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.

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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Periyar Tiger Reserve

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Kerala has more than its fair share of wildlife sanctuaries and national parks in the Western Ghats. Of these, the Periyar Tiger Reserve at Thekkady [Kumily] is the most visited. It is our favourite wildlife reserve simply because we have always seen wildlife there on every trip, without even trying to!

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On the trail of Nilgiri TAHR

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I wanted to see and photograph the elusive mountain goat known as Nilgiri Tahr for some time, and grabbed the opportunity three years ago when I traveled to Kerala with my brother. It was a long flight from Canada, via London and Dubai and landed in Cochin. After a brief rest we went to Kottayam, some 45 miles south and from there drove four hours east to Munnar, a hill station famous for its tea plantations. It was late September and the climate was perfect. Surrounded by huge mountains and lush forest interlaced with streams, this area is ideal for wildlife habitat.

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