Kerala

keshav

We have a only a week to spare at the end of September or early October. Planning to visit Kerala. Any suggestions on must see places there that will include a overnight stay in a boat, a stay at any hill station and a visit to a beach.

Suggestions on affordable accomodation is also requested.

Thanks in advance.

Alan D

Hi keshav!

Affordable is a very loose word that means different things to different people. It might help people to make suggestions if you could put a figure on roughly what price range you would like.

__________________
What a long strange trip it's been!

keshav

Well Alan!! Around Rs.750 to Rs.1000 a day for AC accomodation.

Alan D

Sorry, I can't help on the hotel front then. Generally we don't go over the 500R's mark and that's only in Delhi for an air-conditioned room in the hot season. I'm sure others will have some suggestions though. Also I haven't stayed overnight on a boat on the backwaters - just taken the day trip from Alleppy. Enjoyed that very much and also enjoyed staying in Old Cochin.

There are some hotels listed in the hotel listings section on this forum that might suit.

Bit of a useless post I'm afraid!

Has anyone got any definite ideas for keshav???

lady2byrd

HI
I could help out here
a) Beach- Kovalam
- Hotel Thiruvathura/Aquarius Hotel (both in the Rs 1500 range for an Ac dbl but during this period you should be able to swing it for Rs1000/- maybe lower) About a minute's walk to the beach
b) Hill Station -Munnar
- Hotel HillTop ( Ranging from Rs500 to Rs 1000 for a dbl maybe even lower- No Ac required)
c) Wild Life Sanctuary -Thekkady
Any number of hotels - Rs 500 onwards - Ac not required
d) Backwaters - Houseboat
- Venture Holidays - Overnight Boat tours ranging from Rs 3500 to Rs 6500
e) Cochin -
Any number of hotels ranging from Rs 850 onwards for AC maybe lower
By the way, I live in Trivandrum. Help/info needed drop a line

Cheers
Bibiana

chrissawka

munnar is a must.also going to periyar nat. park,the early mourning boat ride is worthy
in cochin aviod salv. army hostel rm 20? as i got bedbugs from it<yuck makes me itchey just thinkin of it>
between varkala and kovalem.......i went to the one less developed<forget which one > and glad i did from what i hear
the boat trip<allepy back water tour> is awesome but a bit long.i took one of the local commuter boats and was cool wxpwerience<but turned out to be 3 hr ride till it hit town again>
gold cheap in kerala.no smoking in public. and kathakali dance a must to see

__________________
enjoyed 6 weeks in southern india and saving up to go back..
i never hated.....yet loved<more>a country soo much
words cannot truely describe the satisfaction it gives u

Watson

Really Chris? Did you get hassled?; although I know that it's frowned upon I didn't get any militant looks or anything like that for smoking.

Regarding Hotels-
Your budget range should leave plenty of options open for you. I would just wing it, go to a district with plenty of hotels and check them out.

jarosity

hey,
i'm at varkala beach right now and i think it is the best place i've been so far. if you go there, stay at mama champos...the people there are the coolest and its only rs200 for a nice clean double.
also, if you stay in ft. cochin, adam's old inn is indeed old, but very cheap (rs175) and better than most places and the people there are quite helpful.

Colin

I have a friend in the USA (NYC) who is interested in the Jewish community in Cochin (Kochi). Does anyone have an URL I can look at to get information? She also asked about Cochin Kerala vs Cochin China, any connection?
Thanks for an information.

rab

Try this link for a simple history or try using Google (www.google.co.uk) and the search words 'cochin' and 'jewish'. There are lots of websites with info.

Apparently there are now only about 50 Jews left in Cochin; they could not find marriage partners and are all getting old now. Sad really but then again religion often has unfortunate effects I suppose.

Don't know but the colonial name Cochin, Kerala is really Kochi - does that make it any less connected? Or can someone correct me if I've got it the wrong way round?

Colin

Thanks rab, I passed on the link, makes it easy!!

How is Adelaide treating you? Have you been watching that awful program on the ABC, I think its called 'A Place Down Under'. horrible women and kids!!

rab

The telly is fairly crap in SA (adverts every 5 minutes - you get none on the BBC!) but I have seen that show; they get the same in the UK but a longer version or slightly different.

Adelaide is a good city, very spacious compared to UK streets. All the people seem nice. Went for a curry tonight at the Oh Calcutta on South Road. It's the only Indian I've found so far. In England there's a curry house or two on every High Street. Food was good in fact more authentic Indian than any we get in the UK - nice veg thalli on a big tin plate with lots of natural flavours and no added colour or sugary masala like we sometimes get in Britain.

Ooops - Mike made me a Forum Leader last year and told me not to let anything go off topic. So where were we - oh yes Kerala and the Jews of Kochi. Does anyone know how many are left?

SueJ

How's this for spurious accuracy.........

On 17th December 2003 there were 14 Jews left in Cochin. The reason I've given that date is that we were given the impression that some of them were very old, so it may be even lower by now.

The synagogue is very beautiful, with hand-painted blue and white floor tiles. The street outside is very touristy, but Fort Cochin generally is a must-see. Highlight for us was the Chinese fishing nets - we'd seen so many photos and there they were in real life. Also, make sure that you buy fish or prawns by the fishing nets and have them cooked by the 'bring your own fish' stalls right on the beach. The kathakali place near the fishing nets was also very good - watch the makeup, then an introduction to what it all means, then a short performance.

Have a great time - we can't wait to go back to Kerala.

joel

I found Cochin a very pleasent place to stay a night or 2. There are certainly place's with beautiful beaches or super impressive temples in Kerala, of which Cochin has neither, but I found the laid back atmosphere to my liking, and wandering the dusty streets made up most of my days there. As long as you're not looking for excitement, its a nice enough place to rest up for a couple of days and has a sight or two of its own.

__________________
[url=http://asiahotelbookings.netfirms.com]Asia Hotel Bookings[/url]

Colin

Seeing we are completly off topic, I was in Cochin in 1992 with my two sons, 19 and 25. We were sitting on a bench waiting for our fish to be cooked and a guy sidled up to my younger son who was on the other end of the bench from me, and said 'you want girl?', ' no thanks' says Greg, 'you want beer, whisky?', 'no thanks', 'you want hashish?, good charis?', 'no thanks' said my very responsible son. I could hear this going on so I reached around behind the two boys and tapped the dude on the shoulder and said 'do you realise this boy is my son?'.

The guy disintegrated, he was completely undone, he spent the next five minutes prostrating himself with apologies. I floored him (never give a sucker...) with 'this other boy is also my son'.

The Indian Father/Son relationship in action!!

Thanks to everyone, I have passed the URL on to my friend and I am sure she will be thrilled with the photos.