Day one: Left Bangalore by Kochuvelli express (11.30 pm) and reached Cochin (Ernakulam) next day at around 12.30 pm. An A/c Tavera was assigned for our local travel for the whole trip. Hotel (Sealord) was about 4km from the station facing Cochin marine drive and had an excellent view of the sea.
2 a/c deluxe rooms were assigned for us. Rooms were very comfortable and A/c was apt for the hot and humid weather. After freshening up we decided to have typical Kerala lunch [including Karimeen fry, Hmmm Yummy!], rested for a while and headed for a Cochin city tour… Cochin is a typical harbour city and I found quite a bit of similarities with Kolkata! We visited some old churches, had hands on experience of the ‘Chinese Fishing Nets’, and discovered a snake charmer…. I was thrilled! Evening was for lazing around and bonding.
Day Two: We had decided to visit Veegaland (a water theme park), and left in the morning after breakfast… on the way, saw some nice rubber plantations, cute small churches, temples and a political procession! Veegaland experience was very exciting for my sister as she was going to a water theme park for the first time.
We headed for Kumarokom in the evening; it was about 2-3 hours of drive. When we were approaching Kumarokum, saw the stretches of back waters, I was very excited. When we reached our destination, we were told to take a boat ride to reach the resort. That was a pleasant surprise, we never expected it! Cocobay resorts had lived up to its name; it was really beautiful and serene. It was on the bank of Vembanad Lake with loads of coconut trees around… we reached there after dark, yet we knew a great view was waiting for us in the morning. All the rooms were a mix of traditional Kerala house and a modern architecture. Though it had A/c, the ceiling was wooden. We could hear pigeons chirping (not sure if this is the right word)!
Day Three: Morning was an absolute treat for eyes… around us was greenery of tender grasses and famous Coconut trees and in front of us was endless blue patch of the Lake! We spent the day lazing around enjoying the view and swimming.
Houseboat picked us up from the resort in the afternoon, and we were on the way to experience another spectacle, as we sailed through the lake we were at admiration of such unadulterated greenery, blue waters and local people… Attendants had prepared us traditional Kerala lunch along with Karimeen Fry, it tasted heaven (I am a huge Karimeen fan!). It took us about 5-6 hours to reach Alleppy.
As the boat needed to be decked during nights, it was decked near the World Famous Nehru Trophy Kerala Boat Race venue. Evening was bonding time with the family. We also watched some random movie in the boat’s DVD player. I still cannot believe that we had dinner at 9pm! (Usual dinner time is 11pm :))
Day Four: It felt really nice to wake up to the noise of kids jumping into the water and practicing water sports! We had our morning refreshments and breakfast on the boat… they had made us Puttu and Kadla Curry (No sure if I have spelled it right). It was time to bid good bye to the houseboat and check in to the Ayurveda Resort for some authentic Kerala Massages. After showing the finishing point of the Nehru Trophy Kerala Boat Race boat dropped us to the resort.
I must say I had never experienced anything like this resort, before. I felt like as if I had gone back the pre-independence time. All the cottages were made of wood and other natural elements. Apart from the split a/c everything else was made of natural ingredients. There was mosquito net in the room, not repellent! I have seen similar net in Jodha – Akbar! (Remember the song ‘In lamho ke’?) After relaxing for a bit we went in for a nice massage, then had some typical Kerala food and spent rest of the day relaxing.
Evening we were dropped to the Alleppy Railway station and left Kerala after 4 days of absolute relaxation. We reached Bangalore City station at around 10 am in the morning.
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