After getting out of the houseboat, we hit the road again. With a short trip to the nearby bird sanctuary, it took about 6 hours to get to the hotel in Trivandrum. The hotel had an attached beach opposite to my room which made for a very nice view. Went to the nearby Padmanabhaswamy temple. This temple does not allow people in unless you wear only a dhoti, so bought one and went in. The architecture is magnificent but there are plenty of touts pulling money off you for everything in God's name. Spent the evening until sundown in the hotel's private beach.
The next day, we travelled to Kanyakumari by road. It took 2 hours and Tamil Nadu is easily recognizable from Kerala, the roads get worse, crowded and dirtier, language change as well. On the way we visited the Padmanabha palace. Like the other palaces, this is also converted into a museum with artifacts from an old age. Maintained by Kerala itself, the entire place is well maintained and has many relics, sculptures, paintings and furniture from the time of its use. The weapons and other antiques are in a museum inside the palace itself.
In Kanyakumari itself, there are enough beaches to keep anyone busy. The Vivekananda memorial and the Tiruvalluvar statue near the sea are a nice watch. The nearby temple is also interesting and there is another temple further inside the land with a huge Hanuman statue, architecturally quite spectacular.The sunset on the tip is of course a sight to see. It was cloudy but not too much so we did manage to see it before we got to the hotel. The next day was spent in Trivadrum itself where ahost of museums and art galleries kept me busy in the day. There is a huge collection of Raja Ravi Varma's paintings along with the others in the art gallery and the museums highlight the entire history of the rulers in Kerala and the cultural impact. All of them located in the same area.
After this I started out to Calicut by train and took a bus from there to get closer to Nagarahole. Crossing the Vayyanad district in the early morinings is a real treat. Staying in the forest lodge though was not much fun. The rooms were bad, no light or water. There were deer all around but only 2 safaris were available. One in the morning and one in the evening for one hour each. The driver drove it like race car. Stayed there for 1 day instead of the 2 planned because of this. Managed to see gaurs, sambar, deer, mongoose and a few birds and saw elephants on the way out. The private lodges should be better and I heard the summer months have better plans for safaris but that is for another trip.
After getting out of the houseboat, we hit the road again. With a short trip to the nearby bird sanctuary, it took about 6 hours to get to the hotel in Trivandrum. The hotel had an attached beach opposite to my room which made for a very nice view. Went to the nearby Padmanabhaswamy temple. This temple does not allow people in unless you wear only a dhoti, so bought one and went in. The architecture is magnificent but there are plenty of touts pulling money off you for everything in God's name. Spent the evening until sundown in the hotel's private beach.
The next day, we travelled to Kanyakumari by road. It took 2 hours and Tamil Nadu is easily recognizable from Kerala, the roads get worse, crowded and dirtier, language change as well. On the way we visited the Padmanabha palace. Like the other palaces, this is also converted into a museum with artifacts from an old age. Maintained by Kerala itself, the entire place is well maintained and has many relics, sculptures, paintings and furniture from the time of its use. The weapons and other antiques are in a museum inside the palace itself.
In Kanyakumari itself, there are enough beaches to keep anyone busy. The Vivekananda memorial and the Tiruvalluvar statue near the sea are a nice watch. The nearby temple is also interesting and there is another temple further inside the land with a huge Hanuman statue, architecturally quite spectacular.The sunset on the tip is of course a sight to see. It was cloudy but not too much so we did manage to see it before we got to the hotel. The next day was spent in Trivadrum itself where ahost of museums and art galleries kept me busy in the day. There is a huge collection of Raja Ravi Varma's paintings along with the others in the art gallery and the museums highlight the entire history of the rulers in Kerala and the cultural impact. All of them located in the same area.
After this I started out to Calicut by train and took a bus from there to get closer to Nagarahole. Crossing the Vayyanad district in the early morinings is a real treat. Staying in the forest lodge though was not much fun. The rooms were bad, no light or water. There were deer all around but only 2 safaris were available. One in the morning and one in the evening for one hour each. The driver drove it like race car. Stayed there for 1 day instead of the 2 planned because of this. Managed to see gaurs, sambar, deer, mongoose and a few birds and saw elephants on the way out. The private lodges should be better and I heard the summer months have better plans for safaris but that is for another trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment