Kerala is a state in south-west India known as "God's own country". Kerala is gifted with natural beauty and greenery has Arabian sea on one of the side and Western Ghats on the other side. After seeing lot of pictures and going through different forums of wonderful experiences of Hills, Beaches, Backwaters, Waterfalls before our marriage we decided to plan our honeymoon trip to Kerala.
So, we decided to book one cab for the entire trip and after reaching to Cochin Airport we started our trips towards Munnar and it almost took 4hrs as we stopped few places for snacks and for taking pictures. We were just lost in heaven once we reached the hill station of Munnar. We stayed in Munnar a little outside of the main city so that we can see the tea plantations lay sprawled out in front of our eyes.
The very next day after having early breakfast we rented one bike from the main city and that was also in very cheap amount and that is one of the good mode of transportation if you want to stop here and there for photography. After roaming around in the hills latter in the evening we booked tickets for the Kalaripayattu show. This is one of the must watch martial arts show if you are in Kerala and there are plenty of places where in every evening you can book your seat.
The next day we moved from Munnar to Thekkaday and after reaching there we just explored the city for the rest of the day and in the evening we experienced the Kathakali Indian classical dance after booking the seats. Kathakali is communicated to the audience through excellent footwork and impressive gesture of the face and hands. This dance show should be one of the bucket list due to the unique makeup and vivid color of the costumes.
Next day very early morning we reached in front of the Periyar lake. From the booking counter you can buy the cruise tickets and the cruise timings are available throughout the day between some time intervals but to avoid rush and to witness the beauty of the wilderness, morning cruise is always preferable.
After having early breakfast we started our journey to Alleppey, Venice of the East. Alleppey is the oldest planned backwater town of Kerala. The backwaters coupled with houseboats and tropical village life makes Alleppey worth a visit. Instead of booking a houseboat, we booked one small private boat for half a day and lost ourselves in the tranquility of the backwaters. If you want to enjoy the the backwater and the lagoons in cheap budget prefer always staying in guesthouses and book private small boats instead of booking house boat.
The very next day we had plan to visit one of the famous beach in the world, Kovalam beach. Before going there we made some little changes in our route. First we drove to Varkala beach. This cliff clad beaches and the vibrant environs give a joyous feel that attract beach lovers. The edge of the cliff offers fascinating views of the sand and the sea. There are plenty of awesome sea facing restaurants from where you can enjoy the sunset. So as the day ends we were so tired that after reaching Kovalam we took rest.
One the very fine morning we woke up very early and move straight to the beach. We booked our hotel in the famous light house beach of Kovalam and it was just 2-3 mins walking distance from our hotel room. The view from the Lighthouse was just unbelievable, from there you can get the 360 view of the entire Kovalam beach and we really forgot how long we were there.