Kerala

The southern state of Kerala is a land truly blessed by nature. Kerala has enchanting mountains, pristine rainforests, golden sun-sand beaches and unique backwaters that hold their own even in the face of fast developing towns and cities. The coconut palms (that give the state its name) are everywhere, waving a welcome to the place proudly being hailed as Gods Own Country.
Thiruvananthapuram is the state capital and the home of heritage sites such as the Padmanabhaswamy Temple. The port city of Kochi and its twin city Ernakulam pulsate with commercial activity, while Thrisshur wears the cultural crown with the temple festival Trisshur Pooram. The richly decorated elephant, as seen during this festival is globally recognised for its association with Kerala.
Kerala has a good network of roads (though crowded) and the Indian Railways connect major towns and cities. There are international airports in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. Malayalam is the local language and Hindi would be understood in major cities.
The state gets a generous share of the eagerly awaited Indian Monsoon and it rains heavily from June to September. Summers are hot and humid while winters are mild. Apart from the monsoon months, Kerala is a paradise for beach holidays. It also provides numerous opportunities for trekking, camping and wildlife sanctuary experiences. Along with these, rejuvenating Ayurvedic spa and Eco tourism vacations make Kerala one of the most popular places on the International Tourism map.

Southern Sojourn to God’s Own Country

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I wish to take you once more on a virtual trip through the mazes of the exuding beauty of the enchanting Kerala.

The peaceful green city of Trivandrum gradually unfolded itself with its narrow roads and neat colourful private houses half hidden amidst the coconut palms.From the airport, we took a pre-paid taxi to our hotel Uday Samudra (popularly known as UDS) at Kovalam – 16 kms from Trivandrum. We were given a sea-facing spacious room with a pool in front.

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Kerala – A Trip to the God’s Own Country

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This was the best experience of all as we were on the houseboat for the first time. The person driving the boat was amazing. Thought of being on water for 22 hrs was amazing. The boat went through several lakes and canals. We saw several villages where the only means of transportation was boat.

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Kerala’s Green Treasures-Part Three

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Alleppey beach beckoned us and we reached there in the scorching mid-day sun at 1 pm. We didn’t spend much time at the beach because of the extreme heat. We started looking around for a nice restaurant for lunch and the local suggestions led us to Hassan Restaurant, just half a km from the beach, on the way towards the town centre.

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Padmanabhaswamy Temple – the world’s richest one

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There is also a belief that the wealth is protected by Nagaraj as stated by Uthradam Thirunal Marthanda Varma, recently, in an interview by the Hindu daily, that, “there are two kinds of snakes. One is naga, and it stays. The other is sarpa, which goes. It is misunderstood as a creature. They are messengers…

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Bamboo Rafting in Tiger Country.

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…Then the trek started in dead earnest, and soon we were walking through some shoulder height elephant grass. The guides showed us some exotic butterflies flitting about in the grass. At one place they pointed out to some Niligiri langurs peering down at us from the high trees. That really made us feel that now we were being stalked and hunted rather than the other way around…

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Rain Scene Kerala

Chasing the Monsoon

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The appam and stew breakfast of West End Hotel in Talassery, will be talked about for time immemorial. You can see a newly built exotic looking resort, commune just after Talaserry station, on the East side , among backwaters, full of birds. The train reaches Kannur at 3.30 p.m. in time for a nice cup of tea and paruppu vada ( do you get anything else in Kerala trains?). KVR Veg Restaurant in Kannur station is fully managed by smiling women (one of them Shamima) and masala dosa is heaveanly.

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Life........

God’s Own Country— The Inner Circle Trip

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At the evening we were suppose to get ready by 7:00 to get to Greenix Village for Farewell Dinner. This was an exciting evening where we experiences, Indian Martial Arts, Traditional Keralan theater and Kathakali, an Indian Dance Drama noted for the attractive makeup of characters, elaborated costumes, detailed gestures and well defined body movements presented in the tune with music and percussion.

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