Our South Indian Adventure- Captivating Kerala! A trip through Varkala, Alleppey and Munnar

Getting there:

As Varkala was our first place to visit which is 40kms away from Trivandrum, we took an early morning flight from Mumbai to Trivandrum and landed at Trivandrum Airport at 7. 30 the morning.

Next step was traveling to Varkala. Our hotel was on Varkala Cliff. You easily get a cab outside airport exit, just be smart enough to spot someone asking a cab for the same destination as your's. Because we did! Easy way to save some bucks. ;)

Varkala cliff is undoubtedly the best place to stay if you're in Varkala. There are many good options of hotels to choose from and the sea facing ones give a view to die for!

There are couple of very quite and highly clean beaches around Varkala cliff- One can visit Varkala Beach in the evening, walk by the cliff's walkway while having beautiful sound of the sea waves as background music, visit any cafe on the cliff and enjoy sunset while having your chilled beer. (Or whatever you may like!)

On Day 2 in Varkala, we headed to hit the road we were actually in Varkala for! The Kappil Beach road, a place 8-9 kms away from Varkala town. A road surrounded by coconut trees, having Backwater to it's right side and Sea to the left. Driving along this road, you get best of both the worlds.

Thanks to previously done research, we had already marked the places we wanted to visit. Me having some weird love for lighthouses, was damn excited about visiting Anjengo fort and Anjuthengu Lighthouse. It takes you around 10-15 minutes to reach the top, and the climb is not much tiring with few stops in between.

If you wish to experience both- Backwater and beach, you should definitely opt for Kondai lip. The Resort is practically situated on a little island surrounded by backwater. As soon as you enter the Resort, the ambience captivates you literally. You get welcomed by the owner himself, with mouth watering Kerala style black grapes juice. (I actually asked the owner if we can buy it from them. It was that good!)

The accommodations here are traditional Kerala style homes. Kondai offers in-house fishing, boating and takes you on a Backwater ride to the nearest beach. On the backwater journey, you get to witness the normal day-to-day life of the local residents and their various fishing techniques. The boat will wait for you for 30-45 minutes while you take a tour of the beach and relax. On your way back to resort, you'll get to experience one of the most scenic sunsets you might have ever experienced.

As soon as you reach Munnar, you automatically switch off the car ac, open the windows and let the cool breeze take you over. It's all about the roads surrounded by greenery of tea plantations, mighty mountains and cloudy yet blue sky.

Out of the 2 days in Kerala, our first home was Himmelberg Nature retreat. Situated in the lap of few mountains and far away from the main city or the majority of other hotels, the balcony offered the best view. One can easily spend hours seating in the balcony, seeping the heavenly Kerala tea.

Himmelberg offered cozy rooms with picturesque views, great hospitality and food with a homely touch. As we visited post Monsoon and after floods, the roads to the hotel were almost disappeared and were very difficult to commute to. Hence we had to change the hotel on 2nd day.

The Misty Mountain resort is just along the road and at the starting point where major attractions of Munnar actually start. Thus, very convenient place to stay. I guess this sentence will be true in case of every hotel in Munnar, but it does 'Have a great view!'

As the name suggests, you get to witness mountains covered in cloudy mist all the time. The top floor of the resort has a secret garden. The most surprisingly beautiful part is the stairway attached to the garden that takes you to the top of the hill on which the resort is situated. The view from the top, is breathtaking. Don't believe me, just see the pictures attached !

Our last stop of the mesmerizing Kerala, was Eravikulam National Park. We were basically there to see the season's attraction, Neelkurinji flowers that only blooms once in 12 years! One has to get the National Park tickets online and from the park's gate, buses will take you to the base. If you wish to cover everything that the park offers, you must take hike towards the top station.