kitchen The interiors were very tastefully done but the best was the kitchen. It was a fully equipped kitchen with fridge, ovens, gas burners and otg.
Day 9
I was still sleeping when my mobile rang. It was Ankur calling me from downstairs.He told me to quickly come to the balcony and see the Kavvya river. Our resort was just beside the Kavvya river. I saw some few hundreds of white blobby things swimming in the water and more were coming from the direction of the sea.I went down to a cemented platform on the river itself close to the bank and was simply astonished to see that those white blobby floating stuffs are live jelly fish. There were a few thousands of them floating on the water.
We started our exploration for the day with a trip to Bekal fort.There is a temple very close to the fort as well.Entry ticket to Bekal fort is INR 25 and if you need to park your car the fort has a huge parking area as well with additional parking charges.
Bekal is a very popular place as we saw hordes of tourists coming in tourist buses and cars. The focal point of the fort is the observation Tower with series of peepholes. The tower at Bekal fort was built by Tipu Sultan for defence reasons.
A notable aspect of the fort architecture is the outstanding utilisation of defence technology.The peepholes on the outer walls were designed brilliantly to protect the fort from naval attacks.The topmost holes could aim at enemies who were at a distance, the middle ones were meant to fight those who were nearer to the fort and the lowermost holes were for those enemies who were closest to the fort.
Next we went to Kappil beach. It is not the same Kappil beach close to Odayam even though the names are same.It is a very serene, less crowded beach but with no direct access from the road.
Kasargod is famous for its unique temple dance known as theyyam. This dance takes place mostly in the months of December ,January and February when the weather is pleasant in otherwise extremely hot Kasargod. The performers put on elaborate bright makeup and highly decorated costumes and enact varios gods and goddesses during their performance. It is such a visual treat to the eyes and the camera.There is a theyyam calendar available online and we would highly recommend that you consult that calendar if you wish to witness a theyyam performance.
At the time of returning back we enquired some people in local temples about bhoota kola. We met a guy who told us that of a bhoota kola performance that was scheduled to happen that same day some 40kms far away.
Our lunch for the day was prepared by us. We made rava fried kingfish, pomfret tandoor and prawn tempura.We got all the fish from the local market.Everything was very fresh and at a very cheap rate.( you will find the prices steal deal if you stay in Bangalore where prices are high for seafood )
Evening we went out in search of the place where the gentleman had told us about bhoota kola performance. It was some 40kms inwards from Kasargod towards Madikeri. When we reached we saw the performers putting on dance costumes.They had head gears and skirts made from palm leaves.We saw the performance for some time since we had to drive back some 40kms back. The bhoota dances continue throughout the night till the next day morning.Quite a new experience for us.
Day 10
Its time to return to our home. We had quite an amazing time during this vacation. We had a packful of places, beaches, temples and experiences, that we enjoyed thoroughly.The next time we will come, we will surely watch a Theyyam performance which we missed this time.Till then good bye Malabar.
The previous day we checked in Nambiar's hotel which is in Ernakulam. We booked through goibibo for 3 nights. The stay was really good in the sense the rooms were spacious with all amenities. Our room had an additional attached utility room with no balcony. The only problem they have is car parking. Since they have a restaurant and the hotel and restaurant parking area is common and small so guests can occasionally need to readjust their parked car.
In Ernakulam, Traffic congestion gets really bad during the day and terrible at night. This is not so with Kochi which is the old heritage town. Ernakulam is more like the newer extension of the city made for malls, offices and high rise apartments. The old city charm is missing but that is the bargain one has to settle for incase someone needs quick access to shops and conveniences. We choose Ernakulam because we got a better hotel deal. With the frequent travelling we do each year, every penny saved is a penny saved for the next travel. Hehe.
But here is a pro tip for you. If you can directly check with the homestays in Fort Kochi area, you will get a better deal. There were some really nice homestays just within walking distance from Fort Kochi which were as low as 1500 per room. Just imagine! So you can just walk and see all the nearby places.This is also save you the 1 hour up and 1 hour down driving time from Ernakulam to Kochi.
This was our 3rd time visit to Kochi and so we preferred to relax and travel, no ticking off lists. We took the entire morning to stroll and explore Ernakulam city. Infrastructure has developed enormously in the coastal belt of Kerala in the last few years. Ernakulam city centre looks more like Bangalore as if a small part of Bangalore has been put here...IT hubs, offices and busy sulky office goers. Lulu Mall can give you a delusion that you are in a shopping mall in Dubai.
In the evening we went straight to Fort Kochi to watch the sunset. If you wish to see some lovely sunset shots over the Chinese fishing nets, do check my another post here. Old Blog
Sunset at Fort Kochi
Again a pro tip for you. If you are self driving a car, try to reach the Fort Kochi parking by 4 PM in winter, else all the parking spaces gets filled up and even if there are a few available the policemen on duty will ask you to park your car somewhere far and then come, specially if your car number shows its from neighbouring states.
This little area is very beautiful, the lanes are dotted on either side by aesthetically well done houses of rich people and many of the houses have dutch influence.There are little cafes and takeaways and scattered souvenirs shops. The sunset watch area is well done with walkways (also called the 'beach road') and sitting places. We watched the beautiful sunset on the Arabian Sea.
For people who are interested in performing arts, for them in Fort Kochi there is Kerala Kathakali centre where there are regular performances of both Kathakali a traditional Kerala costume dance and Kalaripayattu, a martial dance. Visitors can also see how artists put on the elaborate makeup before performing the Kathakali dance.
Day 7 :
We started late around 10:30 am and reached Ernakulam 'Marine Drive' bay. Our plan was to book a private boat ride and take a tour of the Vembanad Lake. The 8 seater motor operated boats charge INR 1500 per hour. Vembanad Lake is the largest lake in Kerala and the longest lake of India. The four rivers Meenachil,Achankoil, Pampa and Manimala pour their waters into the lake. We took a three hours boat ride costing us INR 4500.
Even though its expensive but the boat ride was undoubtedly the best thing to do in Ernakulam. We saw the Chinese fishing nets up and close, how fishermen were using the lever to fold the net and collect the fishes caught in the nets. We saw someone's private single decker mini yatch where the owner, someone in his late 60's most likely, was bait fishing. We waved and smiled at two fishermen in long canoe fishing boats wearing Chinese fishing hats as well. Yes we saw water taxis which are aircon steamers for ferrying commuters. These water taxis have started quite recently and are fast and economical way to travel. There is ticket booth counter for water taxis in Ernakulam bay area.
Our boat driver , Mr Mathews was a jovial man and a good guide. He showed us places where people live on the lake in small islands. We saw them busy with daily chores of life, washing, cooking, fishing and some selling coconuts, chips and cold drinks to tourists who are passing by them in boats. There were traditional house boats parked as well. Mr Mathews told us that a single room house boat costs around 15 to 20 Lakhs to buy these days as good wood has got very expensive, and these houseboats needs good and properly treated wood else they will rot fast.
We were in for a surprise when we showed us a water hospital! Just image... a hospital on boats to provide easy and fast access to medical care to people in the lake. The water hospital has beds, doctors and nurses. Just like any normal hospital on land, the water hospital also provide medicine and COVID vaccines.
For lunch on the lake, Mr Mathew stopped the boat next to an island which had a small shop that sells lunch. To our dismay, we were told that the shop only accepts cash, no online payment mechanisms available, not even UPI. With very limited cash with us, we had to settle only for a plate of prawn fried in kerala style and a bottle of mildly fermented coconut water. Lesson learnt, next time will carry sufficient cash.
Chinese fishing net
House boats
Kochi city view
Back to the hotel, we had our lunch. We got our lunch packed from a restaurant on the way because our hotel Nambiar's do not have room service.Kochi gets terribly hot even in peak winters so its always advisable to carry and umbrella during the daytime and keep oneself enough hydrated. Malayalis in general consume a lot of coconut in all its forms, whether in curry, chutneys or fresh. So there are coconut sellers everywhere and a piece of tender coconut costs anywhere between INR 30 to 50. We had plenty of tender coconut water to keep ourselves hydrated.
We had the evening for souvenir shopping. I got myself some fridge magnets and artifice carved out of coconut shells. We also went to the Church of St Francis, the most important church of Kochi. One of the oldest church of India built in 1503 and it housed the mortal remains of the great Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama after he died in 1534 on his third visit to India, before it was moved back to Lisbon in Portugal after 14 years of his demise. The church remains open for visitors till 5 pm.
Our exploration was cut short by a torrential downpour.
The next day's plan is to go to Kasargod, a coastal village in Kerala which all of a sudden had become everyone's curiosity hotspot because of the possessed dance known as Bhoota and get to know more about it, talk with the locals to know more about the facts and the fictions surrounding this God possessed dance and if luck permits, even witness it first hand.
It was close to 2 PM that we started our forward journey towards Kochi.We started looking for restaurants on the highway.Too much of excitement and activity on the beach made us hungry. But surprisingly we did not found a single restaurant where we could get down with the kids.By the time we reached Neendakara which has an harbour and a beach as well, we found our hunger saviour - a man selling ice cream.
Neendakara has the biggest fishing harbour of Kerala. Since it was hot and we were hungry we did not get down.However the harbour is too big to be missed. Bright deep navy blue waters glistering in the sun and at least two hundred fishing boats parked in the harbour it is worth spending some time.The best time to witness the massive fishing action at the harbour is early morning, by noon all fishing activity is done for the day at the harbour.And evening is a good time to catch the sunset with the fishing boats on the foreground.The famous Ashtamudi Lake which is the most visited backwater lake of Kerala joins the Arabian Sea at Neendakara Harbour.
Soon after we found a restaurant just on the highway. We stopped at Sivaa beach hotel. Although the name has the word 'beach' but one cannot see the beach from the restaurant.However it was a very good hotel, food was extremely delightfully good and very reasonably priced.The best part is that the restaurant has a fish counter from where one could choose the fish and they will get it cooked for you as per your liking.Along with our thali, we got a huge red snapper close to 1.5 kg. The fish was not only super fresh, it was too tasty. Do check the video given below.
Extremely content with our lunch, we did a quick fuel refill at a close by fuel station and started again. If everything goes by our plan, we will see the sunset at Alappuzha Beach and then again move forward.
Reaching the beach is pretty straightforward as per Google Map: Get down from the highway, go some 1 km on a road till you hit a level crossing.Cross the level crossing, go another 1 km and you are at the beach.Things were going great, everything was right on time until we got down from the highway on the town road that meets the level crossing. An uncle with his rickety scooter would simply not let us overtake him, on an otherwise empty road. No matter what he will drive right on the middle of the road.Not sure if that was his driving style or not, but when we reached the level crossing the gates just came down.
We missed the sun going down while waiting on the crossing.The road road on the other side of the level crossing is chaotic as hell.People parked cars in all random ways possible, huge crowds of people with children, confused which way to go, two wheelers trying to break all traffic rules.Parking fees is
Rs 50 even though there will be no one to assist while parking or leaving. Someone with a printed slip will come and collect and then vanish...now that we have experienced it, we would say its better to avoid this spot, not worth so much hassle.
By the time we reached our homestay it was 7:30 pm, we were really tired and fatigued because of the long day. Also night driving is stressful in Kerala, somehow people drive recklessly even though daytime driving is okay. Our next 3 nights are booked at Nambiar's Homestay in Ernakulam. So we have finally reached Kochi. And so our Kochi stories will follow soon..
Our destination today is Kochi. So the plan was to leave our hotel a little early than the time when the regular office goers start so that we can beat the morning traffic. But before leaving the city we took a short detour to say a quick hello to the Padmanabhaswamy temple from outside.Keeping aside the religious aspects of the temple, let me tell you that this is one of the richest temple of India and was involved in some controversy in 2011. There was a huge swarm of devotees, maybe the day had some religious significance or its usual temple crowd.Anyway we did not get inside. But just let me tell you, the temple has a strict code of conduct, only Hindoos are allowed and that too in very conserve attire for both men and women.
Close to Padmanabhaswamy Temple is the Puthen Malika Palace Museum.This is a good place if someone is eager to see the traditional Kerala palaces which were made of wood and has a unique architectural design.
flower shop near temple
By the time we were leaving it started to drizzle. The roads close to the temple and palace are all one way roads narrow roads. And when we were leaving it was the peak office time. As a result vehicles were moving a single inch for every 15 minutes. Anyway by the time we left the temple lane and hit the main road, traffic became breeze.
Temple premise
Varkala is Kerala's free spirited beach. It takes a little more than an hour to reach Varkala from Trivandrum. The town vibe is also chill and laid back.There is one bakery we stopped by and OMG! they made the best tasting chicken pattis we have anywhere eaten in South India. Fully stuffed with chicken, and a thin papery crust to cover it all, but alas I don't remember the name of the shop.But in the small town it was the only 2 storey bakery beside a car accessory shop in which there is always an inflow of 2 to customers every single minute.The demography of tourists also changes as you hit the beach. The crowd is mostly young men and women in their 20's and 30's, mix of 40% Indians and 60% Westerners.The beach as you will see in the video is a long beach, with gentle waves overlooked by a cliff.Now you can either take the route that will take you to the beach directly and then walk all your way close to the cliff or take the road that directly goes to the cliff.
We decided to go for the beach directly.If you are coming in a car, the road will hit the beach directly so you can get down and walk some 200m straight to the beach. But then if you are driving the car you have to keep your car in the parking and not in any place near the beach because the approach road is narrow. The first level parking area is a sharp 60 degree turn from sea and on a rising slop and you have to go some 1 km up. When we went the first parking level was full, so we had to go up another kilometre to the second level parking.Now imagine going down all this way to the sea and then getting up some 2 km uphill to this parking is itself a daunting task on a hot sunny day. So we gave up the idea to going to the beach. But the views we got from this parking area was breath-taking. I could not do proper justice with the photos, since my skin was already burning in the heat I had to rush to get back in the car. But let me tell you there are lots of hotels just next to the beach and they are pretty reasonably priced compared to Kovalam and they all have their own parking in the premise. So for anyone staying in the hotels the beaches just a flat walk.
Varkala Beach
The cliff is the most chill place in Varkala. A good number of shacks made with bamboos and woods selling the most un-authentic French and Italian cuisine and also serving fresh fruit juices.The place has lovely vibe and is ideal for watching the sunset over the sea.
Just 1 km on the beach path or 2.8 kms on the tar road is another very less known beach of Kerala known as Odayam beach. There are very less videos on YT because all popular vloggers rush for Varkala, leaving Odayam less known and less touched. On the main road there are markers for Odayam and Kappil beach so reaching either will not be a problem for anyone following the road boards. We followed the marker that took us straight to the beach.We parked the car on the gravel sideway, which was just next to the beach.
Black beach at Odayam
We spend close to 2 hours on the beach. It is one of the most beautiful beaches we have seen in Kerala. The beach is surprisingly black and is one of the very few black sand beaches of India. The black colour of the sand is attributed because of the basalt rock.An absolutely clean beach because there are very very less tourists to litter, we saw plentiful of live sea snails coming and again going back to the sea with each wave.As we walked on the beach, we cold not help but bend down to see the millions of shiny particles on the sand. You will feel as if you are walking ON a star studded night sky! The millions of shiny particles are most probably silica reflecting the sun's light.
There is just a single shack on the beach which takes painfully long time to deliver orders.We ordered for fresh juice which arrived after 45 minutes.The good thing about this shack is they have outdoor shower chambers for cleaning the sand after coming back from a beach bath. I think the best way would have been is to order food first at the shack and then once you are back after spending some time good time on the beach, wash off all the salty water and sand at the outdoor shower and sit with your food which would be ready by that time.
There is one hotel which as come up just behind the shack. Most likely that's the extension of the shack.Few western tourists were already staying there and some rooms are yet to be completed for renting. But it looked pretty cool from outside. We were just saying to ourselves that if we had some days extra, we would have stayed at this hotel and would have loved to spend a few days just on this beach.Yes its so beautiful.Anyway next time when we will come to Kerala again, which might not be very soon we will make sure to stay at Odayam.
We were supposed to get up early before dawn and reach Kanyakumari to see the sunrise. However because of fog in the morning we had to shed the idea. So we slept for an extra couple of hours and after having tea and breakfast in the room, we headed for Kanyakumari once again. Our idea was to go near the Triveni Sangam area where Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea meet and get a good view of Vivekananda Rock Memorial and Thiruuvalluvar Statue.
Again after paying some municipal taxes for private car, we entered the car parking area. And OMG! there was no space to park car at 8 am in the morning. Because of some auspicious day, the whole area was flooded with thousands of devotees. So we had to give up the idea and look for some distant place from where we could see the memorial and the statue. So we went to a place near the sunset view point which was 1 km away from Triveni Sangam and from there saw distant view of both the memorial and the statue. Thiruuvalluvar Statue was undergoing some maintenance work.
Tamil poet Thiruuvalluvar's statue
The best thing we got to see was the sea. Unobstructed views of the endless coastline, the white waves, the turquoise green sea and the clear blue sky...it is a sight that will stay in my memory forever.
Kanyakumari
Check the vlog here. Your view and likes count the most to us :)
We then visited Kovalam beach of Tamil Nadu ( Namesake of Kovalam beach in Kerala ) which we visited the previous day evening. It is just next to Sunset view point. After moving away due to the pilgrim rush at Kanyakumari beach, it was so hard to believe that there was not a single person on this beach apart from us. It was so calm and peaceful.We were over the moon when Ankur spotted plenty of sea urchins, colourful fishes, crabs and even an eel hiding under the rocks.
Next we went to Vattakkottai Fort which is some 7 km from Kanyakumari. Vattakkottai Fort is a circular fort built by the rulers of Travancore in 18th century and from the fort one can get amazing view of the ocean. Again 25 bucks municipal tax and we were allowed to enter the car park. The entry fee of the fort is an additional INR 25.
Vattakkottai Fort
About 300 meters, before entering the fort there is a road on the left that points to the Vattakkottai Fort beach. We took a 15 minutes break there. A part of the sea has entered one side of the rock and has formed a natural swimming pool where mostly children were having a good splashing time. Just across the pool and on the right side one can see the sea and the fort.
Vattakkottai Fort and beach
Our hotel checkout time at Udupi International was 12 noon. We were running late and informed the hotel reception that we will be 30 minutes late for check out. After checkout we headed for our next destination which was Kovalam ( in Kerala ).
It takes around 2 hours to reach Kovalam from Nagercoil. From the time we visited Kerala for the first time, till now the roads have improved drastically. And another great thing in Kerala is that toll tax booths are very less.
Coconut of Nagercoil and its adjoining areas is famous and it was evident from the ample number of stalls on either side of the highway selling coconut water.The coconuts are orangish in colour and all the shops are run by women.Along with coconut almost all the shops sell coconut embryo as well. It is sold as a sprouted coconut which on breaking, the inside spongy coconut embryo can be collected and eaten.It is somewhat fluffy and tastes sweet and salty.
Coconut embryo
It was evening we reached Kovalam. We had booked Pebble Coast Beach Resort which had 4.3 stars rating on Google. But trust me it was the most worst hotel of our entire trip. First we had to wait for 15 minutes for someone to talk to us since the hotel has nothing called reception. They have two buildings and a single boy who runs errands for both the buildings.They have two buildings - one old and one new. We were told that the old one has rooms only on ground floor. We checked and saw that the rooms were shabby, damp and wet with no sunlight or proper ventilation.So we choose the new building. Now the new building has no parking space so guests have to park the car in the old building and walk uphill to the new building with all their luggage. The new building has no lifts and the staircase passage is also very narrow.
The rooms are sold as sea view, but in reality you cannot see the sea from your room. If you come out to the common balcony and lift your chin up, then very far away you can see a thin slice of the sea at the horizon area. You will not see the shoreline or the beach, only a tiny bit of the horizon that too very faint. However you will see a huge big, dirty scrap yard, just on the adjacent plot next to the hotel, which looks equally frightening just as you come to the balcony.
They have no restaurant or room service so either guests have to eat outside or use Swiggy.Again there is never anyone at the hotel gate to monitor the entry or exit of people.Anyone can walk in or walk out anytime and security is in highly compromised state. The remaining part of the day was wasted as we were so frustrated with this hotel. Even to take out the car, we have to walk to the old building then if there are cars parked behind our's we have to look for the sole caretaker and ask him to look for the guest whose car needs to be moved.Similarly we had to run thrice that day to move our car because some guests wanted to go out.The road in front of the hotel is downhill and narrow and so parking on the road is not an option.
Day 3:
This is not all.The next day morning we were terrified to find the sweeper was completely drunk and out of his senses and was loitering on the corridor.That was it. We decided to leave the hotel at that very instant even though our booking was done for 2 days with full payment. We got no refunds from the hotel and also we discovered that the hotel was selling as if its located on Kovalam although it is located on some other beach but not Kovalam.And the closest beach from this hotel does not even have a proper walking route. Do check our video for the route. Elders or children will not be able to walk on this road.If you are wondering why I am ranting so much, its because we want to tell you about all the negatives which were never written on google reviews and we do not want any of our readers to suffer like we did.
We got a last minute booking at another hotel called Golden Sands beach resort.This was a decent hotel with a good restaurant, pool, children's play area and very close to Kovalam beach. You have to walk just 200 meters on a proper paved alley which will directly take you close to the lighthouse on Kovalam's lighthouse beach.
View from room @Golden Sands beach resort
The evening and night was spend on the beach. Kovalam is the most coolest beach in Kerala. Its a safe beach, no scammers no touted vendors.You will find a nice trendy crowd, a swanky beach vibe, upscale beach shacks, souvenir shops. A good number of restaurants have display counters on the outside topped up with fresh catch of the day. We had super jumbo prawns at INR 1600 a kilo.Anyday that same size prawn could cost more than INR 3500/ kilo in Bangalore. Cooking charges are free and you can have it prepared in several styles with your own customisation and take it home or enjoy sitting in the shack and seeing the sea.
Do read our blog on Kovalam, when we first visited almost 10 years back.
The day was Christmas. Our plan for today was to leave Kovalam and head to Trivandrum.But before that we went to see Kovalam beach for one more time. Walking some 150 metres walking on cobbled narrow alleys from our hotel, we reached Light house beach. An equal mix of Indian and foreigner crowd, everyone seems to be enjoying the water on a bright sunny Christmas morning at 9:00 am.There were rows of sun bathing beds laid on the beach each with a colourful umbrella on top and most were filled, interesting by desi tourists.Most foreign tourists were engaged in water sports or water activities.
On the way to lighthouse beach
Ankur took some drone footages while I took some b-roll footages. A seller carrying mini elephant statues carved on wood approached me to know from where we have come.He was more eager to know about drone footages than pushing to sell his stuff.
Lighthouse at the back
Bed with a view
Kovalam Beach
Kovalam to Trivandrum distance is very less, its about 20kms and it took us around 45 minutes to check in to our new homestay.We last came to Trivandrum 10 years back.Now the city has changed drastically beyond recognition. Roads have widened, there are flyovers to beat the traffic congestion.Swanky IT hubs, tall residential towers, the landmark Lulu Mall all have lined up on either side of the main road.Just take any lane and you will get to see big houses on huge plot areas, boutique hotels and restaurants, Montessori schools, supermarkets and lots of big trees. The city definitely looks posh but interestingly its very affordable and cheap.
We went out in the afternoon after a short rest to get some of the city vibe.Our plan was to drive down to Shangumugham beach so that our kids can get down and play on the beach for some time.We avoided the main road and took the beach road to avoid the city traffic.Huge banners of Ronaldo were put up on trees, grounds making it clear that Malayalees love football and were backing Portugal in WC.The houses that were lined on the left side of the road have one side facing the sea and each house was competing with the other in terms of grandeur and land size. To poor souls like us who live in Bangalore apartments, it felt like we were passing through Lutyens zone.Not sure if those are ancestral land on which their owners have built such classy houses or bought from Gulf money or new age cash loaded entrepreneurs but definitely these people have some part of their lives surely sorted!
We saw the very beautiful Vettukadu Church, although we did not get down.The church and its open area was beautifully decorated for Christmas.A bunch of young mostly high school going group of boys were dancing frantically to some Malayalee filmi song on the road.Its how local community also owns a festival in their own way, Christmas being no exception.
Our beach fun was cut short by sudden downpour and thunder.Since it was dark we took another road which google suggested.A part of it was the main road and part was some other road that we have not travelled while going to the beach.Kerala has a high population of Christians and this is when we saw the city had poured out on the road to enjoy Christmas. People in groups getting into churches covered every feet with lights.Almost every church had a community fair going on.And the most amazing thing was that many of the Churches made big Bethlehem theme setup outside the church building depicting the birth of baby Jesus.
The next day we will leave Trivandrum and head for Kerala's most famous beach Varkala.We discovered another outstanding beach that can beat Varkala any day. Before that a short visit to Padmanabhaswamy temple while leaving Trivandrum.But all these stories for the upcoming blog.
Watching the view of the settling sun over the sea at the southernmost tip of India, Kanyakumari, is not just a beautiful sight, but an emotion for all Indians.
This is my line and this is exactly what we felt standing in the evening at Kanyakumari.
This series of blogs will be about our coastal malabar road trip. The places that we visited are Nagercoil ->Kanyakumari -> Kovalam -> Varkala -> Odayam -> Kochi -> Kasargod.
Day 1:
We started the trip from our home (Bangalore) at 3:30 am on 23rd December 2022. Just a few weeks before planning the trip I was in a dilemma of whether to take a day halt at Madurai and then proceed onwards or cover the whole route from Bangalore to Nagercoil at one go. Then we all decided to go for the later option because we had been to Madurai before and also if we have started early we would reach Nagercoil before 5pm and could watch the sunset at Kanyakumari.
We had set the alarm at 2:00 am, got ourselves and the children ready, loaded our car and started at 3:30 am.There are some tea shops that operates only at night on the NH44 highway after Hosur. We had a high sugar tea and some equally high sugar biscuits. I don't know maybe the shops make tea with a lot of sugar so that drivers don't fall asleep on the road. We saw the day break at Krishnagiri, the early morning sky hues over the Krishnagiri hills.
The road is extremely good. NH44 the longest national highway of India running through the entire length of the country, joining Srinagar( Kashmir) to Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu), is the backbone of the country when it comes to surface transport and travel, and its a dream for any road travel enthusiast to drive on NH44. Just make sure to have your FASTag is fully loaded because toll taxes are high on this stretch and you will be charged double if FASTag does not have cash while passing the toll booths. We spend around INR 560 for the stretch from Bangalore to Kanyakumari.
We checked into Hotel Udupi International in Nagercoil at 4:30 PM. It took us roughly 12 hours to reach with plenty of breaks for snacks, pictures and bio.A few kilometres before entering Nagercoil and after Tirunelveli, we saw a stretch of road that has over a hundred windmills on either side. Our little ones were so excited to spot windmills, something that they have seen in cartoons and books.
Hotel Udupi International is a good hotel, properly maintained, right in the city. Rooms are decent, food is quite average and only vegetarian food is allowed. The hotel manager was an extremely gregarious person and helpful as well.Room service takes a little long to arrive.
After a late lunch in the hotel, we set out for a little city acclimation and also for catching the sunset at Kanyakumari. Kanyakumari roughly takes 30 minutes to reach from Nagercoil.
Do check our vlog here:
Nagercoil is a very old city, and so a good part of the city has the old world charms. There are plenty of low height single storey, long buildings. All the doors look uniform and some are godowns, some are old cycle repair shops, flower shops and utensil shops. The garlands that are sold in the shops looks very beautiful and different from the ones we generally see elsewhere in South India.They look like a flat bedded garland done on a straw base. It was much later that I came to know that this flower weaving technique is very unique to Nagercoil and has a special name 'Mannika Malai' which roughly translates to garland of gems.
Mannika Mala
Here I am providing some literature about Mannika Mala, that I got from the internet.
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There are many styles of flower garland making but Manikka malai is a unique one. In Manikka Malai, the red and white oleander flowers are folded along with notchi leaves like beads. Long strips of such beads are then held together to make a broad garland that looks like a carpet studded with gemstones. This unique style garland noticed by the Maharaja of Travancore went on to become the main decoration for the Deity of Shri Padmanabha at the Lord Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram. For decades, till the generation of Late Shri L Madaswamy, the garland was used only as a part of temple rituals and festivals. It was Shri Muthumperumal who made it popular beyond the temples. He invented creative uses of the flower garland like Manikka Malai carpets, decorating temple carts, decoration in marriages, wall hangings, welcome boards, bridal floral jewels etc. Such innovative applications of Manikka Malai garnered attention not just in India but also abroad. The interest grew in people and other artisans to learn the technique. Muthumperumal conducted several workshops and seminars to teach this technique to people to popularise and preserve the tradition for future generations. Apart from carrying forward his family tradition of making garlands for temples, Muthumperumal is somebody who put Thovalai village on the map by dedicatedly popularizing the craft beyond its cultural boundaries. He received several awards including the Kamala award by Crafts council of India for excellence in Manikka Malai craft.There are many styles of flower garland making but Manikka malai is a unique one. In Manikka Malai, the red and white oleander flowers are folded along with notchi leaves like beads. Long strips of such beads are then held together to make a broad garland that looks like a carpet studded with gemstones. This unique style garland noticed by the Maharaja of Travancore went on to become the main decoration for the Deity of Shri Padmanabha at the Lord Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram. For decades, till the generation of Late Shri L Madaswamy, the garland was used only as a part of temple rituals and festivals. It was Shri Muthumperumal who made it popular beyond the temples. He invented creative uses of the flower garland like Manikka Malai carpets, decorating temple carts, decoration in marriages, wall hangings, welcome boards, bridal floral jewels etc. Such innovative applications of Manikka Malai garnered attention not just in India but also abroad. The interest grew in people and other artisans to learn the technique. Muthumperumal conducted several workshops and seminars to teach this technique to people to popularise and preserve the tradition for future generations. Apart from carrying forward his family tradition of making garlands for temples, Muthumperumal is somebody who put Thovalai village on the map by dedicatedly popularizing the craft beyond its cultural boundaries. He received several awards including the Kamala award by Crafts council of India for excellence in Manikka Malai craft.
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Nagercoil gets its name from the Tamil word 'Nagaraja Koyil'. Nagaraja is the king of serpents and Koyil in Tamil translates to temple in English.So its the city belonging to the temple of the King of Serpents.The temple is more than a thousand year old temple.
Nagaraja Temple
Nagercoil is not only an old city but was a commercial hub as well. Referred to as the 'Granary of Travancore' by the Travancore rulers, this old commercial centre has its mention in Pliny the Elder's notes in which he mentioned Nagercoil as an important commercial metropolis having trade links with Rome.
Till a decade after Independence, Nagercoil remained as a part of Kerala, but then in 1956 was assimilated to Tamil Nadu and put under Kanyakumari district.So even today the city has a very interesting mix of people who speak both Malayalam and Tamil.
We reached Kanyakumari well ahead of sunset. One can stand anywhere along the coastline to see the beautiful sundown, not necessarily one needs to go to the sunset point. We went to a place called Kovalam beach ( yes Kovalam in Kanyakumari!! ). It is a mix of a rocky and a sandy beach where one can easily get down and touch the waters. There are two watch towers as well for seeing the sunset and the amazing curve of the adjacent beach. Take your water bottles because there are no shops but do not throw the plastic bottles once they are done because this beach has marine life that comes close to the shore. We saw sea urchins, fishes, crabs and eels.
Kanyakumari beach
The water is beautifuuuuuuuuullll. Its clear and turquoise. We did see the beautiful sunset but because of the clouds we did not get the perfect sunset, the one with the yolk red Sun setting down the sea. Just when we were about to get back to our car, we spotted an old fisherman selling real pearls at amazingly hard to believe prices. And they were all real pearls, not the perfect shaped but absolutely genuine ones.
One annoying thing in Kanyakumari is municipal taxes from private and commercial vehicles.It does not matter which municipality it is, once you approach the area in a car, some folks( it can be 8 year old or 14 or 32) will be there on the road with some printed paper and a stick receipts to collect money from you. Not sure if its a scam or not, but they will take money only in cash from every vehicle. The amount varies from Rs 30 to Rs 100. Its not parking fee or entry fee but some municipal fee and I am not sure why municipalities collect that money from tourists, although they provide no facilities, not even basic toilet facility.So better is to carry some chiller cash.
Our today's checklist is done. Tomorrow we will be seeing visiting Kanyakumari one more time and then see the nearby places in the morning and will then proceed to Kovalam in Kerala.
Key points:
How to reach Nagercoil:
By Air: Nagercoil is not well connected to other major cities of the country via regular flights. The nearest airport is in Trivandrum at a distance of 66kms. Airports:Trivandrum International Airport By Train: There is no regular trains to Nagercoil from other major cities of the country. The nearest Railway station is at Thiruvananthapuram which is located at a distance of 67kms. Railway Station(s): Kazhakuttam , Veli By Road: NH44 connects Nagercoil
Places to see:
1. Nagaraja Temple : The main temple after which the city is named. 2. Padmanabhapuram Palace : A beautiful Palace and museum made in Kerala style of architecture. 3. Kanyakumari: The southern most tip of India, Kanyakumari is very close to Nagercoil 4. Mathur Aqueduct: The aqueduct was built in 1966 to carry water for irrigation from one elevated region to another. We skipped it, because of time constraint.
