Mission Kerala

roygoutam

Hi

I am Goutam from Kolkata and member to Indiamike.

We 3 families (Six adult and 3 children) have decided to travel to Kerala from 19th Dec to middle of January. We all are first-timers to a south indian state. Let me first give our plan and then I have a few queries regarding our trip. We have created an Itinerary based on some threads / articles / posts on the internet.

Itinerary :

Start from Howrah to Chennai by Railways and then by Sumo
want to visit Pondicheri, Kodaikanal, Madurai, Rameswaram, Kanyakumari and Ooty beside important destination in Kerala like Kovalam, Varkala, Quilon, Aleppi, Kottayam, Periyar, Munnar, Kochin, Trisur, Kojhikod etc.
Reach Howrah

Queries:
1) Does the itenerary look ambitious? How many days it will take to complete with one night stay at each place?
2) We have never been to Kerala before. So based on our itinerary, can anyone suggest if we can visit those places other than Kerala, if yes, connection from where? I have read of backwater, tea-plantation and famous sea beaches.
3) As we all are first timers, Can anyone list down any precautionary measures and must haves for the trip.

Any other suggestions are also welcome.

Thanks in advance

Nick-H

Unless you really meant to say Kerala and Tamil Nadu, I should rethink this completely, and leave out all those East-Coast places. Chennai is 18 hours away from Trivandrum (Kovalam) by train, do you really want to drive it?

Hmm... never done it, but I believe it is 18 hours to Rameswaram too.

Of course it can be done, but my advice would be to take your train to Kerala and then do a leasurely tour from there. Including Kanyakumari would be easy, I guess Ooty is not so far off (but how many hill stations do you need to see?) and Madurai can also be on the loop too --- but extending to the East Coast just seems too much to me.

...Especially as you are big group, which will make the travelling more difficult and increase the stress aspects of it.

Errr... how many hours can six adults and three youngsters spend in a Sumo?

roygoutam

As per suggesstion given by Nick, If I cut short my destinations of Tamilnadu and keep important destination of Kerala only like Kovalam, Varkala, Quilon, Aleppi, Kottayam, Periyar, Munnar, Kochin, Trisur, Kojhikod etc. could I complete the tour within 12 days?
If yes and if I can visit Rameswaram from Trivandrum and ooty and/or Kodaikanal from a place nearer to any tourist spots described above in Kerala.
Please suggest.

pmvelu

@Roygoutam,

If you have 12 days to spend in Kerala [ I assume , Time spent on travel from Howrah Jn to Chennai Central is excluded in this 12 days] . Considering your group composition and the time you have with a bit of rushing, you could do the following ! Trying to add anything more to it may be uncomfortable and you may not actually explore places and much of the time you will be travelling only !.

I did Visited many a Tourist / Non-tourist Places / Travelled through all districts of Kerala [Except Kottayam] and based on My travel experiences , I am stating the places and the number of Days tentatively you may spend !

Note :-

Much of the places what you specified is famous for Beaches only and after some time you may not feel any difference in the Beach view .

Varakala & Kovalam will be crowded and view wise nice and if you want calm and quiet beach to relax you need to travel north [ For ex. Guruvayur beach Or Calicut Beaches or even better Kannur Beaches Or Kasaragod beaches too]


Again for BAckwaters, you have Allepey [Best], followed by Kumarakom [Lake + Backwaters] and then Kollam and even you have backwaters in Thrissur Dt and in Kasaragod district [ Read Valliyaparamba Backwaters]. So select one among them.

For Tea Plantations / Scenic Places, best in kerala is Munnar followed by thekkady [Both are 3 hours apart] and also Wayanad [Very much North and close to Karnataka]. Select one among the one. If you plan for Munnar & Thekkady [ Periyar] , you can very well reserve Ooty / Kodaikanal for next trip !!

For Temples/ Culture , you have "N" number of places all through the state and My take is :-

Trivandrum "Ananthapadmanabha Swamy temple"
Guruvayur "Krishnar" temple
Thrissur "Vadakkuna nathar" temple [30 kms from Guruvayur" are considered to be most auspicious. you could select [Guruvayur + Thrissur] Or Trivandrum for temples

And Having SUMO is worth exploring local tourist spots of many a locations but travelling to all the places you mentioned in SUMO might be very Very uncomfortable !!
Having Said that, The following plan might be worth a look !

Tentative Plan:-

Day 0:- Board Trivandrum bound Train from chennai central !
Day 1: Reach Trivandrum. Visit Kovalam beach & Varkala beach. Stay at Trivandrum
Day 2:-Book one Day tour to Kanyakumari [ Kerala tourism operates this] Or hire a Sumo and visit Padnamabhapuram palace, Sucheendram temple , Thirparappu waterfalls and Kanyakumari and come back to Trivandrum for stay [ You can stay at kanyakumari for the night to view the much famous "Sunrise" the next day morning and then you can come back to Trivandrum. Just my thought ]
Day 3:- Get bus / Train to Alappuzha [ Allepey] and try out for Bakwaters for "24 Hours"
Day 4:- Around afternoon, you will checkout from BAckwater Trip. Get a bus to Cochin / Ernakulam and night stay at Cochin / Ernakulam
Day 5:- Explore tourist places of Cochin for that day .[Again Kerala tourism operates tours right from half a day to 1 day for local sightseeing].
Day 6:- Get a bus Or Cab to Munnar [Around 4 hours journey] and spend 2 days in Munnar
Day 7:- Munnar
Day 8:- Munnar
Day 9:- Travel to Thekkady and do the boating in lake and there are many tea factories / Plantations in thekkady which welcomes visitors . You may try out that. Night Stay
Day 10:- Get Cab / bus to Guruvayur and explore Thrissur Temples & Guruvayur [ Temple + Punnathur kota elephant Sanctuary which is just 5 kms from temple which has 55 elephants + Beach]
Day 11:- Guruvayur
Day 12:- Reserve . you could spend / relax at a place which attracts you most for this day as already the plan is bit rushy !!

Same night you can Board Chennai Central Bound train from Thrissur Jn [ There are around 5 - 6 night trains from Thrissur to chennai and all Chennai Bound trains from Trivandrum , Ernakulam, Alleppey travel via Thrissur only ] and then you can continue with train to Howrah Jn from Chennai Central !!

From My travel experiences, I would say this is what approximately you can cover in that 12 days ! .Adding more to it will be totally crunched BUT yes, you can swap places !

General Pointers :-

1) That's the peak season for Kerala and hence the acomodation costs might be two or 3 folded . Plan accordingly
2) Wherever possible you could use trains & Buses for intra-City travel instead of cab [For Comfort especially and you could hire local cabs once you reach a tourist place for exploring the tourist spots of that location] as Kerala has very good Train & Bus connectivity between cities
3)You could skip Guruvayur + Thrissur if the itenary looks too much packed !


Hope this helps. If you have any specific questions, Please post !.

Velu

roygoutam

Velu,

Thanks a lot for guiding at every step. Yes I do have some specific questions.

1) Want to cut off one day in Munnar.
2) Want to skip Guruvayur (is it also known as Guruvannur?) and Thrisur. As I think we are covering beauties of those place somewhere. Frankly speaking I am not fond of Temples. Still suggest the importance.
3) Continue your route with Cochin / Ernakulam, Munnar, Thekkady and want to finish my journey with a visit to a lonely route to Bhaithiri, Kalapetta, Mananthavadi and Sultan Batheri. Please suggest specifically about this route.
4) What is the distance from my last destination and Mysore / Bangalore?
5) Starting my tour from south to north, So in Day 1 : visit to Kanyakumari.
6) Day 2 : one more stay in Kanyakumari (please suggest),Back to Trivandrum (waht's the distance and time?)
7) Day 3 : Visit Kovalam beach & Varkala beach and approach towards Quilon, stay at Quilon. Which will be our mode of transport and how much time it will take? Fare at present for cab and/or bus?
8) Day 4 : Take launch cruise to reach to Alappuzha [ Allepey] (in this way can we enjoy Bakwaters?), What's the time taken for it?
9) What is the difference between Quilon-Allepey launch cruise and local cruise from Allepey (which includes Kuttanad farming, showing traditional village houses and fishing by chinese net etc.)? Can we see all the above in Quilon-Allepey launch cruise?
10) If we want to enjoy Kettuvallam (house boat), how and where?
11) Initially I thought of hiring a cab throughout the journey, but as you have well said road condition in Kerala is good and train as well as bus service is good. Moreover we have to enjoy backwater.
12) Thekkadi and Periyar what is the link? I counldn't find Thekkadi on the map.
13) In December-January, on an average throughout Kerala if I keep provisional budget of Rs. 300/-(only lodging) for double bed room for my family of 4 which includes my two children (my only wanting is attached bath. No TV, no carpet is needed). Is it okay?
14) Apart from provincial food, will I get some sort of north indian dishes?
15) Cost of fooding per day per family of 4 (incl 2 children)?
16) What will be the days from Trivandrum - Kanyakumari - Kovalam - Varkala - Quilon - Allepey - Cochin / Ernakulam - Munnar - Thekkady - lonely route to Bhaithiri, Kalapetta, Mananthavadi and Sultan Batheri AND if includes Mysore and Bangalore?
17)Best pair of trains from Howrah to Chennai and Chennai to Trivandrum by AC 2 tier.

Please don't mind seeing such abnormal questions (may be).

Goutam