Tales from a sleepy little lakeside village

Akathumuri is a sleepy little lakeside village in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. Why should I bother to write an entire post about this? Because it’s worth it.

Most of the tourist spots in Kerala are teeming with people. Only very few places remain undiscovered and retain their natural beauty. This is one such place.

Kerala tourism describes it as “a placid place with a picturesque view of the lake”. I can definitely vouch for that.

Now let’s get to the details.

Location: 45km from Trivandrum, 9km from Varkala and around 30km from Technopark, Trivandrum.

Getting there: Akathumuri has a tiny railway station in which only about ten trains stop in a day. The railway station has no structure and not even a ticket counter. You seldom see people getting down here. It has bus connectivity to Varkala, Attingal and Chirayankizhu from where you can board buses to Trivandrum or Ernakulam.

Things to do:

1) Enjoy the view from the Panayil Kadavu Bridge (at a walking distance from the railway station. Bit of a long walk though!)

2) Golden Island: The island is a perfect spot to spend a quiet evening. The silence is disturbed only by the sounds from a small Shiva temple at its centre. Free ferry services are provided from the shore to the island at 7:30 and 16:00 hrs. It would be better to hire a canoe to get the full experience. The canoe costs only about Rs. 500 for a round trip to the island and around it. (For more details on the island, check Google Maps.)

3) The calm lake attracts a lot of cormorants and cranes, depending on the season and you can have a ride on these placid waters in a country boat.

4) There is a small coir making unit at Akathumuri where you can actually watch the coir being made.