acilando

Kerala or “God’s own Country” as the locals like to call it was one of the most surreal places we visited and it was particularly special because of its eminence in my life. It was one of the first places I traveled with Kamiya after she came back from London – we were still figuring out our relationship and both of us had taken drastic steps in our lives to give ‘us’ a shot. Kamiya had taken an internship in NIMHANS and I had decided to shift to Bangalore after completing my undergraduate degree. Of course as you can imagine money was limited so this was the first of many backpacker friendly experiences that we had in India! We travelled to three gorgeous places in Kerala - Kochi, Wayanad and Allepey, in 5 Days; A trip that I would normally advise at least 8 days.

 

We left from Chennai on an overnight train ride to the city of Kochi. Kochi is a port city and as such is a crowded place, which doesn’t really come as a shock (As Kerala is not one of the few places in India that you can be away from crowds! It’s a given and may as well be an important element of the ‘Indian experience’). We decided to stay in Fort Kochi, which is a short bus/auto ride away. We took an auto there (Rs. 200) and left the hustle and bustle for a quaint part of town with Dutch architecture. Filled with bed and breakfast’s, Fort Kochi is known for its ‘Chinese Fishing Nets’. It’s a walking town and as you move from one street to the other you will see beautiful churches and restaurants by the ocean. Keralan food is one of the best I have eaten - its spicy with loads of flavours and coconut is one of the core ingredients. One of the first meals that we had was in a hotel called ‘Malabar Junction’ where we ordered the unpronounceable ‘Beef Ularthiyathu’ and Prawns. OMG I fell in love! Beef Ularthiyathu is a heavenly dried fried juicy coconut based dish that goes perfectly with rice. The Prawns on the other hand was cooked in coconut milk, mustard seeds and curry leaves and left us transfix in a stupor that we did not want to get out of. We immediately knew that by the end of this vacation the horizon of our taste buds would not be the same again!

 

We decided to stay in a cute little Bed and Breakfast and walked around the city trying out seafood for two days. The interesting thing about Fort Kochi is that you can buy the fish from the local fisherman and have them cook it for you. There is nothing more authentic than eating local food and we ate Banana wrapped snappers, calamari, and lots of beef dishes. We spent the morning in the Dutch Palace, checked out the Museum that had the remains of the once fortified wall of the Fort in the afternoon and strolled around the Churches in the evening. At night we went for a Kathakali performance; Kathakali is the dance style of Kerala that involves elaborate facial expressions to depict mood with minimal movement of the rest of the body. It is extremely unique and a must watch! Typically the dance is a story or an excerpt from Hindu mythology and the one that we saw was on the story of ‘Bali’.

 

Our next destination was the hill station of Wayanad. Our crazy plan involved taking a local bus from Kochi/Ernakulum to Wayanad. The bus was many hours late and in the wee hours of the morning we finally left for Wayanad. That bus ride was one of the scariest experiences ever or so Kamiya told me (because I was sleeping comfortably on the floor of a crowded Indian local bus for 6 hours). We reached Wayanad in the morning the next day and got a place just to keep our luggage and shower. We hired a guide and a jeep for the day (Rs 3500) that took us to the well known locations in the area - tea plantations, waterfalls, Edakkal caves (with pre-historic stone carvings and the place where Kamiya's lollypop was stolen by a monkey) and Muthanga National Park. After a long day of going from one place to another we left for our third and final destination; Alleyppey or Alapuzzha via Kottayam where we changed buses.

 

Alleppey is one place I would highly recommend to any person travelling to India. The backwaters make this experience really special as you can hire a houseboat and spend your time gliding through pristine nature. We rented a cute boat (Rs. 5000) with one bedroom. These boats are completely self-sufficient and have a captain and a chef that cook authentic Keralan food (Yes! We still hadn’t had enough). As you sail through the backwaters you cross teams of ducks, fishermen on boats - made out of a single log - selling lobsters, fish and prawns – engulfed in stupendous views of coconut trees by the bay. The boats leave in the afternoon, dock in the evening on an island where you can get out and explore and leave the next day to the starting point. Alleppey is very well known for the annual boat races, which I was told are a must watch.

 

We took a short 1hr bus ride to Kochi and ate one last insane meal of Prawns and Beef Ularthiyathu. Unfortunately we did not have train tickets and I thought I could talk my way into getting on the train but that didn’t workout! We had to take a bus from Alleppey to Bangalore where we culminated our journey. What an amazing place! There are some experiences that immediately get imprinted in your mind; Kerala was one such experience for me and for a brief moment it felt like we were in god’s own country!

 

- Kayhan Sanyal