3 weeks in Kerala. Alleppey advice please

angeld

Hi all

I was wondering if anyone could share some of there experiences and advice with me? My husband and I are currently planning a 3 week holiday/adventure in Kerala we will be leaving the UK on the 2nd Jan 09.

So far we've booked into the Mother Tree in Fort Cochin for 2 days (after reading reviews on Tripadvisor this seems like a nice little base to ease us into the keralian way of life) then we have 3 days before we head to Munnar and Periyar for 5 days (booked into Crissies for 2 nights in Periyar.) We then plan 3 nights in kovalam, 4 nights in varkala, 1/2 nights Kollam or 1/2 closer to Cochin airport (not sure where yet)

If anyone has some suggestions on any of the above please let me know but Firstly I could do with some advice on the 3 days around the backwaters. We are thinking of staying 2 nights in Alappuzha, here are a couple of our choices...

Pozhiyoram Beach Resort
Pooppallys Heritage Home
The alleppey beach resort
or Cherai beach resort

We want to relax close to a beach/back waters. We did ideally want somewhere with a pool but this was looking out of our budget and thought this might be better in Kovalam/Varkala (3500 per night rough budget). Then the 3rd night in Kumarakom before organising transport to Munnar.

More Questions...

Does this Itinerary seem easy enough to travel around? We ideally do not want to travel more than 4 hours in between destinations.

On our last holiday to Thailand and Bali we found it quite easy to organise transport the day before by asking locals and tour operators. Will this be easy enough to organise ourselves when we arrive in kerala? I imagine it will be after reading lots of posts on here.

Would you recommend this journey a different way round that might make more sense??? Or if anyone has any must see sights on route that we should see please do let us know.

background...
We are both in our late 20's and enjoy a mix or cultural experiences as well as relaxation. (but not for too long as we get bored easily.) We are both graphic designers and like visiting creative/inspirational areas. bustling markets, watching the world go by over a coffee. We enjoy the freedom of hiring mopeds to explore also (which we hope to do in Vakala and Kovolam if possible.) And living in manchester, we like to enjoy basking in the sun!

And we are looking forward to exploring Munnar and periyar on foot. My husband is also a very keen photographer. (so keen he will probably bring 2 sets of clothes so there's room for all his photography equipment!) We love hot and spicy food and can handle a drink or 2

Thanks for any advice, we look forward to hearing from you

cathyjames82

hi angeld
i reead your post and it seems like you have very well done and choose the itinerary and adjusted the time to be spent in all the places, like in kovalam and varkala, there are many places to look out for rooms. and in all places in kerala there is possibility of renting mopeds or motor bikes were you can be independent moving around, since im staying in cherai for long term, i really liked this place except on weekends, on weekends the mian beach area is alwaysa crowded and indians comein their vehicle wiht full families and let me say its a chaos, but walking down more south of the beach, the places is less-crowded and peaceful surroundings.
cherai beach resort is expenvie place but you can find more to suits your budgets and i dont think there are any places here with pool, since its an 30 mts drive here to airport, it will be great place to end your holidays,
kuzhupilly beach house have some nice sea facinhg rooms looked after a very freindly couple and there are some nice independent cottages on beach (harolden beach cottage is one wiht cooking facility and its been rented out to people for months /weekly basis or few dyas like 3 or 4 dyas.if you have more queries i will be pleased to help you out.
have a great time in kerala, and its best time when its cold down in europe.

ingelalex

Hi. We were in Aleppey in january -07 and stayed at Palmy lake resort. (www.geocites.com/palmyresorts or e-mail: palmyresorts@yahoo.com) . It's a very nice place close to the water and the owners are very nice and helpful. It was 750 R for a nice hut for 2. We also did a backwater trip with Grant Jepson who is a boatbuilder and his boat is one of the "GreenPalm" houseboats. More info about that is www.greenpalmhouseboat.com.
Grant's phone number is +91 94469 44827. You can also book him through Palmy lake resort. We payed 6500 R for two couples ( 2 double rooms) and we had the boat by ourself.
Grant will take you to smaller cannels instead of the larger rutes othe boats are taking. You will see small villages on the trip and it is a fantastic trip with great food (3 meals)included. We just regret that we didn't do it for 2 days instead of 1.

Enjoy

Ingela

rebeccam

Hi Angeld,

Your itin is almost identical to one I'd planned . (It's changed now..another story). I've learned so much on IM for the last year.

Based on reading, asking, learning, we planned to stay at Bethsaida Hermitage on the beach at Kovalam. It is not only beautiful and reasonably priced--you will be contributing to a wonderful cause by staying there.

In Alleppey, Pooppally's was highly recommended by several sources, with Dr. Pooppally as a great host.

Both these places were recommended by Jenny of le Royale in Kochi, who many IMers mention as a great travel advice source.

Have fun planning!

angeld

Thanks for the great information everyone!
I am well into researching all these recommendations
I don't feel so lost and confused as I did at the beginning of all this planning.
Bethsaida Hermitage is available and I am very close to booking there, it looks like a wonderful retreat.
I better get some work done (even though all I can think about is kerala) but I will be back on this evening.

Thanks again guys,

2cents

Cherai beach , and the stretch of beach in adjoining Kuzhuppily, is among the most beautiful along the Kerala coast as cathyjames82 mentioned earlier. However when it comes to shortlisting a place to stay in or around Alappuzha, Cherai wouldn't fit the bill as its about 80 kms away from Alappuzha.

You really should consult a few online map sites like http://maps.mapmyindia.com/ during the course of your research. It would be a big help

dipydoo

periyar to kovalam is going to take you more than 4 hrs by road (more like 6 hours).

arranging transport is easy enough, the hotel guys will help you out with that (the cybic in me says its because they get a cut). you'll get good reliable drivers this way...

Lord Average

I know Chearai Beach ... its a great spot to stay as an alternative to Fort Cochin. You can easily travel between the two (45 mins by taxi). It has the advantage of offering both beach and backwaters (although Alleppy area is much more extensive). I prefer the Sealine Hotel to Cherai Beach Resort to stay.

I've stayed at Palm Grove Resort in Alleppy, but wouldnt particularly reccomend it.

I also know Chrissies Hotel in Periyar particularly well. If you dont mind climbing stairs, then go for a room at the top among the treetops. There's plenty to do in the local area.

Unless you are a real beach freak, then you might want to do either Varkala or Kovalam, and then put the extra time to somewhere else. I would definately reccommend a side trip to Madurai (via Periyar or Munnar). It's totally different to Kerala, and is a photographers dream.

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angeld

Dipydo thanks for that, I might do a stop in between or set off early in the morning, any suggestions for somewhere interesting for 1 night?

Thanks Lord Average, I have been reading a lot of your posts on here and you seem to know your stuff! The Sealine Hotel looks good. I'm thinking this would be a nice finish to our travels before heading to the airport. I've just emailed them to see if they have availability.

Thanks 2Cents, sorry that was a last minute thought, I'm struggling with accommodation around Alappuzha and I was thinking about ditching accommodation and just doing a house boat cruse around the back waters instead of staying around there.

Every time I think I've found somewhere around Alappuzha that looks okay and is within budget, I check reviews and find out something terrible.... I think I need to be more open minded.

angeld

I will look into this also, do you think a day trip would suffice, It looks a bit of a journey, perhaps longer would be needed? thanks

vandy

Hi there,

For an accomodation suggestion in Allepey try Malayalam Resort Homestay. The rooms are basic but clean and the location is amazing,right on one of the major canals.You will need to contact them by phone to make a reservation.

In Thekaddy(Periyar Area)I recently stayed a night at Chrissies in one of the ground floor rooms
which I thought was pretty basic for the price, didn't even have a ceiling fan.The rooftop restraunt is not too bad though.I decided to check out of Chrissies next day and stayed at Mickeys Cottage(Homestay)about 20 meters down the road for a third of the Price. You can still frequent Chrissies restaraunt for meals if you so wish.
Mickeys provide breakfast in the price BUT it is an Indian brkfst which I personally can't handle.
There are plenty of homestays on the Bypass road where Chrissies is located, I can also reccomend the Ambadi Hotel for good accomodation and also a very good restn't which anyone can use,it's at the
end of bypass road a bit further down from
Chrissies & Mickeys Cottage,Greenview homestay also seems reasonable value.

Periyar,Thekaddy & Kumily is basically all the same area, You will be approached to do a 1 day safari in Periyar park area, note that these safaris start at 05:30am and return you by about
7pm, It's a long day, I declined as I only had 1 day to spare and I wanted to explore the town.The safari cost is 1600rps plus 300rps for entrance fee
Bkfst,Lunch & Afternoon Tea is included.Friend of
mine did the safari and did not see any Wildlife
except for a few Bison in the distance,just a matter of luck really,If you pay for safari in advance just make sure the weather will be Ok,
Otherwise I can't see them refunding any monies if
you decide to cancel due to Rain.

Rgds

vandy

BTW, Be wary of the so called healthy Museli for
Bkfst at Chrissies, it sets like cement before you get halway through it,the fruit platter is better option or the Omellete on toast.

Lord Average

The journey between Kumily (ie Periyar) and Madurai is about 3 - 4 hrs.
Best to stay a night or two in Madurai, and give yourself time to explore.

angeld

Thanks for all the help guys, it really is helpful. We're going to carry on sorting our itinerary out this weekend. Things are coming together now. I am so glad I joined this forum, reading a guide book just isn't the same!
Thanks again