St Francis Church, Kochi

Date: 5th April 2017

Visitors: Arun and Shilpi

Timing: 7:00 AM to 6:30 PM

Fee: None

It was too hot so everyone decided to skip this place. Only Shilpi and I went to see the church. St Francis Church is the oldest European church in India. Church build in 1503 is the final resting place of Vasco-Da-Gama, however later it was moved to Lisbon. The church is built in typical Portuguese style. This was the only catholic church not destroyed by the dutch when they captured Kochi. This church is one of the protected monuments in India.

Few pics from the place.

Impressive frontage of the east facing church.

Tomb of Vasco-Da-Gama.

Chinese fishing net was on the list of things to see in our package. This is the fishing net. Not sure about the specialty of this. This is close to the church.

One another place to see in Kochi.

Indian Naval Maritime Museum, Kochi

Date: 5th April 2017

Visitors: Arun, Shilpi, Harsh, Muthusamy, Vijayalakshmi and Sneha

Timings: 10 AM - 1:30 PM, 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM. last ticket will be issued at 1:15 and 5:15. Closed on Monday

Fee: Adult Rs 40, Child Rs 20, Camera Rs 100, Audio guide Rs 30

Our first stop in Cochin was at Indian Naval maritime museum. We reached at 12:15 and it was too hot. We saw the outdoor exhibits first and then went inside. The place is very well maintained and very interesting for harsh. He was running around seeing the big equipment's. There is also a special movie about Indian navy's role in world war which we skipped. We spent 45 minutes there are left the museum. Few more places were listed in our places like palace and marine walk but we skipped all those as it was extremely hot.

Few pics from the place.

Fly plane predictor system MARK-5

AK 230, Anti aircraft gun

 Torpedo MK 44

Muzzle loading canon.

Few three dimensional images.

Vasco-da-gama.

Compass.

Arm badges of the officers.

Rocket launcher RBU 2500

Selfie at the entrance.

One of the must visit places in kochi not only for kids but also for adults.

Alleppey Beach

Date: 5th April 2017

Visitors: Arun, Shilpi, Harsh, Muthusamy, Vijayalakshmi and Sneha

After coming back from the houseboat we went to the beach in alleppey. We reached at 9:30 AM and there was not many people. The beach was so clean, so far this is the cleanest beach that we have seen. Harsh played in water and had nice fun. Slowly people started coming but not much. If this beach would have been bit closer to Bangalore we would have visited very often. We were there for half hour. Harsh got wet completely and i was half drenched. He changed cloth but i did not have that flexibility. We left for kochi from the beach. There is also Vijay beach park also called amaze park in same place.

Few pics from the beach.

Cleanest beach that we have seen.

Getting ready to play.

Fun in sun.

Everyone played for a while except shilpi :).

Cotton candy in beach.

One of the best beaches and a must visit one in alleppey.

Houseboat, Alleppey

Date: 4th April 2017 - 5th April 2017

Travelers: Arun, Shilpi, Harsh, Muthusamy, Vijayalakshmi and Sneha

Timing: 12 Noon on day 1 to 9 AM day 2.

Fee: Covered as part of package.

Boat name: Pickadly classic legend.

Day 5 of our Kerala trip was to famed houseboat stay in Alleppey. Alappuzha is famous for the house boats in the backwaters. We reached Alappuzha around 11:30 and the boat was ready to pick us. We boarded the boat and the journey started around 12 noon. The houseboats will be driven till 5:30 PM or 6 and then anchored in a place. The boat will be stationed will next day 7:30 and the boat will start and drop the people around 9 AM next day. The ride was a memorable one. Though it was noon the wind was cool. We spent time watching the birds and trees around. We stopped for lunch near a farm. The simple lunch was tasty and filling. I slept for a while on the deck. Harsh kept running around and kept himself busy. The snack and tea was ready at 5 PM. The boat was anchored at 6 PM. This is when the trouble started. It was too humid and we started sweating like crazy. The AC will be turned on only from 9 PM. Please check with with your boat operator and get the AC from before even if you need to pay extra. We strolled around the area for some time and came back to the boat. We had dinner at 8 PM. The AC was switched on around 8:45 and the last 2 hours was the worst and it was a huge relief when the AC was on. The take the power and cable connection from the house in front. Not sure if it was all legal or just an understanding with the owners. All the pickadly boats were parked in one section and other boats next. Looks like it was all designated spot and they park always there. The water in the shower was not fast enough and the water was too salty. I guess the backwater is just loaded in the boat containers. It was bit tough to take bath as the water pressure was too slow in the shower. The breakfast was served at 7:30 and the boat started. We reached the parking again at 9 AM. Gopi was ready to pick us up.

Few pics from the trip.

Group pic.

Another houseboat wandering in the backwaters of Alleppey.

Mobile ice cream shop.

Lunch time.

Watching other boats and birds.

Selfie time.

Banana farm near which we had parked for lunch.

Another boat selling snacks to the kids.

Yummy fries is all we need.

Fishing.

Harsh had nice time playing.

Boat transport.

Watching TV in the evening.

Cozy bed in the room.

All set to return.

Harsh riding the boat back to the shore.

A different experience and we enjoyed it a lot except for that AC part.

Kalaripayattu and Kathakali in Thekkady

Date: 3rd April 2017

Visitors: Arun, Shilpi, Harsh, Muthusamy, Vijayalakshmi and Sneha

Timing: Kalaripayattu - 6PM to 7PM and Kathakali 7PM - 8PM

Fee: 200 Rs each. Children Free.

After finishing the elephant ride we were going to the hotel to check in. We were asked if   we are interested in watching kalaripayattu and kathakali. Also since there was nothing much to do in thekaddy after the boating we decided to see this. Shilpi and I wanted to see kalaripayattu and my parents wanted to see kathakali so we booked tickets for both. We were glad we booked for 6PM show as the 3:30 PM boating got over at 5 and it took 40 minutes to come back to the town from the periyar wildlife sanctuary. The kalaripayattu show was good. The martial arts performance was done by kadathanadan group. It was a nice performance by the group. There are four more places in thekkady where these performance happens so you can check it and book. Gopi took us here and we did not know much so we just booked it. There were plenty of seats left and you get a good view from everywhere. The same was with kathakali. We were told if we book it soon we will get front row with good view and they were right. We got front row seating for kathakali but later we realized we did not want first row. It was too loud and bright at front. The place was just 10% filled up and lot of space behind. The artists performing kathakali had put nice effort and the show was good. I would prefer back seat if at all i go next time. These are some learning from the package tours.

Few pics from the performance.

The grandmaster's son put up a cute show.

Only option left in thekkady to spend evening. After the show take a walk along the kumily-thekkady road. There are plenty of spices shop near the thekkady circle and can shop for different spices and home made chocolates.

Boating at Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Thekkady

Date: 3rd April 2017

Visitors: Arun, Shilpi, Harsh, Muthusamy, Vijayalakshmi and Sneha

Timings: 7:30AM, 9:30 AM, 11:15AM, 1:45PM, 3:30PM.

Fee: Adult - 225, Child - 75, Camera 38.

Boating at periyar wildlife sanctuary is the in attraction in Thekkady. We have been advised to book for boating before we reach there as it will be crowded and its hard to get tickets. I tried to book ticket and it was not a user friendly page so i thought i will book it in counter. When we were at dream catcher resort on day one Gopi again asked us if we have booked for boating. I said no and he said please book through your mobile it will be crowded. Now that we have been asked twice we decided to book. There was no airtel signal in dream catcher resort in munnar. The receptionist at the resort allowed us to use their system and we managed to book the ticket. After payment we got an error message but got a mail saying payment success. We reached thekkady on 3rd and finished our elephant ride in morning. We checked into silver crest resort, thekkady and went to the information counter of wild life sanctuary near the hotel. Private vehicles are not allowed inside the forest unless you are staying in forest resort. We took the sanctuary bus and went inside the forest area. When we reached it was absolutely free and we were third in line to get the ticket. We showed our reservation and they said our ticket is not confirmed and asked us to take fresh tickets. They gave us a number to contact for refund. Same happened for the person standing before and after us. We paid and booked ticket without any hassle. Our timing was 3:30 and there was an hour to kill. We sat there under the tree and was resting for a while. At 3:30 we boarded our boat and the person who wrote the seat number mixed it up with another group and there was confusion for a while. However all three boats slotted for 3:30 had few seats vacant so people adjusted and our trip started. We saw plenty of birds and wild boar, lot of sambar deer a turtle. Highlight was the big animals the elephant and the bison. The two guides on the boat told the name of most birds. They had the experience to spot the animals. It was one and half hour ride and it was totally worth it. We had nice fun watching the animals.

Few pics from periyar wildlife sanctuary boating.

Harsh in front of state animals of India stone. Very less water in the river and it was so painful to see the drying river.

Picture says it all. Monkey quenching its thirst.

Sambar deer.

One of my favorite picture. Both the deer and the elephant in single frame.

Few birds by the river.

Deers playing in water.

Indian guar grazing.

A must visit place in Kerala and anyone interested in wildlife should not miss this.