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Day 7: Kovalam to Thiruvananthapuram to Home...

Ziva was back to normal during the night. That was a big relief for all of us. We paid Tempo traveller's driver and bid farewell to him. We had a big task of packing all the luggage and ten kilos of spices (bought from Thekkady). Somehow we managed to distribute our luggage in different bags.

Our flight back to Ahmedabad was at 1030 from Thiruvananthapuram Airport. We arranged an Innova for Airport drop and left Neelakant Resort at 0945.

Goodbye Kovalam.


We boarded our flight at 1000. Thiruvananthapuram to Ahmedabad flight was eventless with two hour's layover at Mumbai.

Mumbai


Goodbye from Ziva.


Golden beaches, emerald backwaters, lofty mountain ranges, powerful art forms... the choices are many and so are the wonders that await you in Kerala.

Above statement is true.

We visited Mountains, backwaters, Jungles, Lakes, Beaches & witnessed an event which happens once in a twelve year.

We enjoyed Kerala. Most Importantly Ziva and parents enjoyed the trip at the fullest.

THANK YOU

Brilliant Travelogue SJM1214. Thanks for sharing. In spite of being from Kerala, seeing through the eyes of someone else always leaves a warm and fuzzy feeling each time. As you mentioned the floods were terrible, but the state seems to have got back on its feet in a quick time. Remember seeing an ad 'Kerala is Open' (I think it was from Samsonite). Your travelogue shows that Kerala is truly open again. :)

Nice travelogue & photos !:thumbs up Good that rain didn't play much of a spoilsport during your trip.

Not sure if you had enough time during the itinerary as it's a package, maybe if time permitted you could've included the "Padmanabha Swamy temple" at Thiruvanantapuram - for a glimpse of the architecture and being to the richest temple in India! ;-) And the new/partially opened Jatayu theme park at nearby Kollam as well !

Well written with excellent snaps. You did a whirlwind trip covering many of Kerala's tourist destinations.

Don't feel to bad about missing Top Station, you may end up with not even a glimpse of the valley on a cloudy day after reaching there. Moreover, the route is best avoided in the late evenings for lot of wild elephant movements. And missing few places gives you and your little one to come a second time.

Neelakurinji is thicker in another area of Munnar called Kolukkumalai this season. It was thick around Eravikulam area during the earlier seasons and the tourism brochures will be carrying pictures and reports from the season and hence the expectation mismatch.

Nice tour, your daughter is super cute. Albeit a few health issues, you have covered so much in a 5 day trip. Looks like the weather at Rajamala was great.

Thanks, Rajeevraj. Yes, Kerala is open now.

Thanks, KrisTvpm
Padmanabha Temple and some other sights at Thiruvananthapuram was in my mind from a long time. However, we didn't get any flight to Ahmedabad in the second half of the day. Thus, we had to skip Thiruvananthapuram sights.

Thanks, gadadhar.
Yes, we"ll sure come back to Kerala.

Thanks, Thermodynamics.
True that. We covered almost all the major tourist attraction in five days. However, this is not my style of travel. We"ll surely come back.

Very interesting travelogue and you did a quick tour of Kerala. There are many more places to visit, so next trip plan to drive your Brezza on a two week trip. On the way you can explore the Konkan coast, Goa, Mangalore and brave the thick traffic of the North Kerala roads, around Kozhikode. There are several beautiful beaches on the way, especially Bekal fort and beach (remember the movie Mumbai).
Visit Kerala again in a more leisurely manner, since you have seen all the top tourist spots.

Thanks, SajiNSalin.

Yeah, that's a good idea. I was thinking for a western ghat drive from a long time. Including North Kerala in it is an interesting suggestion.

That is such a lovely travelogue. You did full justice to God's own Country. While reading, I could almost see Kerala from little Ziva's eyes. She had fun, didn't she?

I'm planning a trip to Kerala (Munnar and Allapey. Any driving or travel tips, from your recent experience, are more than welcome) this December. I will be self driving down from Mumbai. If I go by Ziva's pictures, my 5 year old brat is going to have a fantastic time

Thanks for writing this one.

Cheers

Thanks, pet_apf.

Munnar to Alleppey is more than 170kms. Gmap says it"ll take 5 hours but in reality it"ll take more than 7 hours. If you want to enjoy Alleppey backwaters at the fullest, try reaching to Alleppey before 1100 or 1200.