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.
