Wednesday 22 April 2015

Memoirs of Kerala- Part 2 (Cochin and Alleppey)

I had left Munnar in 2010 with a promise to come back and made good on it in 2012. Since we had seen some of the hills already, Avi and I chose the beaches and the backwaters this time. We had planned to go to Cochin, Alleppey, Varkala and return via Trivandrum. It was our first holiday since we started working and we were super excited.

We landed in Cochin in a balmy August morning and headed to Cherai beach which is 30 kms from Cochin. The drive from the airport to Cherai was beautiful as we crossed the backwaters and saw fishermen casting their nets.

We were staying at the Cherai beach resort which is perfectly located with the beach on one side and the backwaters on the other. Thus my first introduction to the beautiful Kerala backwaters was sitting on a hammock outside our cottage. We stayed in a fisherman villa, modeled after Kerala style tribal houses. It was a different feeling from a standard hotel room where we stay often enough.

Cherai beach is beautiful, clean and not very touristy. It is a perfect place to spend an evening at after a day of hectic travel. However, Kerala is a conservative state and therefore, unlike Goa, it is not always possible to swim in the beaches.

After relaxing a bit, we chalked out our plan for the next few days in Cochin. One the next day, we headed to Fort Kochi. The promenade makes for a great walk. The Chinese fishing nets at Fort Kochi are said to be a beautiful sight though I was not very impressed by them. We walked from Fort Kochi to Santa Cruz Basilica and St. Francis church. Santa Cruz Basilica is built in old Portuguese style and is famous for its stain-glass work and paintings.

If you are a history buff, do visit St. Francis church as Vasco Da Gama was buried there for 14 years. It also contains artefacts and relics including candlesticks, banners, chalices etc crafted in European style which give a glimpse into the history of Cochin.

The next day we headed to Athirappilly and Vazhachal waterfalls which are approximately 60 kms from Cochin. Athirappilly waterfall originates from Anamudi mountains from the height of 25 meters. The drive up to the hills is beautiful. It got cooler as we got to closer to the waterfall. After buying the entrance tickets, we walked through the forest to get to the top of the Athirappilly waterfall. We could hear birds on our way to the waterfall and enjoy the fresh air. The waterfall feels massive and the roaring sound appears to call you to nature. The forest is supposed to be great for trekking though we were not geared for it on that day.

A small pathway from the entrance leads to the base of the waterfall where you suddenly get and idea of the height and size of the waterfall. The rocks are uneven and slippery though it is worth getting closer to the waterfall as the sound of water is mesmerising. Due to high current, we did not get into the water though a number of enthusiastic souls did try.

Small restaurants near the waterfalls serve local delicacies such as beef roast and chicken stew. We had a lunch of beef roast and Kerala parathas before heading back to our hotel.

The next day we headed to Alleppey in a cab. Like always, I fell asleep during the drive and woke up only when we arrived. We stayed at Citrus resort which is cut off from the mainland by the backwaters and can be reached by ferries run by the hotel. The resort was beautiful. with open green areas. We watched boathouses pass by and locals catching their daily meal in the backwaters. The next day we took a boat on the backwaters and went through a route of canals, trees and greens.


However, I did not really enjoy Alleppey much. The backwaters are good for a couple of hours but after that it is an endless maze of water. The natural beauty has been destroyed by the developments around the backwaters- for the longest while you see just a series of hotels or houses. The water is also not very clean.

We also visited Alappuzha beach. The water is clean but the beach has no life of its own. It was awfully quite and the scenery was not great either. We walked across to Indian coffee house for some snacks as there are not too many places to eat near the beach. Unlike our experience of the coffee house in Kolkata, this was not very great.

In general, if you are planning a Kerala trip, I would recommend not spending more than one day in Alleppey.

More on Varkala and Trivandrum later!

Thursday 16 April 2015

Memoirs of Kerala- Part 1 (Munnar)

The first time I went to Kerala was in 2010. Having lived in Bangalore for five years and knowing that I will be leaving in a few months for uncharted territories (I was graduating that year and starting work), made it important to see and enjoy all that was there. Hence, the trip to Munnar.

Avi and I took an overnight bus from Bangalore and reached Munnar some time in the morning. The drive after Theni was beautiful as we entered the narrow roads on the hills and could see the tea estates and the waterfalls. Though it was May, it was slightly cold and the joy of being at a hill station was already seeping in. 

We stayed at a small hotel in Devikulam, approximately 5 kms from Munnar town. The decision was initially taken to save money (we were college kids) but turned out to be a great one. While Munnar town is crowded and noisy, Devikulam is a small quiet hill station.

The hotel was located beautifully in the middle of greenery, just off the road, served brilliant Pakoras in the rain and had really bad sound-proofing. We enjoyed the food, the weather, beauty and the noisiness of kids staying at the hotel in the same spirit.
I fell in love with Munnar on my first walk from Devikulam to Munnar city. We did not have a car with us and therefore, decided to walk to the town to find some mode of transport in and around Munnar. The road goes through tea estates and woods. Instead of heading straight to see the tourist spots I decided to walk into the woods. The woods and hills hold wonderful surprises as we found ponds with beautiful views that were not mentioned in any guidebook. We took diversions into the hills and generally spend a good couple of hours covering the small distance. 

We finally ran into an auto rickshaw driver who agreed to take us around for 400 rupees a day. Thus, we started the journey to Mattupetty Dam, Kundala Lake and various hill points.

Mattupetty Dam was beautiful. The water from the lake reflected the green hills and made it a great place for boating. It is famous for being so deep that Indian navy does its diving practice here. We clicked photos to our heart's content, enjoyed the breeze and did some boating.

After the lake, we decided to see the waterfalls around Munnar. Attukal waterfall stood out among them. While it is usually dry during summers, we were lucky as it had been raining for last few days. The passage to the base of waterfall is narrow and allows very few cars to be parked. We walked to the base of the waterfall and sat listening to the sound of water. I have always found it quite invigorating to sit next to water. A small shop nearby was serving tea and Maggi which made my day. We returned to the town in the evening to gorge on everything from beef roast to Spanish omelette. 
We had set aside a day for visiting Eravikulam National Park which is famous for Nilgiri Tahr and the views of Anamudi peak. Private vehicles are not allowed in the park. It uses its own buses to ferry the visitors and queues for the bus can be very long in peak season. The park is often closed between February to April as it is the breeding season for Nilgiri Tahr.


We reached early and spent the day there. Nilgiri Tahrs at this national park are very comfortable with people. We walked with them, played with them and even took photos of their calves. We got to see a wide range of plants, flowers and birds. The national park is also famous for its butterflies but we could not see any at that time. The view of Anamudi is beautiful. It is situated right in the middle of the tourist section of the national park and we drove around the majestic black hill that appeared to be frozen in time.

Munnar and the memories of Munnar never cease to amaze. The tea gardens, the rains, the waterfalls, the hills, hot Maggi while shivering, bright sun-light in the afternoon and above all a quietness strange to a city dweller like me will remain in the memory and be a reason to come back again and again.

Thursday 9 April 2015

A weekend in Mahabaleshwar

Avi and I headed to Mahabaleshwar on a bright sunny morning to celebrate the Easter weekend. We had barely escaped a working weekend and could not have been more excited even though it was almost the end of strawberry season.

Mahabaleshwar is approximately 6 hours from Mumbai and it is advisable to leave early in the morning. I had however enjoyed a few drinks on the previous evening and therefore, we left on Friday morning by 9 am. We took the route through Lonavala and Pune and reached by 3 pm. The weather was surprisingly good - not too hot but bright and sunny.

Where to stay
Mahabaleshwar has a number of small to mid scale hotels and resorts. It is better to stay in the city unless you have transport of your own and are willing to drive to the Mahabaleshwar market for the feel of the city in the night.
We stayed at the Sunny International which is situated in the main market in Mahabaleshwar. The hotel is mid-scale and comfortable. The staff looked a little lost at  our requests regarding the maps of the city and directions but was in general helpful. Their restaurants serve only vegetarian food but they got non-vegetarian food for us from a restaurant called Meghdoot nearby. I would not recommend their gravies though the shawarma turned out to be good.

What to see
Mahabaleshwar is beautiful to drive around and has a number of “points” from where you can see the view of the hills. Not all the points are worth spending a lot of time at. However, a drive to these points and walk around them is quite beautiful usually.

Since half the day had already gone, we decided to drive to Arthur’s seat point and stop at all other points on the way. Arthur’s seat point is supposed to have a great view of Savitri river. However, since it was April, the river was almost dried up. The view of Western Ghat from these points was quite beautiful. The greenery and the birdsongs added to the charm.


We stopped at one of the points for sunset and watched one of the most beautiful sunsets I had seen in a while. Maharashtra's favourite Vada Pavs finished the day for us.


We decided to visit Pratapgad fort the next day. The fort was built by Shivaji and like all Maratha forts, required you to climb lots of stairs. The fort is popular for in the history of India as knight of Bijapur Afzalkhan was defeated and killed by Shivaji at Pratapgad. It is one of the better maintained Shivaji forts, possibly due to still being a private property. It is an interesting piece of architecture as the walls are built in a way that gates of neither the upper fort nor the lower fort can be seen unless you are very close. Our guide informed us that it was a strategic move to mislead the enemy forces.



We also made a pit-stop at the Mapro farm though I did not find it very interesting. However, they serve beautiful strawberry and cream which both Avi and I loved.

Later we drove to Panchagani and stopped at Parsi point and Sydney point- neither having any connection to Parsis or Sydney to the extent I could tell. Both the points overlook Krishna Valley and Dhom Dam and were beautiful. Since we reached closer to the evening, we got the bonus of great wind and nice weather.

We finished the second day with a visit to Venna Lake. It was too crowded to take a boat ride but the sunset was quite beautiful.

What to eat

Mahabaleshwar is famous for strawberries and strawberry and cream is a must have. We also had mulberries, corn patties and bought masala chana from Mahabaleshwar. We also brought back some Mapro strawberry products- our slice of Mahabaleshwar- home though we are yet to try it out.

Wednesday 8 April 2015

Beauty of the old world- Angkor Wat

I visited Angkor Wat as a part of my Cambodia trip in 2013. We had just spent a few lovely (and lazy) days in Phnom Penh and were looking forward to seeing one of biggest attractions in the country.

The base town for Angkor Wat is Siem Reap. We stayed in Navutu Dreams Resort & Spa. The resort was beautiful and luxurious. They even provided us with a Tuk Tuk for the duration of our stay. The Tuk Tuk turned out to be a great asset since we realised soon that we could not walk around the Angkor Wat complex and see everything due to its size. Our driver also turned out to be very knowledgeable and agreed to double as a tour guide.  

Angkor Wat is massive, spread over acres of land and Cambodia is hot. We devised a strategy of visiting the temples in the morning (never for sunrise though I hear it is highly recommended) and enjoying our resort during the afternoon.

We bought a 3 days pass for US$ 40 that allowed us to enter any of the Angkor Wat temples for three days during the next week freely. The process is simple and fuss free.

Highlights of Angkor Wat

Since we had only three days, we concentrated on seeing the main attractions - Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, the Bayon, Preah Khan, Banteay Srei and Ta Som. It is not possible to talk about all of them here but I would like to mention some of my favourites.

The complex takes its name from the temple of Angkor Wat. It was built in 12th century as a Hindu temple though now has some Buddhist symbols as well since the later kings; favouring Buddhism tried converting it into a Buddhist temple. The temple is surrounded by a massive moat for the protection of the temple which also represents the oceans where the world originated. The bas reliefs depict a number of Hindu mythologies, such as churning of the ocean and battle of Kurukshetra. The temple turns golden during sunset which is worth the heat of the day.


Ta Prohm is another 12th century construction and was built as a Buddhist temple. The outer walls of the temple enclose an area of approximately 600,000 square metres which would have been a large town in 12th century. However, it fell into disrepair after 12th century and was lost for centuries. One of the most interesting features of this temple- trees growing out of the ruins- is a result of the neglect. This has now become the symbol of Ta Prohm.
 
Ta Prohm- The forest within the temple
The Bayon was constructed in later 12th century and has beautiful bas reliefs depicted Khmer life in that era as well as stories from Buddhism. The most prominent feature of this temple is its upper terrace where each tower supports two to four faces of Lokeshvara Bodhisattva.


Tips for first time travellers
  • Since Cambodia is a tropical country and at its coolest 35 degrees Celsius, it is better to travel during the mornings and the evenings and avoid stepping out during the afternoons. It is a great idea to carry some water with you at all times.
  • While very tourist friendly, Cambodia is a conservative country and you cannot enter some of the temples in shorts, very short skirts or sleeveless tops. Since the heat makes it unbearable sometimes, it would be a good idea to carry a light jacket or shrug to be worn while entering such temples.
  •  The Tuk Tuk or taxi drivers know a good deal about the temples. However, it is advisable to hire a guide at least while visiting the main attractions. There is a lot of history in there which we may not have understood without the guide to explain it to us.
  • Visit the night-markets in Siem Reap. They are full of local goodies (and smuggled electronics) though you will need to bargain hard. We bought beautiful Jade elephants and cobra wine from the night-markets at throwaway prices.
  • There are a number of local artists selling their paintings in the night-markets and in the temple compound. It is worth having a look at the local artists and taking a flavour of Cambodia home.
  • Do try local food. We tried Khmer style BBQ frog which is currently my favourite memory of the trip.