ARRIVAL IN INDIA – 2 WEEKS BACKPACKING IN KERALA

TRIVANDRUM

FLYING TO INDIA

I spent nearly two weeks in Kerala and visited a number of places while I was here. I was moving on fairly fast though, so I figured I’d group all of these places into one large post.

My first stop in India was Kerala and I was flying into Trivandrum airport. Of all my travels so far, where I was warned that I needed to have an outbound flight already booked (to prove that I was leaving the country before my visa expired), none had actually caused me a problem. This was a relief considering I’d never booked an onward flight, as I had no idea where I was going to be heading and wanted the dice to decide this.

This time, they did check. And this time, fortunately, I did have a flight back to the UK booked, so it wasn’t a problem.

I’ll offer the same word of warning though; if you are backpacking and heading to India, have an onward flight booked! It might vary, depending on where you’re arriving from, but Colombo airport in Sri Lanka seemed to have the most stringent security that I’ve ever encountered.

ARRIVING IN TRIVANDRUM

Once I arrived at the airport, I had to go through the Visa on arrival process, which only took around 20 minutes. I made sure I was quickly off the plane and stormed past the other travellers to get to the front of the queue.

I handed over my passport and visa approval letter and waited for my name to be called.

A few minutes later I had my passport stamped and made my way through immigration.

I had a taxi booked to pick me up from the airport to take me to my accommodation and I was greeted with a smile by a driver holding a sign with my name as soon as I reached the arrivals hall. Excellent.

I put my bags in his taxi and off we went.

STAYING IN TRIVANDRUM

As usual, I hadn’t done much research in advance on the area and for me the most important things were that I had a nice private room, decent wifi and a pool, so that I could relax and get my blog up to date.

What I didn’t totally realise was that the place I had booked was a meditation and yoga retreat and typically had guests who stayed for several weeks at a time who were partaking in a course of some kind; which I wasn’t.

I was greeted by a large Indian man who threw flowers over me and put coloured powder on my face. Not the greeting I expected, but I embraced it.

I soon came to realise that this wasn’t really the right place for me. There were four other guests, who were clearly here together for the training and didn’t seem at all sociable.

After settling in I went to check out the pool, which was unfortunately full of bugs, so I didn’t really get the relaxing pool experience I was hoping for.

One of the saving graces of the places was the food, which was excellent.

Everything was vegetarian and traditional Kerala fare. All freshly prepared on the premises. Huge portions of fruit with every meal too meant I was able to have a bit of a detox while I was here.

Ironically though, I started feeling really ill while I was here. Fever, chills, muscle aches. I worried that I was starting to get flu, but fortunately it only lasted a couple of days.

Due to the forced solitude of this place I made good progress on catching up with the blog while I was here and, on my third and final day, I got a taxi to the nearby beach.

KOVALAM BEACH

I was feeling really quite ill, but it was a relief to get out and about and visit one of the main spots of Trivandrum.

The hosts at the hotel were incredibly nice and courteous, but I had felt like I was being watched all the time and felt completely out of place, so to have my own space for a while was much needed.

Kovalam beach is a great place to hang out. A beautiful crescent beach with fishermen, surfers and a lighthouse at one end looking out over the bay. Along the beach front is a promenade of shops and quaint cafes.

I wanted to climb to the top of the lighthouse, but I was feeling too achy to attempt it.

I got a few photos from my visit to the beach though. Here’s some, to give you an idea of Kovalam:

VARKALA

After three nights in Trivandrum I moved on to the next stop in Kerala – Varkala.

It was about one and a half hour’s drive and I booked a taxi to take me there, which cost 2,500 Rupees (approx. £30).

India is vast and getting around by public transport is cheap, but not always convenient, so as I was still feeling a bit rough I favoured convenience over cost.

I ended up staying in Varkala for four nights; near to the ‘Varkala cliff’, which is an incredibly beautiful setting.

This cliff overlooks the Arabian Sea and there is a walkway along the edge of the cliff where there are numerous bars and restaurants, with amazing ocean views.

There are also many shops along here, where you cannot avoid cries of “you wanna see something”. It gets a little tiring after the tenth time each day, but it’s one of the things you have to put up with. The shop owners were all really friendly and, as it was still quiet season when I was here, I assume they were trying even more desperately to get a sale.

Most of my days were spent visiting various different cafes / restaurants along this stretch and it’s easy to see why. What a great spot!

On my last full day in Varkala I took a walk in the opposite direction, towards Kappil beach, which is a gorgeous, long, quiet stretch of beach.

From where I was staying it was a 6km walk, mainly along the cliff edge and there were some great sights here, including flocks of sea eagles circling overhead looking for prey.

Here’s a few other shots from the walk to Kappil beach:

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Varkala. It was quiet season, so the number of tourists here wasn’t too high. I just spent four days enjoying the beauty of the views and sampling the local cuisine, while making sure I was totally over whatever virus had been plaguing me.

I’d definitely recommend that you don’t miss Varkala to anyone who’s backpacking through Kerala.

Onto the next stop – Munroe Island.

MUNROE ISLAND

Leaving Varkala, after four relaxing days enjoying the views from the cliff, I was heading to Munroe Island for one night.

Another taxi ride was needed and this again cost 2,500 Rupees to get there.

I’d not heard of Munroe Island before, but an Indian guy I got speaking to in a restaurant had recommended it, so I figured why not.

Munroe Island is located in the backwaters of Kerala and is composed of a cluster of 8 islands, which are separated by lakes and manmade water channels.

Here’s a couple of snaps from walking around the nearby area:

A frazzled bat

I arrived in the early afternoon and was met by one of the owners of the accommodation I was staying in – Munroe Days Homestay.

Both the woman that met me and her husband were incredibly welcoming and made me feel at home right away.

The homestay was fairly basic, but a lovely stay for a night. A proper family run place, with just two rooms for guests and situated right on the banks of the Keralan backwaters.

I sat and watched boats drift by and was fed some, beautifully prepared, traditional local cuisine. It seemed like they grew and prepared a lot of the ingredients at home and the family all chipped in in preparing and serving the food.

Later that afternoon, once I’d had lunch, the owner of the homestay offered to take me out on his boat to see the backwaters. This was the reason I was here, so of course, off we went!

These waters were traditionally used for transport. Now they are used much more commonly for tourism, but they are still used for their traditional purpose; the locals using the waterways to transport goods back and forth.

Getting out on the water was great. We made our way through the backwaters at a slow pace and I was able to take in the sights of the local area from the boat. It was a really relaxing experience.

I had to duck under things like this, which added an obstacle course vibe to the trip

Relaxing, until the heavens opened! Visiting India during the wet season was always going to be prone to storms and just fifteen minutes into the ride an epic downpour started.

Fortunately the host had an umbrella I could borrow, so that I could still get some shots, but it didn’t do much to prevent the sideways rain.

This guy was having a little nap in his boat, while escaping the rain

We spent around an hour meandering through the backwaters until we arrived back at the accommodation.

Despite the rain it was a great experience and one I thoroughly recommend if you’re in Kerala.

MOVING ON TO THE NEXT STOP – ALLEPPEY

The next morning I was heading to the beach town of Alleppey, which was around 90 km further North.

There was a train that ran from Munroe Island and the owner of the homestay gave me a lift on his motorbike to the train station which was only a couple of km away.

Absolute legends at that homestay. If you’re in Munroe Island then be sure to check them out!

I arrived at the train station, thanked my host and he went on his way.

I went to the ticket booth to try and by a ticket and the man behind the desk, who was stuffing his face and not in the mood to talk, briefly explained that the trains to Alleppey were not running today. Brilliant. He also couldn’t give any advice on how I could get there.

Not wanting to mess around I went up to the nearest tuk-tuk driver and negotiated 2,000 Rupees for him to take me to Alleppey.

Sorted – off we went in this bad boy.

After a couple of minutes on the road we had to cross the backwaters, so we head to dock onto this little platform which took us over to the other side.

Once we disembarked we carried on to Alleppey which took around two hours and was a good way to see the Indian countryside.

Onto Alleppey.

ALLEPPEY

Alappuzha (or known to most as Alleppey) is another coastal town in Kerala, but also a hub of Kerala’s backwaters where many tourists come to experience a canoe ride along the waterways or spend time on a houseboat.

It’s known as the ‘Venice of the East’, but that is really just a tourism board slogan to get people to visit. Venice it is not.

As I’d already experienced the canoe ride in Munroe Island, I didn’t feel the need to get involved in another trip along the backwaters, but just wanted to pass through and get a feel for the place.

I was here for 2 nights, staying at a place called ‘Saafron Holidays’. Again, they were really helpful and friendly hosts here. They arranged to get my laundry done, ordered food from outside the hotel for me and rented me a scooter to get around.

I spent most of my time here scootering around to take in the sights and sounds of the town.

Alleppey has a really busy town centre and negotiating the traffic while riding a scooter was a lot of fun, but a little daunting.

I ventured down to Alleppey beach, which is supposed to be quite a famous beach in Kerala.

The beach seemed to be really popular with the locals, but I didn’t notice any tourism influence at all here, unless I was in the wrong part of the beach. But that’s not a bad thing. It’s nice to see the locals enjoying their life without having to pander to tourism.

Then there’s the backwaters.

The main canals run right through the town centre, where there are dozens of boats waiting to try and take your money for a slow cruise down the waterways.

As it was still quiet season there was a desperation among the locals to try and get you to take a ride with them.

So quiet that this guy had given up and was having a snooze.

Further out of town, the backwaters were overgrown and surely didn’t get much use.

At the North point of Alleppey is the real hub for travelling on the Keralan waterways and where you can access one of the houseboats.

All of these photos were obviously taken when the weather was ok, but unfortunately during my two days here there was whole lot of rain and I couldn’t experience Alleppey in its best light.

If I had stayed here longer and if I’d had have company I would have probably got involved in one of the houseboat rides, but as it was I just experienced the town for a couple of days and went on my way.

Next stop in Kerala – Kochi!

KOCHI

HEADING TO KOCHI

I was getting the train up to Kochi – hopefully successfully this time!

One of the owners of the hotel gave me a lift up to the train station and even paid for my ticket as I didn’t have exact change. What a legend.

The train took around an hour and a half and it was a fairly pleasant ride if not the most comfortable.

EXPLORING KOCHI

Having not done enough research in advance I didn’t realise that there separate parts to Kochi. There is the old town of Fort Kochi, which is the more tourist-focused area and the transportation hub and busy town of Ernakulam.

I was staying in the latter, which may have been a bit of a faux pas, but it still had its charm.

Not sure what they sell here.

I was staying in a nice hotel in the centre of town, with all the amenities I needed nearby.

I stayed here for three days in total and on the final full day I went for a wander around Fort Kochi, getting a tuk-tuk to take me over there.

Fort Kochi (or Cochin, meaning ‘like China’) was a Portuguese owned territory, until the Dutch took over; and later, the British. This can clearly be seen from the crumbling architecture of the place.

Working hard to keep the original yellow tint

There are numerous quaint cafes and restaurants in the Fort Kochi area, which makes it an ideal spot for tourists to wander the streets and hang out.

My favourite that I visited was Pepper House. A colonial heritage building, set on the waterfront, which includes a gallery and a library. And serves great food.

Heading towards the coastal area, one of the famous sights of Kochi are the old Chinese fishing nets. These are still in use, but due to the lack of fish in the water here now they are more of a tourist trap than anything.

The locals will spot anyone with a camera and urge them to come over to take some pictures of the fishing nets. At a cost, of course.

Here’s a few snaps from wandering about the beach areas of Kochi:

Mahatma Gandhi Beach – I expected something a bit more lush for him

I don’t know what this is.

I had a good wander around the area of Fort Kochi and if I was to visit again then I would definitely stay in this area, as opposed to Ernakulam, but at least I got to see both sides.

I headed back to Ernakulam, but instead of getting a tuk-tuk this time, I figured I’d mix with the locals and get the ferry back over.

Waiting like prisoners for the boat to arrive

A short 15 minute boat journey, which cost around 5p takes you to Ernakulam on the other side of Kochi. Definitely a quicker, cheaper and overall better way to get between the two.

LEAVING KERALA

After 13 days in Kerala I was heading up North to my next and final region of India – Goa.

Kerala was undoubtedly beautiful and i enjoyed my stay here, but there was definitely much more that I could have seen and done. I wanted to visit the hills and plantations of Munnar, but this would have meant heading East to come back West to get a train up to Goa.

As I was staying in Ernakulam and just over the road from the train station it made sense to get a train from there to Goa, leaving me around 10 days to explore that region.

Onto Goa!