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| Hidden away in the heights of Western Ghats
and the Blue Mountains, Kerala houses a number of enchanting hill
stations. Ranging from the cool plantations of tea and spices to the
dense wilderness, they bestow you with a choice of ambience too! Plan
your holiday vacations in a different world - embroidered with meandering
roads and trimmed with alluring rivulets and chilling springs - where
tranquility is a breathe of life. The mist-clad peaks of this unexplored,
and hence incredibly beautiful state, provide an ideal environment
for the cultivation of cardamom, cinnamon, tea, coffee, rubber and
pepper. |
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| While those mentioned in the end thrive on the lower slopes, cardamom
is cultivated at higher ranges under the dense and rich canopy of
the tropical rain forests. |
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With its sprawling tea plantations, photo-album towns,
winding lanes and various holiday facilities, Munnar is possibly the
most popular hill station in its fraternity. Tea is apparently Munnar's
claim to fame. If you have traveller's luck, you can even see 'Neelakurinji',
the exotic flower that bathes these hills in blue once in every twelve
years! The first runners up position definitely goes to Wayanad in
north Kerala, where the aborigines of the hills still live in a world
of pristine purity, untouched by hands of sophistication. The high
hills of Wayanad are visited for their scenic mist-clad beauty, spice
gardens, luxuriant forests and vivid cultural traditions. |
| Travel farther until you are touched by the cool air
and easy placidity of Vagamon, a sincerity in appeal that makes this
hilly terrain, the most beautiful hill station of Idukki. Apart from
verdant spice plantations, a silent monastery and luxurious resorts,
Vagamon has been made famous by a string of three hills, each dedicated
to a different religion, all of them coexisting peacefully. |
| The beaches of Kerala have nothing except
a dictionary of adjectives - alluring, enchanting, fascinating, mindblowing....
Bathed in the warmth, washed in the waves, the sands embalming the
spirit of time, the 597 km long shore line of Kerala is inseparably
linked with the land's history. Here you'll find the footprints of
ancient travellers and explorers on the sands of time. Visit the Kappad
beach, where Vasco da Gama, the pioneering Portuguese traveller landed
in 1498. On Kerala's beaches, you can bathe in the glory of the sun
or bask in the splendour of the sunset. |
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| Refresh yourself with a sip of tender coconut water
- a taste of nature's rejuvenating nectar. These sun-kissed beaches
- Varkala, Cherai, Cochin - which were once important trade and maritime
centres, now stand apart surrounded by high cliffs as a favourite
haunt of vacationers. Tourists can even indulge in a number of adventure
sports promoted by Kerala Tourism, to add some adrenaline to their
holiday vacations. |
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The one experience you must not bypass while in Kerala
is a night on a 'Kettuvallam' (traditional houseboats), your holiday
home in the tranquil backwaters of this palm-fringed state. Developed
in a time when railways were unknown and roads expensive to built,
the traditional boats used to be the main inland transportation with
the prime purpose of ferrying paddy harvest. Today they include air
conditioned rooms, magnificent itinerary and a chef to pamper you
with the full range of delicious Kerala cuisine. And the backwaters,
that flow with a constant rhythm like an unspoken silence dominating
the gap between first-time daters, surely gift every tourist an exquisite
holiday. |
| The Chinese fishing nets cast across their
banks are indeed a splendid sight. With your wish, you can even get
a chance to meet the villagers and get to know their lifestyle. Egrets,
herons, darters, storks, elephants and men, all crowd together to
say you good bye as you glide silently by the visions of life in the
rural niches nestling on the banks. While on a holiday trip to Kerala,
you might even get a chance to witness the Great Snake Boat Races.
The 50 m long wooden 'chandanvallams' or snake boats, each powered
by over 100 oarsmen, attract the star attention as they slice through
the waters - revived by songs and war cries - cheered by thousands
of spectators lining the banks. |
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