Text credit: Charishma Thankappan

With the heat soaring higher each day, we can’t wait to head out of the city to some place cooler and refreshing. FWD Life gives you five best options to head to in Kerala, South India, and the rest of the country.

5 Fine Places to Run to in Kerala

Vattavada

Source: campper.com

With its pleasant climate throughout the year, Vattavada is a lesser known retreat near Munnar. It will be an ideal option to go to avoid the rush that will be there in Munnar during the peak months of summer. Known as the ‘Market of Kerala’, don’t forget to relish the fresh fruits and vegetables that grow here, which are sent to the other parts of the state, such as apple, blackberry, egg fruit, gooseberry, passionfruit, peach, and plums.

Kumarakom

Source: WikiCommons

While beaches are not the best option to go to in the scorching heat of the summers in Kerala, you can still be closer to the refreshing waters of lagoons. Give a pass to Alappuzha which will be crowded, and instead choose Kumarakom. Spend a perfect family time lounging on the serene waters of the Vembanad Lake, the largest lake in Kerala.

Vagamon

Source: WikiCommons

Listed by National Geographic Traveler in their list of ’50 Most Attractive Places to Visit in India’, Vagamon is a green heaven. The cool climate of the place allows a fun lolling over its gentle, rolling hills, called ‘mutta kunnu’. Natural beauties like green meadows, pine forests, orchid flower gardens; and adventurous activities like paragliding, trekking, and rock climbing, are the main attractions here.

Kalpetta

Source: WikiCommons

Rich with history and blessed by nature, Kalpetta offers a withdrawal into peace and calm. Historically rich, Kalpetta has a number of ancient Jain rock temples, most of which are in a dilapidated state. Learn about the several rare species of butterflies at the Botanic and Butterfly Garden. The place is also a hub for trekking enthusiasts, who can trek to Myladippara for an enchanting trail.

Ponmudi

Source: WikiCommons

The most popular hillstation in the south of Kerala, Ponmudi is favoured for cheerful climate. The place offers beautiful scenic landscapes that are popular with backpackers. Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary, Golden Valley, Deer Park, Meenmutty Falls, are some of the main attractions.  The ride to Ponmudi is equally breathtaking, with the Kallar River lining the route.

5 Top Destinations to Escape to in South India

Kodaikanal

Source: WikiCommons

Nicknamed ‘The Gift of the Forest’ and ‘Princess of Hill Stations’, Kodaikanal is one of the most beloved havens for rest and relaxation. The cool climes of the city invites people from all over to its mist laden hills. It is a touristy place with a number of attractions such as Kodaikanal Lake, Pillar Rocks, Pine Forest, Coaker’s Walk, Bryant Park, Guna Caves, Dolphin’s Nose, Silver Cascade, etc.

Coonoor

Source: WikiCommons

Well known for the production of Nilgiri Tea, Coonoor is the second largest hillstation in the Nilgiris after Ooty. It is therefore a perfect alternative to Ooty, which can be teeming with the summer rush. Sim’s Park is a botanical garden with over 1,000 varieties of plant species. Don’t miss the annual fruit and vegetable show that is held in May.

Araku Valley

Source: famousplacesinindia.in

Blessed with natural formations, Araku Valley is an up and coming tourist attraction in South India. Located in Andhra Pradesh, it is an area inhabited by tribals. Borra Caves are a 1mn year old limestone caves that form the main attraction in the place. Ananthagiri Hills and Chapparai are the other major allures the place offers.

Yercaud

Source: WikiCommons

Known as the ‘Jewel of the South’, Yercaud is an attractive hill station for Summer travellers looking to run away from the heat. Prominent for fresh native fruits such as bananas, jackfruit, orange, and pear; it also offers enticing picturesque locations. It is also celebrated for its flavoursome coffee, the shrubs of which begin blooming in April to present a scenic view.

Kotagiri

Source: WikiCommons

Among the plentiful hill stations that the South of India offers, Kotagiri is a lesser known gem that will be a perfect hideaway for travellers looking to beat the crowded and more fashionable hill stations. Encounter the tall, double cascading Catherine Falls, explore the John Sullivan Memorial, take a mesmerising look at the Dolphin Nose View Point, probe the Bison Park, and inspect the Ralliah Dam.

5 Terrific Summer Getaways Beyond South India

Shimla

Source: WikiCommons

Get your dose of summer snow at this erstwhile capital of British India. Be awed by the Tudorbethan and Neo-Gothic architecture from the colonial era through the copious churches and buildings of importance. The Kalka-Shimla Railway line dating back to the British times is a must-see allurement that is also listed among UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. The capital of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla is also host to the MTB Himalaya mountain biking race, considered to be the biggest event of its kind in South Asia.

Rishikesh

Source: WikiCommons

Introduce yourself to the mighty Himalayas at Rishikesh, known as the ‘Gateway to the Garhwal Himalayas’. Not just a splendid hill station, the place in Uttarakhand is also a crowd pleaser for yoga enthusiasts, being known as ‘Yoga Capital of the World’. Other than being a pilgrimage destination, it also has an adventurous side to it, providing an impeccable site for white water rafting, paragliding, and skiing.

Darjeeling

Source: WikiCommons

Situated in West Bengal, Darjeeling is in demand during the summer months. The birth place of the world famous Darjeeling Tea, the place also has the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCO Heritage Site, which has one of the few remaining steam locomotives in India. Touted the ‘Queen of the Hills’, Darjeeling is the most leading tourist destination in the East of India, and according to the 2015 India Today survey, was the third most Googled tourist destination in India.

Dharamshala

Source: eragenx.com

Surrounded by a thick coniderous forest consisting of impressive Deodar trees, Dharamshala offers a peaceful retreat to enjoy quality time in communion with nature. In vogue with international tourists and hippies, the place important as the base of the Tibetan community in India, being the headquarters of Dalai Lama. The place is really famous for treks, with the most popular being the day trek to Triund, where you can also camp overnight.

Nainital

Source: WikiCommons

A classic hill station renowned since the colonial era, Nainital has been an exalter summer retreat for Indian and international travellers. Nainital Lake, Naini Peak, Snowview Point, Gurney House, Naini Devi Temple, Cave Garden, Sat Tal, Hanumangarhi, Mall Road, are some of the most extraordinary features of the place. Well-equipped libraries are also another characteristic attraction of the place.

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Text Credits: Nikhil Sreekandan                Image Credits: Wandertrails

Hugging a steaming cuppa, I sat curled against the wooden railing of the large slow-moving barge that had accommodated us for the past day. As the sky gradually bled a bright orange, like a mirror, the lake below me reflected the rising sun’s vast canvas on its gentle waters.

Songs from a temple nearby echoed in my ears as a flock of I don’t know what specie of birds (herons maybe?) flew past. Julia would have known, herons or otherwise, but she was fast asleep in one of the rooms behind me. A wildlife enthusiast and photographer, she along with a couple of our friends from my time in the UK had come to tour India and were now on the southern leg of their tour.

From the moment I heard they were visiting Kerala, I had been perplexed as to what their itinerary would be for the two days that they were here. What would make for a true Kerala experience? But, looking back, my worries had been very much unfounded as every single one of us had thoroughly enjoyed the past day. I couldn’t have possibly picked a better choice, exploring the backwaters of Kerala in a houseboat was indeed the real Malayali experience. A shoutout to my pals at Wandertrails for setting it all up so well.

Interestingly, I had never been to Kumarakom before, let alone a houseboat, making me equally or even more curious than my foreign friends. Of course, growing up, I had heard so much about cruising over the beautiful backwaters of Kerala. Kumarakom and Alleppey were after all the poster boys of the state tourism department. But in my 25 years, I had never been there.

Making way

After a sleepover at my home in Trivandrum, we had left early in the morning for Kumarakom. We reached the Kottayam railway station by around 11 and were picked up by Mr Shanoj, the owner of the houseboat we were spending the night in. I have to stress on the fact that we made it right on time, checking in exactly at 12.00pm.

Located 16km to the west of Kottayam and on the banks of Kerala’s largest lake – Vembanad, Kumarakom is a laid-back village in the serene backwaters of God’s Own Country. This tiny cluster of islands is interconnected by a network of canals, brackish lagoons, and the vast Vembanad Lake which spans across several districts.

Our abode for the night

Before we boarded the houseboat, we were introduced to the Indraprastham Cruise and its crew – Sreejith, the Captain and Vinoj, the chef. Reincarnated from the traditional ‘Kettuvallam’, which was used to carry rice and spices to the Kochi port back in the day, today’s houseboats are large floating barges fitted with all the modern living comforts, but set in a truly ethnic setting. The Indraprastham Cruise was a three-bedroom houseboat with a spacious sundeck from where we could enjoy the mesmerising views and under the large bamboo-thatched canopy lay the entire home-unit of the houseboat with three bedrooms and a small kitchen.

The backwaters have always been the emblem of Kerala’s tourism efforts and we were spellbound from the moment we started the journey. Dotted by swaying coconut trees and the tiny houses of the locals on either side of the lagoon, the Indraprastham Cruise sliced through the smooth waters with the ease and grace of a seasoned sailor. It took us a good thirty minutes before we lifted our buried noses from our DSLRs, attempting to capture the magical beauty that was unfolding in front of us, and actually enjoy it. We invaded a number of smaller canals, on either side of which lay paddy fields that stretched as far as the eye could see, before we broke into the voluminous Vembanad Lake.

Oh, yes, prior to that we took a pit stop at a local toddy shop to buy kappa meen curry aka tapioca and fish curry, and of course toddy! Vinoj promised he would catch us some fresh karimeen and fry it up for dinner, so we skipped on the karimeen fry at the shop (which I have to confess I found very difficult).

Boundless beauty

The Vembanad lake was truly boundless, stretching out into infinity; we were barely able to see the strip of land in the far horizon, merely a tiny little speck. A front-seat view of the limitless Vembanad Lake with your best mates and sweet toddy and spicy fish curry to keep you company; now that’s something you will only find on this tiny strip of land and not anywhere else. Joe took his guitar out (always a good metric to measure the mood) and soon we were all singing along to McLean, Cohen, and Lennon. That’s when the Captain decided to join in and Sreejith started ripping the uber-famous ‘Kuttanadan punjayile.’ I tried my best to sing along, suffice to say, clueless Joe did a better job with his guitar. We had some passing by fishermen cast curious glances and some of them were even clapping to our tunes, or I just might have imagined it. Need to confirm that when the others wake up, I made a mental note.

Before we knew it, the sun had started to set and we docked for the night. Vinoj delivered on his promise with some fresh karimeen, as we watched in glee at the ease with which he caught them. As the night slowly crept up on us, the air took on the aroma of fried fish, the mosquito nets came down shrouding the Indraprastham Cruise like a cocoon, and a bright moon took to the sky. Under the diffused moonlight that came in through the mosquito net, the night took on a tranquil and calming ambience, the pin drop silence only adding to the mood. Tucking in on the delicious fish fry and some more tapioca and fish curry, I had to congratulate myself for the difficult toddy shop decision; this was undoubtedly the best karimeen fry ever! With a ready to burst stomach and a happy soul, we retired to our rooms for a good night’s sleep.

A gentle breeze lifted me from my trance. The morning twilight had almost given way to that moment when the sun rose over the horizon. Leaving my now empty cup behind, but with a big smile stuck to my face, I headed for the bedroom. Indraprastham and Kumarakom had promptly delivered on the real Kerala experience, now for the bright orange cherry on the topping, the much gushed-over Kumarakom sunrise.

It took me 25 years to witness something as genuinely beautiful as the sunrise on the Kumarakom horizon, while rocking to its backwaters in a houseboat. But, I had travelled all the way to Scotland and gushed over its perennial beauty. Sometimes, it’ll surprise you, the things that you’ll unearth in your own backyard, if you ever bothered to look.

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Writer Profile:

A lover of the written word for as long as he can remember, Nikhil Sreekandan works as a content specialist with Wandertrails. Interestingly, it took an Engineering degree and a gap year for him to realise that the world of words was indeed his home. When not lost in cinema, contemporary literature, or his earphones; he exercises his skills over the written word at Wandertrails across the website, social media, magazine, and blogs.

The post Kumarakom: Kerala Tourism’s Poster Boy appeared first on FWD Life | The Premium Lifestyle Magazine |.

Abhishek whose choice is always thumbs up said, “Hey, how about this place, Kayal Resort at Kumarakom. The feedback seems to be good. And guess what… Rahul Gandhi had been here last year to attend a wedding. It should fairly be a decent place.” What a reason for him to presume it to be good? Going through their website, we fell in for its description. Keeping our fingers crossed, we decided our weekend destination. Wishing good night we dispersed with a lot of expectation and excitement thinking about the next day.

By 6.30 am the quorum was complete and we started off keeping in mind that we need to halt at a food station. So before we drove off the outskirts of the city, we stopped the car at a restaurant. We ordered for egg roast with appams. After a few minutes, steamy hot appams and spicy chilli red egg roast were served. The flavour of spices was so much that we all thought it to last on our palms for hours.

Destination

Clarifying routes with the help of local smokers at the roadside and the people at tea shops, around 8 am we entered the long stretch of road with glistening paddy fields on both sides.

On the way, we saw men climbing areca palm and swaying it to hop on to its neighbouring palm. As there were many dilapidated shacks all around (read toddy shops!), we got to see a good number of bare-bodied toddy collectors with plastic barrels tied around their waist hurriedly climbing palm trees and dropping-off sliding with the grip of a handmade coconut leaf which functions to be a safety belt for smooth landing.

After some visual rejuvenation, we moved on. But it was a bumpy ride in the next one-and-a-half hour and we reached the wooden entrance of the water engulfed Edassery Kayal Resort. The gates creaked open painstakingly to an unsullied gift of nature.

The resort

After parking our car, we treaded on to the gaped stony bridge, an architectural opening which showed us the dawdling water underneath. On arrival, we were served with a glass of tangy fruit juice, the welcome drink. We sat at the reception enjoying the breezy air which carried along with it a strong fragrance of the backwaters.

The silence of the place was often rhythmically disturbed by the shell chandelier which swayed to the moods of the wind. The foyer was craft fully adorned by wooden tress, brass accessories and water-filled antique vessels sprinkled with rose petals, adding grandeur to the ethnicity of the building. Its walls have indigenous terracotta murals depicting birds in the lakes perching on tree trunks pecking on tiny fish. As we were admiring the artist’s creativity and imagination carved on the wall, Shaji, in-charge of the resort, joined us. He gave a vivid description of the uniqueness of the resort.

“All the 24 well-planned cottages are built in slanted parallel rows which make it possible for all our guests to have an uninterrupted ringside view of the serene backwaters. This construction is one-of-its-kind,” says Shaji. The credit for this architectural masterpiece goes to architects Ramesh J. Tharaka and Monalitha Chatterjee who won the IIA Asia Gold Leaf Award for Resorts in 2009.

A stony passage from the reception led us to the six-feet deep crystal clear swimming pool and then to the accommodation. We were escorted to the resort boudoir which looked modern and luxuriously spacious with uncluttered styling, well-groomed wooden furniture with a semi-open air bathroom decked with bamboo shoots and white pebbles scattered around its roots. I slid open the white frilly curtain and there I saw how close we were to the edges of the water body.

Getting out of the room, we walked to the sheltered deck where we could sit down for hours together enjoying the incredible boundless beauty. The peace and solitude we enjoyed there got spoiled with the interruptions caused by ‘Anthoni’, ‘Thoma’ and more of their kind. These were passenger boats commuting people.

As it was hot and humid, we took cover under the canopy of trees.  We sat down and chatterboxes continued jabbering with no room for gossips. It was more of childhood talks about how we used to fish with towels, collect pebbles and some dangerous encounters we had with water. We had a whale of time there.

Bon appétit

As we had already decided to have authentic Kerala fish curry rice, we didn’t take much of captain’s time. Masala pappads, fried fish, fish curry, salads and rice filled our table. It was a hearty meal, freshly cooked and served at Rani Restaurant. To sum up our meal, we ordered for some puddings and payasams. An hour back, we were tired of the heat, but now it was heavy stuffing which made us feel exhausted.

Then we went to the banquet hall ‘Marthandam,’ coffee shop ‘Spain’ which is furbished with cane furniture, an entertainment zone and an executive bar furnished with rugged cart wheel designed furniture. This place provides a romantic milieu to surprise your loved one by gifting her a romantic candle-lit dinner by the waterside.

Twilight beauty

The sweltering heat prompted us to take a dip in the pool. There we met Steve, Anne and their twin girls, from the UK. We became friends. It was a kaleidoscopic view to see the herons flocking across the sun, which was about to be swallowed by the waters, and the far off palm trunks kissed by water fading overtime in darkness.

It was around six in the evening, so we thought of having some high tea before we return to Kochi. It was hard, but time was up for us to pack our bags. The twilight lent an ornate appearance to the resort and our footsteps bid adieu to the beautiful place.

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