two weeks in south, december 07

rarnold

What a way to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary! Two weeks doing Mysore - Western Ghats - Cochin - beach somewhere. Any advice appreciated on interesting places to stay/visit. Preferably not just the obvious tourist spots.

SANJAY_DEL

Varkala beach south of Cochin is a popular beach destination.
The backwaters of Kerala are accessible from Alapuzha. You might like to enjoy a cruise in a traditional houseboat.

machadinha

Varkala was something of a tourist (and notably backpacker, but with a funny mixture of the two) dive more than 10 years ago (always in my opinion of course), and word has it this hasn't improved. Nice perhaps if it's your kind of thing, otherwise not. Take care not to drown there but this goes for much of the Indian coast. On an easy anniversary I'd consider Kovalam which I haven't visited but I know plenty people who did; while this was always the more touristy place, perhaps because of this developments are said to have been more contained & it seems more geared to its function from what I hear. Waters here are likewise treacherous but it's supposed to be a little better signposted and guarded.

The backwaters are served by Kottayam, Alleppey, Kollam, and then some no doubt, these are just the more popular points to get on. It's a fairly massive watery network really. Find out more about it on this thread: Kerala Backwaters - A cruise on budgets!.

Western Ghats: Coming from Mysore you could arrange to bus via Madikeri to Thalasseri. Stunningly beautiful semi-tropical quasi-mountainous area. I assume there are any number of other routes through that area and these places aren't necessarily the highlights, it's just a route I followed. Didn't look to be much by way of infrastructure but you can always get out somewhere and see if there's a guesthouse, or move on if there isn't.

__________________
Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

SANJAY_DEL

Kovalam was said to be the most beautiful beach in India, and then the package tourists moved in!
Its just outside of Trivandrum, though, which is one of the two international airports, the other being Cochin.

machadinha

This is true, but package tourism with its natural demands on a certain ease and containment may beat uncontrolled backpacker developments sometimes. Besides Kovalam is said to have its share of mildly affordable options still. Guess you and I would both have to see it with our own eyes in order to say what it's like these days. It didn't appeal to me at the time which is why I didn't go but I know plenty of people who thought it was quite OK for what it is, namely an Indian beach resort kind of thing.

Seriously Sanjay, I don't think you've ever visited Varkala, which in this case isn't a judgmental remark. Don't expect too much of how "cool" such places are. It wasn't, in my opinion, but then I don't like this blasé "traveller" crowd much anyway. I hung out for quite a bit though (and made some friends that I was to travel with for quite a bit after, so you never know), mostly because of a certain lethargy that set in sitting at the central beach square and going "Oh there's the bus to town again, well my coke isn't finished yet" for a week or two.

SANJAY_DEL

I was in Kerala in the spring of 2006, and I don't expect things have changed since, except for the commies ruling the state now.
Please don't get so judgemental urself!
The usual destinations in Kerala happen to be:
Munnar, Cochin, Alleppey, Varkala, Trivandrum, Periyar and of course Kovalam.
So I guess its for the end user to pick and choose.

rarnold

Guys, thanks for such a quick response; I'm very impressed. The places you mention are certainly on the list of options but I would like to get in may be one or two less obvious places. What are the places you passed through or heard about that are on the way between the major stopping points?

SANJAY_DEL

Maybe you would like to have a look at this website:
http://www.keralatourism.org/

It gives you all the options there are.

machadinha

But did you visit any of the destinations you mentioned, and if so, what was your opinion on them? You see, this is the kind of personal input that might be helpful to visitors, as has only been suggested to you subtly and not-so subtly a zillion times before. A bit of googling we all can do, and the OP was asking about something more than the standard destinations, not the tourist board website which will be limited by nature and which, although possibly helpful, is not what IndiaMike is about as such.

As for Kerala being under communist rule, my understanding is this has been the case for the better part of a few decades, interestingly so as it seems to score quite well in terms of literacy and female emancipation and wealth distribution rates. How was this a surprise to you?

SANJAY_DEL

Kerala has done well on the social indices. On the political front, it has voted in coalitions alternately, one centrist and the other leftist. If at all my personal opinion matters, I enjoyed being in Fort Cochin, Verkala and Munnar tea estates.
The tourism website is actually quite informative in this case, and very user-friendly.
And IndiaMike is great, because it offers different shades of opinion.

Nick-H

Yes, IIRC the Kerala tourism site is good.

Kovalam? If I'd known it before it was built up, I'd probably hate it now. But I didn't, and I don't!

__________________
.


Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

rarnold

Chill out guys! Who would like to answer my original question? -What are the good places to see that aren't on the beaten track?
roop.

machadinha

Sorry for some internal stuff, never mind.

I added some stuff above about the Western Ghats that you may have overlooked at first; just one of many suggestions really, the Ghats stretch pretty much along the entire west coast. See what you can do with it.

Ending up in Thalasseri along that route if you do, there's little special about the place but it's a quaint little fishing town and for this reason doesn't see a lot of tourists. I mostly remember walking along the docks with their overpowering fish stench; a frustrating walk for miles thinking "I'll go swimming" when in fact everywhere you go will be a public toilet or a fishermen's congregation where you won't find any peace; and conversely my elation of spotting the sea from my hotel roof settling in at night after quite some time of doing inland India (and rushing to the beach/fishing harbor upon spotting it of course!) Nice enough for a day or so.

That Ghats trip I'd really recommend btw, Madikeri gets good recommendations by many, although some complain people are indifferent to you too much. Being left alone! In India! Imagine! The horror!

As for the backwaters, I don't know about these houseboats, they didn't exist at the time I think. There are local ferries as described in the thread above; can be jam-packed with the proverbial kitchen sink and the goat and the chicken and all, however I did a lengthy ride with just me and another guy, quite splendid, and costs you peanuts. Had he not been a stoner commenting all the time on either his newly rolled little marvel or the beauty of the surroundings which he seemed otherwise oblivious to going by all his commenting it might have been twice as nice

cyberhippie

Whilst in Cochin you might like to take a look at Cherrai Beach. A lovely long stretch of beach fringed by coconut groves. Varkala is OK but the beach really isn't that good. The one thing Varkal definitely did have was a good choice of accomodation for all sorts of Budgets.

All in all it's a bit of a tourist trap but hey that might be just what you are looking for!!

Munnar is another place to visit if you like a bit of walking in spice scented fresh air. Not really off the beaten track but not a hugely popular destination either. Mt Amundi (south India's highest peak) tea as far as the eye can see, lakes a waterfalls are all features of this place. Visit for the countryside though the tpwn itself has little of interest. There are several people offering tours of the surrounding area to see the Nilgiri Thar, sandlewood forests and wildlife parks amongst other things. We did a full day tour and it was incredible the hills and valleys are real eye candy!!

Though some don't seem to like Him we stayed at Joseph Lype's rose cottage in amongst the tea. Wonderful views and great company from this eccentric old man!!

rarnold

Thanks Machadinha, yes I did see your comments about Madikeri to Thalasseri. Am I right in saying that is Koorg (?) country? I've heard good things about it.

Thanks also cyberhippie. Munnar sounds interesting. We would like to see the forest etc.

How easy is it just to hire a driver and drive around? Would we end up spending lots of money and not seeing very much?
roop