My days at Kumarakom

Like all of you, I am also an ambitious workaholic woman and I am from Mumbai, working in Neosoft technologies, Bandra. I am a serious traveler and I always take some time off from work and travel around. There is nothing more comforting than traveling and photography to me in this world. I have visited almost all the Northern states so far. But I have never been to the Southern Parts of India. I keep a particular likeness towards Kerala because my grandmother was from Kerala, Kuttanad. But unfortunately, I have never been to Kerala till now.

So this time I decided to fill that empty space inside me, to visit Kerala. I was determined; Time was very limited for me, as work was at the peak. Hence, it was not possible for me to take off for a long vacation. But I was not ready to change my mind no matter what. Once, I set my destination, I wanted to book a hotel or resort; I scrolled through makemytrip.com and few other sites and found a beautiful resort in Kumarakom. I grew up listening to my grandma’s stories about Kerala, her Tharavad their childhood and all. When I saw a resort, all the memories came rushing into me. All others stood proud grand like a Palace but only Paradise Resort touched my deep down memories. Without any hesitation, I choose to stay in Paradise on this trip.

My flight was scheduled at 7 in the morning, my friend dropped me at the airport and I was overwhelmed to realize I am getting closer to my dream.

So I boarded my flight to Kerala for the first time ever! All along the journey, I couldn’t stop thinking about the place. I reached Cochin International Airport by noon and Paradise Officials were already there waiting for me.

The resort was a Paradise, literally!!

When I got out of the car, I was welcomed by the cool Kumarakom breeze it brushed through my hair; I closed my eyes and felt each stroke of it by heart. Women in traditional Kerala saree escorted me to my cottage. I had booked the one with windows towards the Lake. The architecture called out the traditional beauty of Kerala.

After their generous welcome and fantastic lunch, I strolled on the garden with my camera for a while. I felt so refreshed there. The pond that surrounds the cottages, made them look like islets. I walked towards the sit out of my cottage and sat on the pony wall gazing at the lake. Houseboats moved softly through the lake, fishermen with fishing nets moved alongside those floating palaces, in their kothumbu vallam.

A while later, the staff asked me to get ready for a round trip in the houseboat. I got ready in a jiffy and went to the houseboat. The Houseboat was in itself a beauty. There were other guests too on the trip, we familiarized within no time. The boat entered the vast lake through a small channel. Out there I saw much more such houseboats of different sizes pacing with pride on the waters. We moved calmly over Vembanad Lake. The small bushes to the coconut trees swayed with the breeze. It was so peaceful and serene. We spent like 3 hours on the boat.

The beauty of the lake seemed to intensify on the onset of dusk. Regrettably, our trip came to an end before we could explore the beautiful night. We bid goodbyes and went to our respective cabins.

They served dinner at around 8.30 – 9.00. I went straight to the verandah with a book that I took from the mini library and spent the rest of the night in its company.

On day 2, after breakfast, my sight-seeing was officially on. Thankfully, the resort has already made arrangements sparing from any delays. I wanted to halt at the places I saw on the houseboat, the places which I can relate to on the way to Aruvikuzhi Waterfalls.

Aruvikuzhi Waterfalls, falling in five steps, is a real pleasure for the eyes. The streams make their way through the landscape and the water roars as it gushes down the mountains from a height of 100 ft. The driver told me that I was lucky to come here during monsoon otherwise the river almost dries up. So a tip to my readers ;) the ideal time to visit Kerala is Monsoon i.e. between June and November.

After spending around half an hour at Aruvikuzhi, we headed to Poonjar Palace. The palace, part of the Poonjar Dynasty still reflected its heyday. I was fascinated by the 600 years old relics inside the palace. I walked contemplating the works on the huge Natraj sculpture and the wooden jewel boxes, Amada petti, the minute designs carved manually on them. Just wow!

Besides the prominent places, there were many small yet beautiful dwellings along the road. I managed to pause at some before going back to the resort. I reached the resort by night after a long day. I went straight to bed on having dinner. My trip was finally coming to an end. I wished to stay for some more time.....

My friends in Kerala had told me about many active travel groups in Kerala beforehand so I can share my travel experiences. Now back in Mumbai, writing this, I am limited by words to explain Kerala, Kumarakom all... Beyond backwaters, I tell you there is much more to see in Kerala. Kerala is indeed the Gods own Country and I recommend it as the must-watch destinations in India.