As per the last year’s pact (Reunion at some place once in a year), we (school friends) made a wonderful 4 days trip to Kerala last week. Without any further ado, I straight away pen down my experience in Kerala. Initially we planned this trip with seven people in mind. But finally, only 4 (myself, Vetri, punch and mark) made the trip. On 24th March evening, we all headed towards Kerala through Allepey express.
Day1:
The first day started off nicely with the intro of railway police. Before reaching Allepey station, we were caught by RPF for playing cards in the train. I thought they will give warning and leave us. It happened previously to me while travelling to Madhurai. There were three police and they initially warned us and casually started conversation about our plans for four days. They were having all our identification cards too. Suddenly, one police opened his bag and started turning charge sheets to book case against us and asked us to come to court next day to pay penalty. We argued and pleaded a lot. Finally he made a call to another police officer and asked us to pay spot fine (around 500Rs) to that officer who will wait for us near S2 coach. And surprisingly, he handed over all our ID card back to us. Then we all packed our things and slowly moved further to S10 coach and escaped hastily to the entrance. Interestingly, a police officer in pitiable condition waited for us near S2 coach.
So after fun filled thrilling escape sequence, Tini (Vetri’s Friend) embraced us and took us to the house boat. He also arranged us a car to reach other spots for rest of the days. House boat experience is new to me and enjoyed to the core. This is the must go place in Kerala and a good Honeymoon spot. Even I reserved one for mine. Boats are little expensive but definitely worth every penny. We boarded the boat around 11.30 AM. Had welcome drink, relaxed a bit, had photo session, drank toddy for first time, swam in backwaters, had delicious lunch, enjoyed the sceneries and reached the destination around 6.30 PM. After this we went to beach and then to hotel to take rest.
Day2:
Our car reached the hotel around 6.30 AM. Binu (Driver) who belongs to our age group gave us good company for all three days. Second day we headed to Munnar. On the way, we had traditionally Kozha puttu. Climate in Kerala is almost like Chennai. But Munnar welcomed us by bringing down rain. Our second day was disappointing since main spots (Rajamalai and Anaimudi) in Munnar were closed. Then we went to Top station which was full of mist and later started searching room to stay.
Day3:
After taking enough rest, we started to explore Munnar again. On the way we found one cave and briskly entered in. Due to shortage of light, we came back and moved to Kolukkumalai. If you go to Munnar, do not miss the chance to see Kolukkumalai. Only jeeps can take you there. We hired one jeep for 700Rs and started off our journey around 1 PM. After travelling 10 minutes, we saw breath taking view of mountains with green carpet on it and bumpy road ahead us. That was a thrilling journey for us. Jeep crawled on narrow, steepy, bumpy path. Even a small mistake will take you to heaven/ hell. This is definitely not a good place for piles complaint people. The whole Asteraceae and Fabaceae family will beckon you to stop the jeep and savor the natural beauty. I felt like, I was in heaven and took some eye catching snaps. On the middle of our journey, jeep’s front suspension plate got damaged and we stuck in the middle of the tea estate. After an hour of repair session, we started to climb down with faulty plates. To reduce the suspension tension, jeep’s cleaner bravely sat on the bumper and travelled all the way to basement. This is really a unforgettable spot in my life. After getting down, we headed towards Chalakudi (20Kms from Athirapally falls) and stayed there for rest.
Day 4: The final day
Our final day was best of all the days. We started to Athirapally around 9 AM from Chalakudi. The travelling from Chalakudi to Athirapally was ultimate fun. On the way, we pelted stones to knock down mangoes, scratched rubber tree to see the milk flowing, tried to get into the water canal and many more. Then we reached Athirapally around 11.30 AM. We took bath there for 2 hours and climbed down to see the breath taking front view of grand Athirapally falls. We were awestruck by its majestic look and clicked my camera shutter for a while to arrest its beauty in my memory stick. After spending considerable amount of time there, we went to vazhachal falls (2 KMs from Athirapally). This is also equally good in its unique style. The whole day we enjoyed in water and around 4.30 PM we moved from there to Chalakudi railway station to catch our Chennai train.
This is the end of our yet another lovely memorable trip. And through this post, I want to thank Mr. Baji (Vijay) and Mr. Bai (Arafath) for their contribution for house boat expenses. Though they didn’t make it to the trip, I appreciate their contribution for their beloved friends. I hope, next year we shall go for international trip with full strength. I am eagerly waiting for that moment.
