Welcome to KERALA, “God’s Own Country”

  

Paul McCartney’s comment that Kerala is “truly God’s Own Country” echoes the sentiments of many a traveler to Kerala, the Mantri family included. In fact, this phrase has been adopted by Kerala tourism and anyone wishing to journey to this ‘green’ state should start planning with the help of this website. For foreigners wishing to explore the amazingly diverse tourist offerings of India, Kerala is a great place to start. In fact, we could not get enough of the place on our first visit, hence our decision to visit a second time.

The first time around, we flew into Kochi and explored the city and surrounds. In Kochi, we were hosted by Sunil and Vijaya, close college friends of Viren’s and just as well, since the Bharat Bandh that greeted us on our arrival (welcome to India!) prevented us from sight-seeing. We spent our time instead, exploring the naval base (her husband is a Commander in the Indian Navy) and got to dine on the sailing ship, the I.N.S. Tarangini (on our return), an experience in itself. For the rest of the trip, we chose to stay mostly at hotels from the Casino Group and did not regret our decision to do so given the warm hospitality, personalized service and true Kerala culture on offer.

As we embarked on our journey through this wonderful, green state what better place to start than Munnar, with its vast expanses of tea estates, wonderful climate and picturesque scenery. It reminded us a bit of southern Switzerland with the photos likely helping to convince the sceptics. Seeing the Nilgiri tahr in the Eravikulam National Park was enjoyable and this is one of the only couple of places in the world where one can see these endangered, friendly creatures.  From there, it was on to Periyar, where we stayed at Spice Village.  While the Periyar tiger reserve was a bit disappointing, as we did not see any tigers or elephants, the level of service at the hotel and the visit to a spice plantation on an elephant (yes, all three of us on one poor creature J) made up for it.  

The highlight of our stay there though, was the opportunity to see a new-born baby elephant – just 11 hours old when we saw him! He was born to a domestically-owned elephant called Sundari, which led Anand to promptly name him Antariksh (a la Sindoor Tere Naam Ke (an old Hindi TV serial) fame J). It was amazing to see him already walking around, though sticking close to his mum and exploring his surroundings, which included trying to dig a hole in the ground with his little trunk! As word spread about the little fellow, from the next day, curious onlookers were being charged a small fee to observe him. That’s enterprising India for you! Always an opportunity for a business venture 😉 

A stay at Coconut Lagoon in Kumarakom beckoned next, and having featured in the book “1000 Places To See Before You Die”, we were determined to stay there. For us, the place lived up to its reputation though subsequently we have had friends complain about the service standards and quality. In the event, an accommodation that might be worth exploring is Kumarakom Lake Resort, about which we have heard several good reviews. In this area, backwater cruises in the Kumarakom bird sanctuary are enthralling, especially if one is an avid bird-watcher.

Then, it was on to our last destination – Alleppey – where we explored jungle-shrouded backwater canals on our houseboat. Our captain, Robin, and cook, Matthew Joseph (the food was delicious and homely), were sweethearts and more than made up for the not-so-fancy stay on board. Anyone who visits Kerala should not miss out on this experience as we got a real taste of life on the backwaters up close and personal (the pictures of smiling kids, duck farm, etc speak for themselves). The sunrise in the backwaters was absolutely stunning!

So this rounded off our first trip to God’s Own Country and we knew we would be back for more to explore the southern part of the state. And some years later we did, this time flying into Thiruvananthapuram. Club Mahindra’s resort in Poovar was our abode and from there we explored Kovalam, spending a day at the beautiful grounds of the Taj, as well as Kanyakumari (also known as Cape Comorin). 

The name comes from the Devi Kanya Kumari Temple in the region and it is the southernmost tip of peninsular India. Kanyakumari town is also the southern tip of the Cardamom Hills, an extension of the Western Ghats range. It is especially popular in India for its spectacular and unique sunrise and sunset, thanks to its being nearly surrounded by waters. We embarked on our visit in the wee hours of the morning to catch the sunrise though to our disappointment it was a cloudy day and we missed it. However, the boat ride to see the Thiruvalluvar Statue as well as the Vivekananda Rock Memorial made it worth the trip.

A must-visit when in Thiruvananthapuram is the underrated Puthenmalika (Kuthiramalika) Palace Museum. It means “palace of horses” and has 122 smiling wooden horses all around its structure. Built by a Maharaja of the Kingdom of Travancore in British India, it takes one back to the 1840s when it was first constructed. It is a great example of the Kerala school of architecture and is made from teakwood, rosewood, marble, and granite. The Museum houses idols and sculptures made from white marble, Kathakali figures, Belgian mirrors and paintings. The flourishing spice trade between Kerala and the world made it possible to obtain those items. Maybe it was our fantastic guide who explained everything really well but we enjoyed it better than any other sight-seeing we did in and around Thiruvananthapuram. Unfortunately, it has not been well-maintained. 

The museum is located just near India’s richest temple, the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, the wealthiest place of worship in the world! It is conservatively estimated that the value of the monumental items discovered in the temple is close to US$19 billion and if the antique and cultural value were taken into account, potentially worth ten times the current market price!

Besides its magnificent tourist offerings, Kerala cuisine is delicious and unique and adds another element to one’s visit. Kerala is known as the "Land of Spices" because it traded spices with Europe as well as with many ancient civilizations and this is evident in its cuisine. The region makes frequent use of black pepper, cardamom, clove, ginger, and cinnamon. Traditional Kerala food is vegetarian and includes Kerala Sadya, which is an elaborate banquet prepared for festivals and ceremonies but contemporary Kerala food also includes non-vegetarian dishes. A full-course Sadya (served on a plantain leaf), which consists of rice with about twenty different accompaniments and desserts is the ceremonial meal eaten usually on celebratory occasions including marriages, Onam and Vishu. Grated coconut and coconut milk are commonly used for thickening and flavouring and seafood is a common part of meals.

So pack your bags folks and go explore this green, southern state of India. You will not be disappointed.

Wining and dining our way through
WESTERN AUSTRALIA

On our recent trip to Western Australia, we drove to the north of Perth (having covered Australia’s South West coast the first time around), towards the laidback fishing village of Cervantes. The key draw for heading there was to see The Pinnacles, limestone formations which are found within the Nambung National Park. The raw material for the limestone of the Pinnacles came from seashells in an earlier era that was rich in marine life. These shells were broken down into lime-rich sands that were blown inland to form high mobile dunes. Visiting at dawn or dusk is recommended with the long shadows formed by the rising / setting sun lending a lovely touch. The Pinnacles are very accessible and there is a 4km loop that one can drive through in a normal 2WD car.

While in the area, a visit to Lobster Shack for lunch and a visit to Lake Thetis is worth doing. While the menu at Lobster Shack is limited, the lobsters are extremely fresh and made for a good first meal of our trip. The next morning, we made a stop at Lake Thetis, one of only a few places in the world with living marine stromatolites, or 'living fossils'. The lake's stromatolites that look like rocky lumps have been dated to about 3370 years old. Following that we drove a bit further north to Jurien Bay for breakfast at the Family Affair Café. The eggs benedict and avocado/feta toast were delicious as was the coffee. Following that, we decided to drive back towards Perth on a different route that led straight to Swan Valley, which was going to be our abode for the next two nights. It turned out to be more interesting than the Indian Ocean Drive on the way up. An interesting stop along the way was the Emu Downs Wind Farm which provides electricity to run the Kwinana Desalination Plant which turns water from the Indian Ocean into nearly 152mn litres (40 million gallons) of drinking water per day!

A 3-hour drive down from Jurien Bay brought us to Swan Valley. Little River Winery for lunch was our first stop (of many!) to do some wine-tasting and have a wonderful meal. We then checked into our wonderful B&B, a beautiful 10-acre property. We were lucky to have the entire place to ourselves. Immaculate rooms, scrumptious breakfasts, a lovely owner, adorable dogs and cats made this two days very memorable. When in Swan Valley, the key thing to do is to eat and drink your way through the 32km food and wine trail 😊 Mandoon, Pinelli and Ambrook wineries were our other favourites.

The few hours we spent in the charming town of Guildford was lovely too and we did one of the heritage walks. Our dinners at Padbury’s and Rose and Crown in this town were our favourite meals of the trip as well.

It was then on to Fremantle. The famous Fremantle Prison was our first stop, being Western Australia’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The ‘Doing Time’ tour was very interesting and our guide Laura was excellent. The tour allows you to explore the cells (scarily claustrophobic with the only allowance for fresh air being the little grooves on the floor below the door!), gallows and other parts of the prison.  Fremantle Prison was constructed between 1851 and 1859, using convict labour. It was initially used for convicts transported from Britain, but was transferred to the colonial government in 1886 for use for locally-sentenced prisoners. Other sites worth checking out are the Round House and the WA Shipwreck Galleries. The Round House was the first permanent building built in the Swan River Colony. Opened in 1831, it is the oldest building still standing in Western Australia. The latter is recognised as the foremost maritime archaeology museum in the southern hemisphere. Steeped in history, the galleries house hundreds of relics from ships wrecked along WA’s treacherous coastline, including the original timbers from the Batavia (wrecked in 1629).

Besides sight-seeing, a spot of shopping never hurts and the famous Fremantle Markets lived up to the hype. The variety of stalls and quality of goods on offer made it the perfect place to pick up mementos from the trip. And finally, while in Fremantle, eating seafood and trying the famous breweries is a must. Little Creatures topped the list of breweries and not only was the beer delicious but the food and service was great as well. Another excellent meal we had was at Kailis’ Fish Market Café which came highly recommended and it lived up to expectations.

What better way to end our trip than with a visit to beautiful Cottesloe Beach, where we were fortunate to be able to catch up with old friends over lunch. So before we knew it, we had wined and dined our way through an entire week and it was time to say good-bye. Definitely won’t be our last trip to the country with the Barossa wine region beckoning next 😊 You see a theme here? 😉