Friday. April 25, 2008
After breakfast we checked out, drove North in NH 47 to Ernakulam. As is common in Kerala Roads, the end of a village / town signals the start of the next. So there is continuous habitation and hence traffic is normally dense in all the roads. The 150 km drive to Ernakulam thru Kayamkulam, Allapuzha, took us 3 hours. I had again taken driving directions from Yahoo Maps to Taj Residency, in Marine Drive, Ernakulam. Following the instructions, we reached the hotel without any hitch.
Taj Residency, Ernakulam
Taj Residency is situated at an enviable location in Ernakulam, on the Marine Drive, overlooking the Vembanad Lake and the Harbour and very close to all the shopping centres. We were allotted a corner, sea-facing room in the 4th floor. The room was very well appointed and luxurious. The staff who showed us our room reminded us that there was a complimentary 2-hour Sunset cruise in the hotel’s boat and the reporting time was 4.45 p.m. at the lobby.
The lunch spread was terrific with tasty appams & Malabar Parattas as special dishes. Wishing to take advantage of the malls near the hotel, we left right after lunch to Bay Pride Mall, just 2 buildings away from our hotel. This is an upmarket mall, with good collection of branded shops. There was even a small food court. The rear entrance to the mall, opens into the water-front Promenade.
The GCDA shopping centre, right next to this was a disappointment. It is poorly maintained.
It was time to get back to our hotel for a wash and the sun set cruise. Complimentary Tea awaited us in the lobby. Unfortunately for us, the sky was overcast which meant that we would be missing the dramatic, fiery orange sun set. However the sight of dolphins made up for this disappointment. The boat leaves from the pier right behind the hotel, picks up more guests from Taj Malabar in the nearby Wellingdon Island and continues. The on-board guide explained the significance of the various buildings lining the water front.
Returning by 7.30 p.m., we peeped into the poorly maintained Children’s park. This is very close to the hotel. My wife remembered the time spent as child in her grand mother’s home in Alapuzha during vacation, when she visited Ernakulam to drive in the vehicles in the Traffic Park meant for kids. At that time it was a very popular attraction. However both the Traffic Park and the Renewable Energy Park are not in a good condition now. We hurried out of the park and walked over to MG Road thru Hospital Road. But many of the shops were already closing by then and we returned to our hotel without seeing much, after a dinner in the food Court in Bay Pride Mall,
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Taj Residency abuts the Promenade and there is an exit to the Promenade from the hotel. The Promenade is popular with residents and tourists to take a pleasant walk. It is well tiled and is neat. We walked up and down the Promenade for about an hour building up our appetite.
The tourist pier is a little down the Promenade behind the Joy Alukkas office building. Many tourist vans and buses were already arriving to take the morning sightseeing ferry trips. Several highrise residential buildings are coming up behind the Promenade and all of them have an excellent view of the Vembanad Lake and the Cochin Harbour.
Mattancherry
After a good breakfast we took the passenger ferry to Mattancherry. The Govt. Ferry terminal is again very close to the hotel. The ferries to Mattancherry (thru Fort Cochin & Wellingdon Is.) and Vypin Island depart from this terminal. The time table of ferry departure was displayed inside the terminal and the ticket counter opens just a few minutes before the ferry arrives at the pier. It was a kind of pleasant surprise that the ferry departed on the dot. Ironic that something which should be normal surprises us !! The cost of ticket to Mattancherry was Rs. 3.50 !!
The humidity was already building up and it was not yet breezy to be comfortable. The drone of the engine can really lull you to sleep.
We had wanted to visit the Dutch Palace and the Jewish Synagogue (built in 1568 – the oldest in the Commonwealth countries). However it is closed on Saturdays and we had to settle for the Dutch Palace alone.
Mattancherry Palace with its medieval charm was built by the Portuguese and presented to Veera Kerala Varma, Raja of Kochi, in 1555 AD. This is right across the road from the landing pier. The Dutch carried out some extensions and renovations in the palace in 1663, and thereafter it was popularly called Dutch Palace. The rajas also made more improvements to it. Today, it is a portrait gallery of the Cochin Rajas and notable for some of the best mythological murals in India, which are in the best traditions of Hindu temple art. However some of the murals have now faded badly. The palace was built to appease the king after they plundered a temple nearby.
It was sweltering and was close to 11 a.m. already. We had to check out by Noon and leave for Coimbatore and the ferry trip back to Ernakulam would take about 30 minutes. So we hurried out and took a ferry back to Ernakulam for a short walk to our hotel.
After a swift check-out we hit the road by 12.30 p.m. The traffic up to the turn to Nedumbassery Airport (about 30 kms from the city centre) is quite congested and takes almost an hour. Kerala’s highways have not yet graduated to four-lanes and the increased traffic density shows in the slow moving traffic.
Ernakulam - Coimbatore
We wanted to lunch enroute to save time. However there were not decent hotels / restaurants enroute. We did not want to get into Trissur and get bogged down in the traffic either. So we pushed on and fortunately noticed a decent place before Palghat. A light meal of Chappathis and Cauliflower side dish was reasonably well prepared.
The route to Coimbatore is scenic in parts and if only the roads were four-laned, the journey would have been enjoyable.
Reaching the outskirts of Coimbatore by about 3.30 p.m., we called up our friends Anand & Bhuvana for the directions to reach their home.
Coimbatore
Anand and Bhuvana had built a lovely home in Kanuvai, close to the school and College they run.
After hot coffee and light snacks, we watched the tense EPL match between Man U and Chelsea. Anand is an ardent supporter of Man U and yours faithfully, of Chelsea. As it had happened during the last time both of us watched the battle between these fine teams together, Chelsea won this time also to draw level in points with Man U and set up an interesting finish to the EPL season. Anand has now told me that he would no longer watch the future matches between Man U & Chelsea, with me.
We went out to dine at the recently opened Little Italy restaurant in Trichy Road with our friend’s family. The food was good, but the AC was not sufficient for the size of the room. Thankfully we did not take the outdoor seating. We would have definitely been uncomfortable. After a long and leisurely dinner, chatting and catching up on all the news, we returned home late and hit the sack immediately.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Next morning by 7.00 a.m., we drove off to Chennai. We had packed breakfast and had it at a convenient tree shade. Driving out of Coimbatore was extremely fast. Being a Sunday morning also helped.
We took the Mettur Dam route to avoid Salem. This road is well topped and has less traffic. Maybe after the completion of four-laning of Salem – Coimbatore road, I would switch to that. But for now, this is a nice road to drive. We drove over the dam and took pics from a higher point in the road. There are warning signs on the dam road that photography is banned ! In this age of Satellite pics., they still persist with such archaic rules !
Krishnagiri - Chennai
Krishnagiri to Chennai is my favourite driving road. This toll road is a dream to drive. The lanes are broad, well marked with road dividers for traffic in both directions. Further, there are barricades when the road passes close to villages so that cycles and other traffic cannot enter into the road at all places. Though it cost Rs. 110 to travel in this toll road, it is well worth the price.
Chennai
We reached Kathipara Jn. By 2.40 p.m. and drove straight to Hotel Saravana Bhavan near Kasi Theatre, Jafferkhanpet. After a tasty lunch we reached home by 4.00 p.m.
The total distance of 1821 kms driven over 8 days was a pleasurable experience. In milder weather, we would have enjoyed it much more.
I am looking forward to many more such trips soon.
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