Hi,
Bottomline first: KERALA IS TRULY RELAXING, PERIOD. Me (and not to mention Mr. P) went there with my family on October 7th, 2009 for a net eight day tour. I went there to relax and get a break from the usual days and nights I used to spend in Kolkata (except for those where Mr.P used to reawake himself inside me) and Mr. P went there...huh... yes, right. To shoot.
Below are a few of his snaps (made to reflect the possible best in them) by him. As you will proceed, your little tour guide (that would be me) will take you milestone by milestone the journey we had from start to end. One thing I must tell you: This isn't just another regular post of an-hour-or-two-of-a-crazy-outing-of-mine-in-the-city type with only five to six snaps. This post has a good amount of pictures. So, if you are really on a tight scheduled, I suggest you better close it. But hey! I would love to see you find some time and go through it.
But, if you are sure you have time... we can start from THIRUVANTHAPURAM.
Having our hotel booked in Tridendram, on 9th, we went to the KOVALAM BEACH. Below are a few snaps from there:
The beach has a very steep shore and you suddenly might feel like toppling as the sand below your feet can be gone with the retreating wave. By the way, the picture above is called CHILD, LOOK BEYOND.
The picture below is called CALENDAR (for some weird reason). Here it is:
There are lots of rocks on the beach. And not to mention loads of coconut trees.
This picture is called WINDY. I know its a very aaa....obvious name buut still.!
The next one is a feminine potrayal of what Mr. P was exactly doing in the beach.
I call this picture as Mr. Me.!
Still keeping our reservation in Trivendram, next day we went to KANYAKUMARI
Frankly speaking, there was nothing much for Mr. P. Below is what he got:
This is the VIVEKANANDA MEMORIAL on the Vivekananda Rock.
Below is THE COMPLETE ROCK:
(well almost. Thanks to the only 3 inch screen, the ends got truncated).
Upon entering the Vivekanada Memorial (where photography is not allowed), anybody in any state of mind can feel the peace and strength at the sametime. I did (and thought I would share the feeling with you).
One our way back to the hotel, we stopped at the PADMANABHAN SWAMI TEMPLE. There they have a tradition: If a woman is wearing a Saree, then only she can enter the temple with her hair covered with a cloth. If she is wearing something else, she has to wrap a saree around and then she can enter. For men.. no such relaxation. Can wear only a Dhoti, only. No further questions.
Below are a few snaps from that place:
I call this picture TWILIGHT TEMPLE.
Mr. P was lucky enough to get the picture of thisYOUNG DEVOTEE. (As I said, no exceptions.!) All I did there was get some evening tea with some UFOs (Unidentified Fried Objects)
After we came back to the bus, we realized that many of the ladies were missing. And guess where we found them? Yes, a place which closely resembles a place like the picture below:
Well, SHOPPING ANYONE?
Next day we moved out of Trivendrum and headed for ALLEPPY. From there, through THE BACKWATERS, we were to reach KOTTAYAM (a city with 100 percent literacy rate in India)
Below are some of the snaps by Mr. P there:
This picture above I call THE CROSSING. Almost every house near the backwaters banks has a boat like this and it is the most vital mode of transportation there.
And who doesn't know about the most the relaxing floating things in Kerala??
Yes, I am talking about the HOUSEBOATS.
According to Mr. P, there were numerous other situations to take pictures of (may be, I hardly understand this stuff). But all were not captured, technical problems, we were constatly moving.
I have no idea what this church is actually called but Mr. P calls this picture THE OPEN OLD.
In between all these, there was a local guest in our launch. Even a dull person like me admired the beauty of it and Mr.P helped me reach it out to you. Here it is:
This picture is called THE GUEST.
On the banks by now we had spotted all kinds of people from all religions and their walk by the banks remainded me of the drawings I used to do back in my school.
This picture above has no specific name. But as of now lets call it GOING TO WORK.
That day we had a single night stay at KOTTAYAM where I took a little time out to call up my friends (was missing them a lot there). Next day we all set out for KUMILY. Its a hill station which is famous for its spice market and homemade chocolate.
On our way there were a few snaps taken by Mr. P:
This picture is of a rubber tree trunk, lined to collect the INFANT RUBBER.
Our travel guide, on our way to Kumily, told us that there wont be anything for us to do in the evening after we reach there, so we can just follow the scenary on the way. I just did and so did Mr.P:
This picture is called FOLLOWED (dedicated to our guide)
Looking out of the bus window there were again many (many) breathtaking places. But as Mr. P is not an expert photographer (and again we were moving quite fast on a contstantly direction changing spiral hilly road), many snaps were just a piece of junk.
Out of them this one was quite postable:
Mr.P couldnt stop admiring the courage of this tree standing there alone. He calls this picture HABIT OF THE EDGE.
After we reached Kumily, we were told that there is a Kathakali show to be held that night in a nearby hall. People who are interested can go and enjoy.! You can imagine, in what Mr.P was more interested in than the dance on the stage.
I call this picture IDENTITY.
Just a little walk from our two night stay hotel at Kumily there was a turn in the street. There was a statue of Mother Mary holding a dying Jesus on her lap. Mr. P tried and tried but couldnt be happy about his picture below.
See if you can feel anything other than SADNESS OF THE EYES.
Next day, we all went to PERIYAR (in a useless hope to see a few wild animals).
Not much promising, but here are a few snaps of the forest and the lake:
This is the PERIYAR LAKE boating where is currently prohibited due an very nasty accident that happened here a few times back.
While walking in the road of the forest, just the way I was listening to some music, my dad was walking alone humming.
I told Mr.P not to lose this moment when my dad was HAPPY ON HIS OWN.
After we came back, had lunch, many of the us from the touring party were feeling lazy enough to miss the spice garden visit. But I went and so did Mr. P
It was nothing as brilliant as anything but what I enjoyed most was an elephant ride.
This picture is not taken by Mr.P but by a person called SAUNAK (thanks buddy.!). I call this picture GOPAL (that's what is the name of the elephant in the picture). There are reason for me to select this picture. First, Gopal is in a brilliant pose with his trunk raised to greet the camera. Second, being the fourth person on Gopal at that moment, I am hidden.! You can only see a part of my blue jeans above Gopal's left ear.
The next day we were informed that we are finally starting for MUNNAR with a faint warning of a chilly weather there.
Here are a few snaps of what we saw on the way:
My sis was holding these FLOWERS in her hand and it was looking worth a few MBs in my camera's memory card.
We were told of a journey through the hilly regions and there the last thing we expected was the rain. But who knew, the dying Jesus from the streets of Kumily will fulfill even the last expectation of us.!!
This picture is called the WET SETUP for the rest of our journey.
On the way we had the DEVIKULAM FALLS:
This water fall was in the midst of vast bed of tea plantation. But instead of capturing the tea plantation around (like everyone else) Mr. P got asked these ladies to wait and hold it right there.
He called them up as 'aunts' on which they started to laugh. Later on Mr. P had to say 'g'bye sister'. I call this picture AUNT SISTERS.
We continued with our journey in those spiral roads (with the sky tap still on).
At times, we prayed no other vehicle till the same THICK CURVE of the road lasts.
But the journey to Munnar was only not scary, it was beautiful too.
When places like the above picture came, it was hard to imagine if anything could have fulfilled the snap had the climate not been MOISTURIZED.
And after a journey of about four and a half hours and we could finally see the town of Munnar.
This picture is by my dad. Sure he has literally FOUND THE TOWN in the 'middle' of the rain.
On the afternoon the day we reached Munnar, we went out for a sightseeing. And here is what we saw:
TAKE-1: THEY CAME.
TAKE-2: THEY ATE.
TAKE-3: THEY LEFT.
After this royal feast, our bus moved ahead for the couple of nearby places:
This is a shot from a place called the ECHO POINT, not a that bad place for paddle boating.
Then we stood on the MATTUPATHY DAM (and Mr.P took the snap below).
The next morning was booked for RAJAMALAI, for the highest peak in the Neelgiri mountains. But before brushing my teeth on that day, as soon as I woke up, Mr. P rushed towards the hotel balcony and snapped the picture below:
He calls this sunrise THE SUNSET HANGOVER.
While we were being taken by the forest officials to the top of the Rajamali hill in a wildlife park (whose name I have forgotten but it was recognised as the cleanest wildlife park in India) we saw this:
You have to forgive me but I had no other option but to name this picture by Mr.P (who took it straight right down from the fall's foot)as UNKNOWN HEIGHTS.
At a checkpoint, we were left to explore the rest of the uphill journey on our feet. On the way to the top of the hill, we found this animal:
It is called the NEELGIRI THAR. It is something in between a deer(body) and a goat (head). Rajamalai is the only place in the world where this animal is found.
And after we went to the top, it was altogether a different mood. Clouds playing around, the chill, the wet air, the moody sun....huh.!!!!
This picture was taken by Mr. P after he waited long for the sun to get caught in that crack in the cloud. He calls this picture ORACLED.
One moment you can clearly see who is down there.. Come back after 15 minutes...
you are bound to ask the clouds WHOOZ DOWN THERE?
These pictures are absolutle nothing (believe me when I say that) when it comes to actually go there and stand at the top.
And what a sight after we descended down.
The clouds were between my two hands.!!! It had started to drizzle and we had no umbrella (it sure was fun.!!). We had a coffee in a tourist shade. Then Mr.P took the above picture (by taking out the camera in that highly moist weather). All in all... it was ... mesmerizing.! I will never forget how it actually felt to PLAY THE ROMANCE there.
That day afternoon, we left Munnar and started for COCHIN, the last milestone of our Kerala trip.
It took us five hours to reach Cochin in bus. There, one the next day, we went out to see some history, but half of the things in the city were closed. Below is what we could manage:
This is the VASCO DE GAMA CHURCH where his corpse were buried for a few years after his death before it was taken away by his sons to Lisbon. THIS IS THE FIRST CHURCH IN INDIA buit in 16th century and last renovated in the 17th century.
Very near to this church is a beach used by fishermen.
The fishing is done by these CHINESE FISHING NETS which are in India almost for more than four hundred years now.
One the evening that same day, we were taken to see the sunset on a cruise. Later it was announced that due to the clouds, the setting sun won't be visible. So Mr.P again grabbed whatever he could.
Although the we were not on a luxury ship, but the trip on that boat was good, overlooking the sunrays FROM THE DECK.
Then comes the last snap by Mr. P in Kerala.
The HOMECOMING.
Next day was our train back to Kolkata.
I know I have eaten up a lot of your precious time, but by any chance you liked (or hated) this album, please do let me know though your posted comments.
Thanks you.!
Cheers.! :)
