A trip to The Venice of the East - Kuttanad

Hoping November end will be cooler in Kerala, esp seaside, we packed with great trepidation, as I am not comfortable in very hot places, combine it with humidity and I am downright miserable. Chalked out two different routes, 1 via Mysore and the return via Palakkad, and after a brief stint at the office to delegate and put in place a few things on the morning of Nov 22^nd, we left for Mysore at noon.

Day 1 - Nov 22^nd.2012 – Bangalore – Mysore

Leaving at noon, we stopped for lunch at Kumbalagodu as by then it was 1pm and somehow we were hungry. It was an uneventful drive till just after Mandya, we were grid locked in a traffic jam stretching over a km, as there had been a ghastly accident and 4 persons were dead. We were stuck for about a half hour till the police cleared the highway. It was sad to see the pile up and precious lives extinguished in a matter of seconds. Reached Saaket at 4pm and had a catnap. Needed to pick up a few things for our trip the next day, did that, and hit the sack early as we wanted to leave early.

Day 2 – Nov 23^rd. 2012 - Mysore – Kumarakom

Up at 4.30am, packed breakfast and lunch, filled up water and started out at 6am. Beautiful cool breeze and a just waking up world is just what we needed to get into the holiday mood. We stopped at Gundlupet for breakfast and after a hot cup of coffee, set off once again, through Bandipur and Mudumalai where apparently the animals were also snoozing, then through the beautiful ghats with hills of bamboo groves which were like someone had made an ikebana arrangement, through Thrissur and on to Kottayam. By this time, we were a bit fed up as progress is inexorably slow as Kerala’s narrow so-called highways pass through towns, markets and are so densely populated, its like driving in the city, stressful, slow and a pain – trust me nothing enjoyable about it! Passing through Kottayam, it was already dark and with practically no street lights, and Club Mahindra being stingy on signboards, and nobody knew about the resort till I mentioned Golden Waters, the erstwhile name of the resort which people recognized (thank you Google!) it was arduous but we finally reached the turning to the resort at Kumarakom. Saw the sign which said 700m, heaved a sigh of relief and turned – to our horror, on to a track barely wide enough to hold the Scorpio, praying no one would come the other way and Ranga wearily trying to avoid driving off into the canal or a coconut tree in the track (can’t call it a road by any stretch of imagination), inched our way into the resort, too tired to even reciprocate a simple greeting. A mere 450kms had taken a grueling 12hours, ridiculous! We had the welcome drink, grumpily checked in and went to our cottage, a floating one, close to the restaurant as requested and sent up a silent prayer of thanks. Club Mahindra Kumarakom -Rooms are good, though have a dated 90s look to them. We were too tired to even think let alone appreciate anything else, went to the restaurant, had a lovely dinner with unarguably the best fish curry ever and feeling a bit better, booked a taxi for the next day and went back to the room and went out like a light. Blissful sleep!

Day 3 – Nov 24^th 2012 – Kumarakom – Kochi

Feeling decidedly more human and being blessed with a cool cloudy day, we decided to go to Kochi at 9.45am after a quick swim, and left armed with umbrellas fearing rain, but our luck held! Earlier called Cochin, before some politician decided to abbreviate the name to a sneeze, it is a very old city but like most places in India, has a fabulous amalgamation of old and new, it comfortably cradles 5000 years of history and the area of Fort Kochi is where you go to experience this rich history. Kochi is a collection of islands, peninsula, backwaters and the port and hence the eclectic mix of cultures and civilizations which have been drawn to it from as varied as Chinese traders to Jews and Christian missionaries to the Portuguese. I believe it was said that if China was where you made your money, Kochi is where you spent it, it was the playground for the rakes and the well healed alike, this port city offered all the licit and illicit pleasures in equal measure – a la modern day Las Vegas if you like!

Exploring Fort Kochi – a world of human civilization and cosmopolitan nature at its best! Home to Jew and Christian alike and today home to Kashmiris! This was where the Europeans established their first township in India. Both Dutch and Portuguese have left their indelible mark on the development of Kochi. We started with the St.Francis Church built of timber originally but later made of stone by the Dutch in 1590s. This is said to be India’s oldest church. Vasco da Gama was buried here in 1524 till his remains were sent to Lisbon and today an empty coffin and a tombstone only live to tell the tale.

We moved on to the Dutch cemetery with graves over 500 years old and then on to the promenade to view the unique Chinese fishing nets which were brought from the land of Kubla Khan in the mid 14^th century and hold your breath – are still in use. You can try your hand too, if only the present Government paid homage to history and kept the surroundings clean, one could sit and enjoy the place for a long time soaking in the past, but as it is, no way! 

Then we stopped at the first Jewish synagogue set up in British Commonwealth with some fabulous floor tiles from Canton in China with Hebrew inscriptions from the Torah!! (and we call the present times – a global village), and the path to this is lined with small shops selling curios, antiques, Kathakali masks and has an old world charm unparalleled elsewhere! Simply super! We then walked up to the Santa Cruz Basilica both of the above literally rising from the ashes as both were destroyed by succeeding regimes but both have been re-built and have risen like the phoenix.

Sated yet hungry for more we meandered down Princess street, stood at Loafer’s Corner admiring the rabbit warren like streets, went to the one and only Spice Exchange building in existence in the world, a testimony to India’s lure to the traders of the world. It was a morning when we traveled back in time…I couldn't ask for more.

We then visited the INS Dronacharya Maritime Museum, to have a feel of the great maritime heritage of Indian Navy, highlighting Kerala's trade links with Arabs. India is one of the 10 most powerful maritime powers in the world with the Indian Navy's history dating back to the Indus Valley Civilization, and the modern navy since 1612. It unravels India's prowess in shipbuilding, which took its culture to the shores of Java, Sumatra and Bali between 3rd century BC and 12th century AD.The museum also has a section, which highlights Indian Navy's share of glory, when it took on its aggressors and eventually emerged victorious in the end. These include details of Junaghad operation, the Goa liberation, Indo-Pak conflicts of 1965 and 1971, Operation Cactus, Operation Pawan and the strategic maneuvers during Kargil.

We then went to the Police Museum but this was unfortunately closed, so we had lunch, and still a bit tired decided to have lunch and hit back. It takes about 2 hours from Kumarkom to Kochi via Chertala and we wanted to rest. We noticed many retail outlets which are synonymous with the Gulf countries in Kochi, which we have not seen elsewhere, ChicKing, Crowne Plaza etc…a huge Arab influence can be seen, another flavour in the cultural melting pot that is Kochi!!

Rested, watched a Kathakali performance and had a good dinner, and called it a night after trying unsuccessfully to get someone else to share our kettuvellam ride the next day.

Day 4 – Kumarakom – Vembanad lake Cruise – 25/11/2012

Morning was spent swimming, cleaning the car, visiting the old (built in 1463) St.Mary’s church, exploring the 17 acre resort, with its myriad canals, admiring the friendly frisky ducks and birds, browsing the gift shop which had a few interesting things like a model of the snake boat (used in the annual snake boat race held at Kumarakom annually during Onam) but priced too high, the resort is beautiful with snaking canals and bridges over them, floating 28 cottages, waterfront and a huge fabulous pool - again tried in vain for someone to share the houseboat, had a lovely lunch in the cool yet sunny balcony and decide to nap. I finished reading a book and was just about to get some shut eye when Sabin called – they had 2 families who were ready to cruise with us, scrambled out of bed, dressed at double quick speed and were at the jetty which is at the resort itself (great isn’t it?) out of breath balancing my purse and the camera and water et al! We settled down in the chairs and said a hi to all and had a wonderful 3 hour cruise down the Vembanad, the largest fresh water lake in India over 79sq.miles(!!!!) stretching from Alapuzha to Kochi and forms a home to several migratory birds in the Kumarakom bird sanctuary some of who come all the way from South Africa! and of course the famous karimeen found only here and elevated to a status of celebrity by the Keralites, a must have for seafood lovers!, Watched the glorious sunset as the clouds parted briefly (are we lucky or what?) – the weather was literally made to order, we could not ask for more!. Kumarakom is a placid sleepy village in the Kuttanad region of Kerala which after ex-PM Vajpayee made famous in his poems, became the tourist hub it is today, boasting small home-stays to luxury hotels and resorts. Happy, soothed we returned at 7pm, had an early dinner, again feasted on super fish, settled the bill, packed and went to sleep.

Day 5 – Kumarakom – Bangalore – 26/11/2012

We were woken by the alarm and the ducks squawking outside the room in the canal, which made us wake up at 4.30am with a smile. Again packed up food, had a good cup of coffee, said goodbye to Isaac Thomas at reception and drove back via NH 47 and 44 to Bangalore, and thanks to nearly 100kms of ordinary road between Thrissur to Coimbatore and several deviations and diversions, we again took over 11hours to cover the 622kms, with brief stops for breakfast and lunch. Tired but the fatigue level on day 1 was more. Any day the route taken on the return leg is the best route to take.The Scorpio did us proud!!

A great and memorable holiday, different in many respects, a learning experience for both of us.

Log

Total distance covered – 1232kms

Routes taken –

1.Mysore – Nanjangud – Gundlupet – Bandipur – Mudumalai – Gudalur – Nilambur – Pertalamanna – Pattambi – Shornur – Thrissur – Kottayam – Kumarakom  442kms

2.Kumarakom – Chertala – NH47 – Aluva - Thrissur – Palakkad – Coimbatore – NH 44 - Salem – Dharmapuri – Krishnagiri – Hosur – Bangalore 632kms

Other key distances – Kumarakom – Kochi – 85kms

                             Kumarakom – Kottayam – 16kms Kumarakom – Chertala – 22kms

Diesel consumed – 88litres at 14kms/litre

Time taken on both routes – around 11 to 12 hours.