Life was moving at a usual pace, the normalcy of routine was the only thing that made us drowsy these days. We had just graduated from college and the only trips we (me and my group of four friends) made were for small meetups or for job interviews. We had one long free month before joining for our fresh jobs. We were all placed at different companies and we wanted to make some long-lasting memories before setting out for new roles in our life. All of us had different opinions and plans at first and after many hours of discussions, we concluded that a week-long trip to an exotic land is what we need. The next hurdle was choosing the destination but surprisingly all of us unanimously voted Kerala as our dream destination. We wanted to try out different things at Kerala and was in need of a solid plan. After a lot of research, we shortlisted some locations and activities that we wanted to try once we reach Kerala. We were so lucky to have found out Gogeo Holidays as our travel partner. With their cheapest Kerala tour packages and that too a personalized one, our trip turned out to be the best moments of our life.
We knew Kerala as a verdure spot with places like Wayanad and Munnar. All of us were from Delhi and we had studied in Mumbai. This was our first time coming closer to South India. Our flight rates were much less than we had anticipated. Thanks to Gogeo Holidays! We were starting our trip by saving a great deal of cash. Our trip lasted for two weeks and I think we could cover only half of the best destinations in Kerala, and we have already planned to come back to Kerala itself for our next trip and complete the expedition.
We boarded the flight to Kochi from Delhi at 6 in the morning and it took us three hours to reach there. Even before we landed at Kerala, the view from the windows from out there at the sky itself intrigued us. There were many water bodies and green spots – that is how I would explain the view. Once we reached Kochi, we were taken to our room which was so clean and came with all the modern facilities. The interesting thing that all of us noted was that the usage of Wi-Fi and our smartphones lessened as each day passed. We were so lost in the beauty of Kerala that we were not slaves of technology for two weeks. So, the breakfast – we started the Kerala treat for our stomachs with puttu and kadala and appam and chicken curry. After taking rest for 2 hours we left to visit Kochi and our travel operators arranged a car for us on request. We would have taken a guide, but wanted to explore the land on our own. Some of the spots like Hill Palace, Bolghatty Palace, Pallipuram Fort, and Indo-Portuguese Museum are some of my personal favourites. Marine Drive and Lulu Mall are the places from where we clicked some group photos of us.
We visited the Greenix Village as per our travel operators told us when we asked about Kathakali. As Kochi is known for the support of cultural and artistic activities, it would have been a great miss if we hadn’t known about this place. We forgot about lunch as we were so immersed in finding places to explore. At Greenix, there was a restaurant too so we had some pancakes. There is a cultural museum and we visited it before the Kathakali performance started. It was a mind-blowing performance with all those micro-expressions and all. The costume itself made us wonder how rich in culture and totally a different land is Kerala. There are many beaches in Kochi and we could visit only a few out of it like Fort Kochi Beach, Cherai Beach and Munambam Beach. Fort Kochi and Mattancherry are places that hold the greatest spell in Kochi. There are many places like Princess Street, Burger Street, Rose Street, Parade Ground etc. that had a lot of things to offer. With many cafes like Pepper House, Kashi Art Cafe, Bench Cafe and all we could not leave this place for a week. The biggest part of our trip was spent at Kochi itself. We moved to No. 18 Hotel to explore places closer to it. We met some old friends of ours from Kochi and had a great time at the Cochin Club. The boat jetty ride is the cheapest mode of transportation as it would cost not more than 10 rupees to travel across many nearby destinations like Marine Drive. The picture of the Chinese fishing nets is more breathtaking in real and we also tried using it. What we missed was the Biennale that happens every two years in Kochi. The Kochi-Muziris Biennale is an international art exhibition that stretches for a period of three months from December to March. A chance to visit the colonial building Aspinwall House was what we missed with the biennale. We wandered through the Jew Street too and bought many fresh spices to take back home. We are so thankful for this best Kerala tour packages as we would have stayed stuck at one place if we had not availed an itinerary for our trip to other places in Kerala.
Alleppey was the next spot and the clean beaches were the first place we hit there. We could visit only Alleppey Beach and Marari Beach. We visited some small villages where coir making and handicraft making businesses were thriving. We bought some souvenirs from there just like we bought many bohemian styled clothes from Fort Kochi. The backwater cruise was of course, the best part of Alleppey. We glided through the Vembanad Lake and also visited the Kumarakom backwaters. The luscious seafood with some toddy (a local beverage made from coconut) is something that I still ache for.
There were many other places like Munnar, Vagamon, Thekkady, Wayanad, and Kannur that we picked for our trip. This story of our visit would go on and on and there is a lot to write about each and every place and I will definitely write more about the rest of the trip too, but I know that mere words are not adequate to explain the charm of Kerala.