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  • TravelerKerala
    Day 9

    Alleppey

    May 10 in India ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    We boarded this gorgeous 7 bedroom houseboat to cruise on the backwaters and have an overnight stay. Its lovely. The rooms are air-conditioned and ensuite. There is shaded seating near the captain steering wheel on the lower deck and a covered air-conditioned dining area on the upper deck with a small area exposed to the sun. They greeted us with fresh jasmine necklaces and fresh coconut water.

    I sat in the sun on the sail out to the middle of the lake. It was lovely to be doing a chilled out activity. For lunch we had a traditional Kerala fish meal on the banana leaf and a few of us tried eating with out hands. It was really delicious and one of my favourite meals of the trip. We had banana fritters for afternoon snack which were delicious. After that one of the group negotiated a small boat ride through the canals for £3 each. That little boat ride was dreamy. We went into the residential areas and saw lots of locals fishing, washing clothes and just getting on with life.

    We then had a lovely sunset on the boat followed by dinner. At dinner we all joined tables and had some good conversation.    Read more

  • TravelerKerala
    Day 9

    Festival

    May 10 in India ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Today we travel from Thekkady to Alleypally backwaters. This morning I went for a walk along the lake because we will have a long travel day. The grounds of the hotel are beautiful. I encountered a monkey straight away on the path to the river. There were a few boats going out for the morning safari. There were busses of domestic tourists being brought in for the boats as well as walking safaris. On the walk I also saw the deer from the previous evening just laying around.

    I had a nice 30 mins walk then headed back to the bus. On the way out of the reserve we saw a festival. Brand new pots are bought to cook rice.    Read more

  • TravelerKerala
    Day 8

    Thekkady

    May 9 in India ⋅ 🌩️ 29 °C

    We arrived at the nature reserve in time for lunch. It was interesting coming inside here as its like going on a safari reserve. The native people still live here and they are allowed to live of the land. There are 3 hotels behind the gates and the one I'm staying in is government run. There were monkeys roaming everywhere from we entered the gates and all along the 5 mi ute drive to the hotel. We are briefed to keep our windows shut otherwise the monkeys will enter. This is a bit of an issue for some guests as there is no air conditioning in the room, only a ceiling fan. The monkeys also come up to the windows and look all cute wanting to be let in.

    At 3pm we head on a boat safari on the lake. Unfortunately it starts pouring rain so no animals come out. The boat ride was beautiful though. After dinner there was a chance to spot a deer and porcupine that come on the grounds.    Read more

  • TravelerKerala
    Day 8

    Masala chai

    May 9 in India ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Today is a moving day. We started at 7.30am and are heading southeast towards the lakes. Some people on the tour had some issues at checkout in that there was discrepancies in payment of the bill. We've been told to pay our bills at night before we checkout and this couple insisted they've paid. The hotel maintained that they hadn't paid so they paid again. That put a sour mood to the morning. The hotel usually caters to domestic tourists and were not used to the amount of alcohol the group consumed. The regular nightly drinkers complained about the lack of service in the bars and being ignored.

    We stopped one hour and a half in the journey for a toilet & refreshments break. I took the opportunity to get some chutney flavoured crisps, peanut brittle and masala chai. I watched it being made and interestingly enough they put drops of essence from a bottle in the cups of tea to flavour them. It was still lovely though but made me realise that when we try to recreate what we think is authentic and are disappointed it might be that we are not equipped with the correct materials. A few people bought packaged tea with the hopes of recreating it when they get home.    Read more

  • TravelerKerala
    Day 7

    Birthday

    May 8 in India ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    At lunchtime the tourguide organised a birthday cake for me. It was really sweet and unexpected. I loved it and appreciated everyone joining in to sing. I've only been on the tour a few days but everyone was lovely about it being my birthday.

    After lunch we went to visit a dam and an echo point. Between the 2 points were stalls on the side of the road selling things for the domestic tourists. I got a coconut which was delicious and refreshing. One of the lovely things about being in the mountains is that it's so cool temperature wise here.

    On the way back a few of us got dropped off at in the town to have a wonder. I bought some rum from the only liquor store in the town. It was filled with local men getting booze. You had to queue up and enter this metal cage to order what you wanted. I bought a bottle of ginger flavoured Barcardi rum. I've never tried it before so I'm looking forward to it. Many of the others was buying alcohol as well to take on the houseboat were staying at in a couple of days.    Read more

  • TravelerKerala
    Day 7

    Park

    May 8 in India ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Today is my birthday! This morning the view was amazing looking over the mountains with the birds singing. I felt good about today and shook off the birthday blues. We headed to Eravikulam National park after breakfast. There is a famous goat that you could possibly see and a 15mins walk to a viewing point. I walked and took pictures of the beautiful surroundings. The tea plantations stretched for miles and made for a wonderful background.

    After the park we went to a tea museum. That was cute
    We watched a propaganda video of how the land became cultivated to produce tea. Apparently the people who were living there 1st didn't know how best to use the land and the British figured it out and made the people feel more fulfilled. The part I enjoyed was being in the tea fields. I got some great shots.    Read more

  • TravelerKerala
    Day 6

    Cultural trip

    May 7 in India ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Today we have tix to see 2 cultural shows in the evening. One the theatre that Kerala is known for, Kathakali and the other a martial arts show. Before that we have a visit to the market. I've been feeling pre-birthday blues all day. Now sure where it came from but I'm guessing it's because I can't control exactly what I'm doing tomorrow. I like to have the chilled birthday, sleep until I want, not have to follow any schedule and tomorrow is not going to work like that. I hate the wake up calls. Unless I'm travelling somewhere that really requires group travel I think I'm done with this.

    The Kathakali was awful. The performers seemed tired and there was hardly any dancing. What the theatre lacked was more than made up for with the martial arts. That was amazing. I really enjoyed the show especially the bits where there was fire.    Read more

  • TravelerKerala
    Day 6

    Munnar

    May 7 in India ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    This morning thunder woke me before my alarm. It was storming rain but it cleared up in the hour it took for me to pack my bag and get ready. I was worried Id see a bug because of the rain but i didn't.

    We left Thrissur this morning for a 6 hour drive to Munnar. Its in the hills and sat on a tea plantation. The drive here felt like it was taking forever. We had one stop to break it up for 20mins. Its good that we are travelling to different places over Kerala but I wish the programme considered the timings better.

    The new accommodation is ok. All of them have been ok thus far. It's nothing special though and now we're getting closer to my birthday I'm wishing I'd done a solo trip as opposed to group travel. That way I could pick my hotels and stay special places for the trip. Lesson learnt!    Read more

  • TravelerKerala
    Day 5

    Free afternoon

    May 6 in India ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    Since I did my massage yesterday I had the entire afternoon to catch up. I went to the pool with my book to relax. It was roasting hot, so much so the pool was lukewarm, not even slightly cold. You could climb straight in with no hesitation. I started my book and soaked in the pool for 3hrs which was lovely.

    This hotel is nice but the electricity has turned off a few times since bring here. The food isn't as spicy as the previous one. I'm not sure if our guide had a word with the chef. When the food is being served the chef comes out and watches us.

    I caught a great sunset tonight. I also hung out with some different people for pre dinner drinks. I helped one lady figure out how to record whilst using her selfie stick.    Read more

  • TravelerKerala
    Day 5

    Dance

    May 6 in India ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C

    This morning the jet lag and full on days finally caught up with me. I didn't set an alarm and subsequently didn't wake up on time. I almost missed the event! The tour guide, Alex, came to my room to collect me. I threw on a dress from the previous night and ran outside. Thankfully I keep my day bag packed each evening.

    We rode tuk tuks to the kathakali university. I took video of all the others in their vehicle. It was a nice way to get to the place. We watched students doing the traditional dance. They have to study for 10 years starting as early as 10 years of age. The dancers we saw were really good.

    Afterwards a few of us decided to walk back to the hotel. I needed to get my steps as well as trying to find tonic water. Walking in the midday heat was intense. It was officially 35C but feels like 40C! I got some yogurt, granola, apples, crisps and lemon lime soda as there was no tonic water.

    I spoke to the guys mostly on the walk. We chatted about travelling, what we thought about the group trip and various other bits.    Read more

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