My trip to Kumarakom

My trip to Kumarakom – Food, Fun, Nature and Good People…

by Arihant Das

About the Place

The choice was between a hill station or backwaters. We chose the later and “oh boy, am I glad”!!! We chose Kumarakom, which is in Kerala. This is famous for backwater and houseboats. It is about 590 kilometres from Bengaluru.

How to reach

From Bengaluru one can go by car which will take around 12 hours. You can go by train which is an overnight journey. But the flight is most convenient as it takes one hour from Bengaluru to Kochi. I went by flight and after reaching Kochi, it takes 2 hours to reach our resort in Kumarakom.

Things to do

I did a few activities like zip lining over the lagoon, which was very exciting. We did kayaking and fishing and I took a cycle and rode around the resort. I spotted a monitor lizard which was at least three feet long. There is a bird sanctuary next to the resort, where one can go for a morning walk.

Where we stayed in

We stayed in Taj Kumarakom for 4 days and it is a 16 acre property with lots of greenery and a lagoon. There were many cottages and villas. The property was beside Vembanad Lake, which is the largest fresh water lake in India. This was a beautiful resort. The resort is full of trees and different types of species.

Food

I had my lunch of famous fish curry and Kerala paratha. Fish is very fresh in Kumarakom. The food is traditional and delicious and which I enjoyed thoroughly. The chef at the resort was very friendly and recommended local food, which we tried throughout our stay…

My experience

In evening when I came out after a short nap, the place was looking magical. The local ladies light diyas around the lagoon and the other side of the lagoon were the restaurants where, some local musicians playing the flute and violin. I was enthralled by the overall beauty of the place.

And the Finale…

The next day I was excited as I was going for a houseboat ride for the first time. Afternoon we went on a houseboat and I was surprised to see the size of it. The boat had everything in it like it had living and dining area. It had a kitchen with all appliances. It had a bedroom with attached toilet and A/C. There were two people who were manning the boat. They took us to a fish market and we chose fresh lobster and fish. The boat started towards Alleppey. The person cooked some delicious local food and experience to have lunch and seeing the beauty of lake and outside was something I will remember and recommend. Evening, while on our way back, we saw the sunset and it started raining as well. We saw many different shapes and sizes of houseboats, some as large as 16 rooms!!! The houseboat ride was worth the waiting. The locals are very friendly.