It was amidst the chaos of our MBA life that we decided to take a break and head out on a road trip. What better place than the ‘God’s own country’ to rejuvenate yourself? A perfect combination of breezy beaches and green mountains made Kerala our ideal choice. So we made a five-day itinerary to cover the best of both. Alleppey for its famous backwaters and beaches while Vagamon for the serene hills and tea gardens. As we planned our trip in July, with the onset of monsoon, we had a never before experience of Kerala on this trip.
Our flight landed in Kochi around noon and we were welcomed by the cloudy sky. Kochi airport by itself had a nice view and we started our trip with some local cuisine – Fish Thali! We picked up our pre-booked vehicle from Zoomcar – a Ford Freestyle and started our trip. We decided to spend our afternoon exploring Kochi and later heading to Alleppey for the night. Fort Kochi was an hour’s drive from the Airport and we were driving along the river and close to the sea.
It was raining over Alleppey the next morning as we started our drive to Marmala falls on our way to Vagamon. Marmala falls is an 8 km detour on our 100 km trip along the state highways of Kerala and is an off-beat destination.The drive through these roads can often get difficult during the rainy season because of the narrower hilly roads and oncoming traffic. We reached the falls around 2 pm and we took a walk down the trail close to the falls although we could not get too close due to the rain. The view at the place was beautiful nevertheless. We could see green hills in the light drizzle and the fog was like an icing on the top! As we started driving the hilly roads of Vagamon, the vision became very low due to fog but the weather was amazing.
Fort Kochi is known for its colonial architecture, it’s exquisite cafes and foodie places. We drove our way up to the Fort Kochi beach to witness the Chinese Fishing Nets. Kochi is the only place in India where they are still present and are operational. We were there at the right time to witness the evening sun coupled with this view to get a vibe if the place. We got some tea around the park and started with our 55km journey to Alleppey.
We took the coastal road and reached Alleppey after dusk. We had booked our accommodation with Zostel Alleppey. The property is located right next to the beach and had a beautiful porch to hangout. One can walk up to the beach at night and relax to the sound of waves. The property also has a terrace with hammocks and a sea view.
After waking up to the morning sea breeze, we decided to explore the Backwaters of Alleppey! We rented a Shikara – motorized wooden boats – charged at ₹400 to ₹600 per hour. Alleppey offers different kinds of backwater experiences including overnight stays in houseboats depending on your budget. Our trip lasted for about 3 hours.
The boat took us through meandering canals, rivers and lagoons. It was a splendid view to surf through the clear water amidst coconut trees and greenery on either side. We made our first stop to try toddy – an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting the sugar sap extracted from Palm trees – predominant in this part of the country. We made our next stop on an island for lunch. We could choose from a variety of seafood and the local dishes were freshly made to our order.
We made our next stop at the Alleppey beach for sunset! The beach has an age-old pier that stands still to date. Kerala had given us a feast to our taste buds. We tried the local cuisine – Parotta, Aapam, Chicken Stew, Idiyappam, Karimeen Pollichatu and Pomfret Tawa Fry – some of the must-try dishes in Kerala from a local restaurant named Thaff. The night was spent well with the fellow tourists playing games and jamming in the hostel. We went out late in the night and I was introduced to ‘Biryani Chai’, basically layered tea similar to Dalgona Coffee from a restaurant named Puttum Kattanum.
Zostel Vagamon is located around 4 km off the main town. The last bit of the road can be tricky to drive because of the narrow winding uphill roads. The Zostel is located atop a hill and has a splendid view of tea gardens. A small cabin is reserved for the manager/ volunteers. There is a huge commonplace on the first floor with board games to chill and enjoy the weather. A kitchen is available in case one wants to cook. The open areas have decorative lights and bonfires are lit on visitors' demand. We went to the Vagamon town that evening to savor some pakodas amidst pouring rains with the Zostel volunteer that evening.
The next morning we decided to take a trek to the Palozhukum Para Waterfalls with a newly made friend at Zostel. The place was a 12 km drive and it was raining continuously. As we drove through the village roads our vehicle got stuck in a slippery uphill slope and we had a tough time getting it out. We parked our vehicle and took a walk towards the falls. While we could see the falls, we did not know the way to walk close. We walked on the roads in search of the waterfalls only to end up in the beautiful tea gardens.
We took a brisk walk along with the gardens in search of the falls. The weather was perfectly tranquilizing and scenery filled our senses. After walking for some time we found ourselves in green barren hills of the place. We used google translate to find the Malayalam word for waterfalls and got some help from the locals to find the falls. We then started our next stop – the Pine Forests of Vagamon. While there were no signboards for parking, we ended up driving our car all the way to the forests from where we could not turn it around. So we ended up reversing our way through. We walked around a little bit only to realize that there were leeches during this season and we had to head back.
The evening was cold and rainy and we spent time in the hostel enjoying the weather. The night was spent playing around with the friends we made in Zostel narrating each other’s travel stories and making new plans.
The trip was coming to an end as we drove back to Kochi to part ways. The stark contrast between the hills and the coast was evident as we drove for 100 km from the rainy Vagamon to sunny Kochi. We shopped for some chips and Calicut halwa from the best local shops to carry back with us. We left with a bag full of memories and a promise to explore more of the beautiful state - Kerala!
