Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Kerala trip - Day 1 :)



Who doesn’t crave for a short break/vacation from the used, regular work life? Yes, we too did so … J Remember a saying “A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in”.

But … imagine a vacation with a super naughty enthusiastic and energetic toddler ?? !! Then, a vacation is having nothing to do and running behind the little munchkin.

We wanted to take a break from our hustle bustle life at least for a weekend and finally decided a vacation for 4 days. And guess where is it … “God’s own country – KERALAM”.

I would like to write all about our 4 days exciting family trip in this blog. There must be, there are lot many travelogues on Kerala and this would be one more in the list to plan for a perfect family trip :)

How this begun?

We were planning for trip since last year and we always dropped the plan due to various commitments. I just a post noticed in my office public folder titled “Kerala Packages – Perfect tours to go with”. I saved the info and totally forgot it. I think this was in the first quarter of 2017.

After a lot of confusion on the place to visit, budget, proper packages etc. etc., I remembered this post, dug my mail box and found it and the rest is our happy tour plan.

Details:
Agent                                    :               Tripdoers

Contact Person Name             :               Mr. Biju Govindan

Package we chose                  :               4D/3N Kochi-Munnar-Allepey-Kochi

The tour was well structured and perfect I would say. We felt like some of our family member planned the trip for us. Very secure, neat with no slip-ups or uncertainties.
Here goes our itinerary for all the days. Click on the day links to see all the details.

Day 1

Reach Kochi
Travel to Munnar
Sightseeing and shopping

Day 2

Exploring Munnar

Day 3

Travel to Alappuzha
Stay at houseboat

Day 4

Travel to Kochi
Exploring Kochi

DAY 1

Our flight was in the day 1 morning and in spite of delay, we reached Kochi airport by 9.45am. Before we reached, I had received continuous calls from Biju and our cab driver Prabhu. He was ready there to pick us up. After a quick breakfast, we started our travel to Munnar.

I couldn’t list few specific sightseeing places on the way to Munnar as each and every spot on that way is breathtaking and delightful green. That was the Kochi-Madurai highway. We stopped at 3 to 4 places just to give a pause and enjoy the serene nature.

We spotted Valara waterfalls that is around 42 kilometers from Munnar. It is one of the major waterfalls in Kerala. We did not spend much time here as the place was too much crowded (lol... what else to expect in the mid May !!!!)

Cheyyapara waterfalls is near to Valara and it is 1000 feet above the sea level. And I was reluctant to move away from the water cascading down seven steps. That is a trekking spot too!!

We reached Munnar in the afternoon, had lunch and moved to the Elysium Garden Hills resort. As the name suggests, the resort is cozily situated opposite to the valley in Munnar in midst of gardens, hills and gives us a mesmerizing view. Our room had a balcony view to the valley. Located little away from the Munnar town, on the way to Mattupetty dam, the resort provided us undisturbed and peaceful sleep.




Elysium garden hills resort - Balcony view




Interiors

There are so many paintings that depict the Kerala tradition and practices. This is just one of them.






Beautiful carving on wood




Things to be noted:

Hotel is away from town and hence, if you do not have vehicle, it is difficult to get food. The hotel offers a very good buffet dinner (around Rs.550 per head) and also a big menu of dinner items that you can enjoy. But if you are so specific to have idly/dosa, it is better to finish dinner at Munnar town before reaching the resort.


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