[shikha_roy]

There’s something about Kerala which always fascinates me. From the tea estates in Munnar to beautiful beaches in Varkala, from the backwaters in Alleppey to the beautiful European lanes of Fort Kochi, it surprises every traveler. I have been visiting different locations in Kerala for past many years and every time I come back asking for more. Being a foodie, I can’t resist their sea food delicacies however the vegetarian spread is as elaborate and finger licking good.

The week before Christmas seemed an ideal time to spend in Fort Kochi, to get the Christmas vibe. Just when I was planning a short trip to Fort Kochi, a friend from Chennai called saying she is in Kasargod these days. And phew, my route changed. Decided to spend a day with her and head to Fort Kochi.

The route I took:

Bangalore – Mysore – Virajpet - Kasargod – Calicut –Fort Kochi – Palakkad – Coimbatore – Hosur – Bangalore



Started from Whitefield, Bangalore around 5.30am and reached Pilicode, Kasargod around 2.30pm. NICE Road to Maddur is a breeze now with the new Bangalore-Mysore expressway, post which it takes you through the Mandya city. Until Srirangapatna there are multiple diversions, post which until Mysore its again 6-lane. Had breakfast at Mysore and headed towards Virajpet. Roads are average to good until Virajpet passing through Nagarhole National Park and Brahmagiri National Park. Though its complete single lane passing through forest and ghats, it is quite manageable – no hair pin, no steep curves. Post Virajpet road conditions deteriorate drastically with potholes all over for the entire forest stretch. Multiple turns and slopes make it an interesting drive, however be careful of the interstate buses. They always seem to be on some mission. Low GC cars be careful, maintain low speed to avoid deep potholes at turns.

Bangalore-Mysore Expressway:


Nagarhole National Park:






At Makutta Check Post:


Post Iritty until Kasargod is smooth stretch. Was looking for a place for lunch when I spotted Kareem's in Taliparamba. All excited to see this chain in such a far away place, I pulled over immediately. When speaking to the owner, I realised this restaurant has no connection with the original one, however the food was really good. Started my Kerala trip with Malabar Biryani. Good portion, reasonably priced and good service.





Grey Goose with the winning team:


Somewhere on Highway:


I stayed at my friend’s place which was 3kms far from Mavilakadappuram Beach. It’s a beautiful abode amidst forest, away from the city hustle and bustle. Tall coconut trees and lush greenery all around with numerous birds chirping all day, peacocks walking around.

Approach way to friend's place:


Friend's farmhouse:




Went for an early morning walk along countryside. Such a nice refreshing feeling to walk along the narrow lanes with no honks, no traffic and beautiful greenery all around.









The next morning visited the Bekal Fort around 25kms away. Its the largest fort in Kerala, built in 1650AD. The fort is well maintained with sufficient parking space and is a good place to visit for anyone around that area. Though its in the shape of a giant keyhole, you don’t get the view from land, a drone shot should help though. However, the view of ocean all around from the top of the fort is worth the climb. The weather was hot but not sultry and we spent a good 2-3hours around the place. There are multiple holes in the outer wall of the fort that were used to protect the fort from naval attacks.
This fort gained popularity after the famous song, Tu Hi Re from the movie Bombay was shot here.












Holes on exterior walls for firing on enemy:


We drove to Viceroy restaurant for lunch where I gorged on Fish Biryani (recommended by fellow BHPian @arun_josie) along with Fish Fry. My friend ordered Rice with Fish curry and all dishes tasted good. Price was reasonable and the fresh catch were yummy, though the fish fry was quite spicy for my tastebud.







Spent the evening lazing around the Mavilakadappuram beach, watching sunset. We enjoyed a private sunset show on a clean beach, the only source of sound were the waves crashing on the shore.







Had a nice home cooked dinner, chatting away till late night sitting on terrace enjoying the cool breeze among the coconut trees all around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnorApJLmTc

[shikha_roy]

Next morning, after a last chat session with my friend over a kadak chai, I left for Kochi around 7am. The drive was on NH66 for the major distance. Till Kannur it was 4/6 lane highway with multiple diversions, post which the roads go through city traffic and you are forced to slow down. Still considering it was a weekday, traffic was manageable. Road conditions are good but you must be patient when you are crossing towns. Took lunch break at Calicut, clicked some photographs from the bridges enroute and proceeded.

Near Thalassery:






Lunch at Calicut:




Calicut - Kochi Highway:


Post Calicut, got off the NH66 and opted for the coastal route. After approx. 100kms, you again merge with NH66. Since I opted for the coastal route, I could see water bodies almost throughout the stretch till Kochi.





The stretch from Kozhikode till Kochi was a nightmare. Honestly, this stretch of 200kms was one of the most stressful drives I have done in recent years. Took over 6hours to reach Kochi. Horrible traffic, speeding buses and too much crowd. The day was a true test of my patience. I would strictly advise people not to take the coastal route unless its absolutely necessary. Although the other route via Thrissur (if you continue on NH66) showed a similar time so am wondering if the situation would have been any different. You can take breaks at multiple food outlets throughout the stretch starting from Kannur till Kochi.

I had my hotel booked in Kakkanad, (Royal Residency by Whitestone Suites) assuming it safe to be in city centre but it turned out to be a wrong decision. The hotel was 2kms away from Infopark and when I entered the city around 6-6.30pm, the roads were buzzing with office traffic. Christmas round the corner, it was mad traffic altogether. It took 1.5hours to cover 5kms but finally I made it.



The next morning, I proceeded to Fort Kochi, the one place which is very close to my heart. This is my Nth trip to Fort Kochi but I can never have enough of it. This time I decided not to stay in a hotel but a Homestay. Hence did not make any advance bookings. Drove straight to Princes Street in Fort Kochi, parked my car and checked out few homestays around. Found one decent one just next to Jetty Restaurant at the start of Princess Street. The next 2 days were spent exploring places in Fort Kochi with some amazing food. Fort Kochi has some of the best cafes compared to any other city. Started my day with breakfast in Kashi Art Café on Burgher (yes! That’s the name) Street.







Kashi Art Cafe:




Breakfast scene:


Anyone for John Abraham Omelette?

[shikha_roy]

Fort Kochi has a bundle of interesting places for visitors. Below are some of the places I explored this time:

Indian Naval Maritime Museum:

Located on the INS Dronacharya, the history and evolution of our naval forces is on full display here. You can spend hours exploring the journey of Indian Navy right from the Indus Valley Civilization, the trade links between Kerala and Arabs, the arrival of Vasco Da Gama, the famous maritime hero Kunjali Marakkar.

A complete section is dedicated to stories of Indian Navy's glory, whenever it took on its aggressors and ultimately won almost all the battles on water. A number of operations and battles are comprehended here, a few of which include the Goa liberation, Junaghad operation, Operation Cactus and the tactical drills during the Kargil war. The garden has on display huge missiles, radars, depth charges, mines, guns used in warships.





























































Pictures continued on next post

[shikha_roy]

Some more pics from the Naval Museum:



















Baston Bungalow:

History (Courtesy: Google):
The Portuguese built Fort Immanuel during the early decades of the 16th century. When the Dutch captured Kochi in 1663, they started destroying the fort and reduced it to almost one third its size. Originally, the fort had seven bastions. Of these, the Stormberg bastion was later converted to the Bastion Bungalow.
It’s a beautiful circular structure built in Indo-European style architecture with tiled roof and a huge verandah overlooking the ocean.













Mattancherry Palace:

Popularly known as the Dutch Palace, this Palace was built and gifted by the Portuguese as a present to the king of Cochin around 1545.















Vasco House:

Vasco House is believed to be the house where Vasco Da Gama stayed until his death in 1524. The house was built in the Portuguese style of architecture with large glass-paned windows opening towards St. Francis Church. It is converted to a Homestay now.





Jewish Synagogue:

The Jews who fled their homeland - Israel during the Diaspora embraced Fort Kochi as their second home. Jewish Synagogue is situated at the end of the Jew Street in the Jew Town enclave of Mattancherry. The Mattancherry Palace Temple and the Mattancherry synagogue share a common wall. This synagogue at Mattancherry is the oldest one in the Commonwealth of Nations. As soon you step inside the Synagogue, the colorful glass chandeliers of Belgian origin and blue willow-patterned Chinese floor tiles catch your attention.

[shikha_roy]

Jewish Art Gallery:

Just outside Jew Street, you find an Art Gallery, an old Jewish bungalow converted to art Gallery. It’s a small building with no major signboards, so quite easy to miss. However, it has some amazing pictures and paintings. Some samples below.

The entrance:










Who can believe that it's a painting!








On the Jew Street, came across a cute gift shop with a coffee shop at the end. Had an amazing Coffee admiring the artifacts, complete with the Christmas decoration.

Jew Street:


Coffee Shop:




Fish Fry and French fries for lunch at Qissa Cafe:




The evening went in walking around the Princess Street, visiting few churches to experience the Christmas vibe. The decoration, the carols, the toddlers and kindergarten kids participating in poem recitation, watching Santa Claus distribute gifts to all participants made me so nostalgic reminding me of my own school days. How we looked forward to the Christmas celebration in school waiting for gifts from Santa, all the while wondering which teacher is dressed as Santa this year. Memories of school days are the most cherished ones!

Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica Church:


















Ended my day with one of the most amazing Burgers I had at Loafers Corner cafe at the end of Princess Street. This cafe on 1st floor has a cute decor with an old world charm with small windows overlooking the street. Have bookmarked this name and will make sure to visit again on my next trip. Once again, the burger was really amazing, nothing like what I have had in many years.

[shikha_roy]

The next morning, went for an early morning walk in Fort Kochi. I love the feel of the old European buildings with the huge French windows and the colorful walls. Strolled around, clicking pics, sipping tea and just enjoying the vibe. Just opposite to my homestay were Chinese Fishing nets, the trademark of Fort Kochi. Waited for the fishermen to lower the nets for fishing. Its amazing to see the functionality of these fishing nets, the fresh catch being sold right there. How lucky are the people staying in coastal places to get such fresh catch every day.

Early morning vibe:




Chinese Fishing Nets:












Post breakfast headed to Willingdon Island, the largest artificial island in India, and spent the day at the Taj Malabar inside Cochin Port Trust. Their Christmas decoration, the music, the lighting was just too beautiful. Went for a drive around the Port Trust in noon, to spot some huge containers, oil tankers and ships parked along the port.





Taj Malabar:
















A drive around the Port Trust:






Hotel Seagull in Fort Kochi - My husband and I had visited this place for the first time in 2011. We absolutely loved the vibe of sitting on deck with evening snacks and drinks seeing the ships and containers pass in front of us and water flowing beneath us. Made an impromptu plan over dinner to revisit this place and came for a late night drive. The view and the vibe are still the same, though water near the restaurant has turned dirty. Nevertheless, sitting on the same deck after over a decade and enjoying the same view for couple of hours was worth the drive back from Willingdon Island.

[shikha_roy]

Started my return journey for Bangalore via Palakkad, Coimbatore.
The entire NH544 is mix of 4lane and 6 lane until Salem where you get on NH44.

Decided to pay a visit to Isha Foundation which is around 30kms away from Coimbatore city.



This was my second visit to Isha foundation and the 112ft face of Lord Shiva thrilled me once more. The foundation is located in a huge open area with the Velliangiri mountains in the backdrop. This has been recognized by the Guinness World Records as "The world’s largest bust sculpture” verified in 2017. If you are bringing along elderly people, please note that the parking is pretty far and dusty. However, once you reach the bust, you can opt for bullock carts to take you further inside the campus.
There are meditation centers, temple, canteen inside the campus and they also have accommodation facilities.



















I spent couple of hours and started my return journey. However, when starting from there, I entered my next location as Salem which was a mistake. Google maps brought me through the entire Coimbatore town and market area and landed me further ahead on NH544 towards Salem. It would be advisable to enter Coimbatore instead.
By the time I reached the highway and finished lunch it was nearing sunset, also I was pretty tired with all the walking around in sun at Isha. Also, I had made couple of stops in the morning for breakfast, diesel and some spice shopping near Palakkad. Since I was aware of the heavy truck traffic between Salem and Hosur on the ghat section, I decided to stop over somewhere on highway and head for Bangalore the next day. Found Saravana Bhawan Classic, about 30kms before Salem on the highway. Clean spacious rooms, with ample parking and restaurant on ground floor. Had dinner at the restaurant and retired.

Dinner at Saravana Bhavan:


Next morning left around 5am, enjoyed some beautiful sunrise when driving through Krishnagiri and reached Whitefield around 10.30am.

A beautiful church in Puthukkad on the way:


And finally, am back home all refreshed and gearing up for my next drive before summer sets in.

Total Trip distance: 1440kms
Total Toll: ₹ 1057

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[ajayc123]

Nice pics. Especially impressed by the pic of the sculpture at the jewish museum.

And still can't figure out the connection between Vasco de Gama and the Gujarati pilot in another picture.

[Dr.AD]

Solo drives are always interesting and inspirational, and this one is no exception. A very good travelogue covering a lot of different aspects of the places visited. Thank you for sharing.

Leaving aside the places visited, just the driving part through this scenic region (apart from the crazy traffic on NH66) must have been a great fun. Your Jeep Compass is a great car for such drives, and looks at home on all sorts of terrains. It is nice to see you putting the Compass to such good use and doing such long drives. Inspirational stuff for sure. Thanks again for sharing.

Originally Posted by shikha_roy

Bangalore – Mysore – Virajpet - Kasargod – Calicut –Fort Kochi – Palakkad – Coimbatore – Hosur – Bangalore

Very nice driving circuit you chose! I guess you could have also visited "Muzhappilangad Drive In Beach", which was right on you way. Your Jeep Compass would have looked great on this beach, and you could have enjoyed driving on the sand there for sure. Or did you stop there and did I miss noticing this from your report?

[LordSharan]

The pics from Kashi Art Cafe remind me of my college days when it was worth a 50KM+ round trip just to have a cold coffee and snacks there. Glad to see it has kept it's glory, hope you had an amazing experience there. Cochin is close to heart since I spent 4 years studying there.

Beautiful travelogue, godspeed!

[anshu1101]

Beautiful narration and amazing pics Shikha.

Congratulations on an amazing solo drive. Truly inspirational. I was in awe when I had read the travelogue about your Bangalore to Spiti drive last year as well.

Keep driving, keep inspiring!

[rajesh1868]

Originally Posted by shikha_roy

Indian Naval Maritime Museum:

My hometown is about 5km from this place, but I have never visited it yet. I am seeing the pics for the first time. I will definitely visit next summer. Thanks a lot!

Originally Posted by ajayc123

And still can't figure out the connection between Vasco de Gama and the Gujarati pilot in another picture.

It is said that Kanji Malam, a Gujarati, helped Vasco da Gama find the Sea route to India

[batterylow]

Originally Posted by shikha_roy

Started my return journey for Bangalore via Palakkad, Coimbatore.
The entire NH544 is mix of 4lane and 6 lane until Salem where you get on NH44.

Decided to pay a visit to Isha Foundation which is around 30kms away from Coimbatore city.

Lovely pictures from the drive. Paragon under the CH fly over in Calicut is also worth a trip for the sea food and parotta's.

God's own country is a sight for sore eyes, but a pain in the neck for the driver.

The Isha Adi yogi complex has a laser show at 7:15 pm every day.

It is free to watch and is worth it.

Do make a trip in the evening the next time to give it a watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT4xJKtdaN0

[Suprit]

Excellent travelogue! Await your next one!