April 22, 2008
After breakfast on Tuesday, we left by 8.30. Our route was NH 7 upto Thirumangalam and then into NH 208 through SriVilliputhur, Rajapalayam, Sengottai, Punalur, Kottarakara and then on to Kollam. The road up to Sengottai was a breeze, smooth and wide.
We were warned about the roads in Kerala earlier. In fact we were told that we need not look for road signs to know if we had entered Kerala – the road condition would inform us !!
After entering Kerala passing Senkottai, we faced, perhaps, the worst roads I have driven through. The Ghat road through Aryankavu, Edapalayam, upto Tenmala was horrendous. It would be an insult to call it a village road, let alone a National Highway. I wonder how the local people tolerate such conditions without protest. It took us almost 2 hours to cover the 35+ kms. After Tenmala, the road condition improved but the narrow width of the road does not give you the luxury of traveling smoothly. Kerala is such a progressive state and depends a lot on tourism. It is a shame that importance of good roads is not realised by the powers-that-be.
Ashtamudi Backwater Retreat
Club Mahindra’s Ashtamudi Backwater Retreat is about 16 kms from Kollam Town, off NH 47, enroute Ernakulam. We crossed the Neendakara Bridge, missed the right turn at Vettuthara Junction and drove on for almost 12 kms before we realized that we had made a mistake. We had asked for driving directions from the resort earlier and they had mentioned the various landmarks on the way. But they left out an important point that we had to take a turn at Vettuthara Jn. After a call to the resort, we turned back, took the correct turn and drove past the Dalavapuram Bridge and reached the resort at 3.30 p.m., almost 2 hours later than planned. Result, we missed the lunch at the resort. The resort did not give us much choice in snacks and we had to compromise with sandwiches and Pakoras.
The Resort was cosy, rooms comfortable, though a tad small. The resort is on the banks of Ashtamudi Kaayal, named so because of its eight arms. It is the second largest backwater lake only after Vembanad. The boat journey from Kollam to Alapuzha is the longest inland water route in Kerala.
The rooms are set 4 to a Chalet and had AC with coffee maker, Fridge and Plasma TV. We were members of Club Mahindra and were offered their Fun-Dining Package, wherein we have a choice of meal packages, all attractively priced. After exploring the resort and chatting with the staff to know more about it, we had an early dinner and skipped the entertainment program organized by the resort. The resort had an Ayurvedic Treatment centre and a room called Gym, having a solitary treadmill and 2 exercycles.
April 23, 2008
Next morning after a half-an hour work out on the Exercycles and burning calories we compensated the loss by gorging on the breakfast !
The room had a patio with a day bed facing the lake, ideal to laze during the day, reading a book. However there was no fan and it was too hot and humid to stay there. So we retreated into our cool room and literally chilled it out.
Getting out of our room only to lunch, we left for a quick shopping visit to Kollam. We had noticed the huge JoyAlukkas Wedding Centre during our drive thru the city earlier. The shop is spread over 4 floors and had a large variety of garments and a floor of jewellery. We spent close to 2 hours in the Ac shop, not having the energy to venture out into the hot sun !
Crossing the road we walked to Bishop Jerome Nagar Shopping Centre, which we were told is large and had a number of shops. Of course for a town like Kollam it is big. But there was nothing much to see there and we returned to our resort, this time taking the correct turns.
Thursday. April 24, 2008
Next morning after the workout we took a 2-hour boat ride in the resort’s house boat (Kettuvallam), venturing into the vast Ashtamudi Lake. We saw many Chinese fishing Nets (Cheena Valaa) in operation. These nets operate by a system of Cantilever. The Net is lowered into water and a Light is placed at the pinnacle. During Night, the fishes get attracted to the light and come only to get trapped into the net. At periodic intervals, the Net raises and gets lowered into the water. The Lake is lined with the ubiquitous Coconut trees. Small islands (thittus) were scattered in the lake, many of them with small wooden shacks. The whole setting was idyllic, a cool breeze wafting into the boat, fisher folk paddling, ducks swimming into the lake from the houses lining the bank and the drone of the Kettuvallam’s motor, the only sound, lulling us into a stupor.
We landed back at the resort by 9.30 after a peaceful boat ride, ready to tackle the breakfast. The official breakfast time is till 10.00 a.m. But when we walked into the Restaurant The Ripples, we found to our dismay many of the items missing and the vessels not replenished. Only after some of the other guests who had also decided on a late breakfast raised their voices, the staff swung into operation to refill the buffet.
Varkala
After a light lunch we drove to Varkala, a popular beach about 55 kms south of the resort. The road was decent and we made it to Varkala in good time. During peak season, foreign tourists flock the beach and the hotels are mostly full. But this was lean time and there were more locals. The Papansam beach at Varkala is visited by locals to perform rites for their departed relatives and there are always pundits around to help them in that. There are many good hotels near the beach including Taj.
The other attraction in Varkala is the Janardhanaswamy Temple, a very old temple dedicated to Vishnu. It is on a small hillock and the main deity is very beautiful. You look at the fairly large deity through a small, narrow opening. Typical of Kerala Temples males remove their upper garment when inside the temple. The temple is maintained very well and was clean. The sound of blast was reverberating around. We then came to know that blasting the local cracker (Vedi) was a way of offering to the Lord. The drive back to the resort was uneventful.
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