A trip to Sothern tip of India , Nagercoil and Kovalam

Planning

A lot of waiting came to an end. After a trip to Golden triangle of India and Wettest place on earth in 2019, the corona pandemic locked all of us at home for almost 2 years. There were so many new normal due to the pandemic. We planned a trip around Thanjavur in 2021 last quarter but it didn't take off. And this time all had fallen in place at first week of march 2022

As usual Yuvaraj did all the planning. We browsed through few places and finally decided to visit Kanyakumari, Nagercoil, Neyyar, Poovar etc. Yuvaraj just forwarded the link to Anatya resorts and I was so impressed with it. 

Getting ready

We didn't inform Arjun about the trip as he would become so excited and I just told him before a couple of days. This time we didn't needed shopping as we just need some usual clothes. The weather was hot while we were expecting rains in few places. However Nalini and Arjun are always comfortable in tropical climate. This time we packed swimsuits, umbrellas, caps and summer clothes. The plan is to start on 2nd march and spend five days

Travel

It by train this time. Luckily my ticket got auto-upgraded from Sleeper to 3rd AC for the first time.

2 March

I had a train to catch @ 5PM. I didn't take leave and worked from home.  I started working as early as 5AM to wrap up the day by 3PM. And we didn't do any kind of packing until that day. In between work I took an hour and a half break to do the packing. 

We booked Ola an reached Egmore railway station by ~4:30PM. We had enough time to board the train. The train started @5:20PM. I called Yuvaraj as he was in another compartment. He called me to his place to we spent some time together. I was very hesitant to leave the luggage behind strangers. But didn't mind after some time. 

We reached Yuva's compartment. Vishnu brought dinner for all of us. We had Kadupu idlies, Pudina chutney and Ragi puttu!!

The snore 

I didn't expect that night would become so memorable. I was very tired due to hectic schedule and planned to get some rest in the train. But that night I learnt how loud people can snore. Most of the guys around me were performing like an orchestra. I saw the guy near me trying different ways to make his ears sound proof. At last I got some sleep after 12 and we reach Kanyakumari at 6AM. I didn't expect a smaller and normal railway station for the famous coastal town in the south.

Ambassador ride

 While we were looking for autos to reach the hotel, surprisingly I got an Ambassador classic. It kindled me lot of childhood memories. The early morning sea breeze was so relaxing.  We stopped for tea in between and reached The Sparsa resort. The check-in time was 12 PM. Yuvaraj tried his best to negotiate with the receptionist to accomodate us as early as possible. But he didn't agree. We just dropped our luggage in the reception and moved out to see the beautiful see shore. The Thiruvalluvar statue was visible from the resort as it is near the sea shore. 

 

Sparsa Resort

 

The Garden, Sparsa resorts

We went for a walk and checked our some hotels for breakfast. We had breakfast in a small hotel near the sea shore. We spent some time in the sea shore and rushed back to the room to refresh ourself

 

The shore near the resort

As there was 2 hours for the check-in time we planned to drop the kids in the swimming pool. Sounded like a good idea to kill time. And the kids we so so excited about the pool. The kids had good time at the pool and we started the day out by ~11AM

Sparsa Reception

We reached the shopping place near Thiruvalluvar statue by auto. The Vivekananda rock memorial and Thiruvalluvar statue was visible from all the places here.

View of the statue

The Golden pineapple

We were tempted by the pine apples sold and we bought a full fruit and enjoyed. We were put through a state of shock when he asked 400Rs for the pine apple.He was not ready for a compromise and we paid 300! This is the costliest pineapple we had ever ate.

we strolled through the man made path with rocks which gave quiet a good view of the town from the sea.

The wind was so strong that we could hardly maintain our balance while walking. Nalini felt hard to walk on the path. We helped each other and reached the end. It was almost a km walk in the rocks.

Arjun holding the statue

Museum and fun

The wax museum

I did not expect a wax museum here. It was a small place but quite good for what we pay. A Statue of Vijay surprised me and looked quite real

Vijay was almost real

Captain Jack sparrow

 

AR Videos

We took tickets for AR ride. Even though we have seen this many times we tried it for the kids. And it was different indeed.

AR Videos

 

3D Paintings

They had a room full of 3D paintings which was very good to take pictures. Arjun has got a few!

 

The Ferry ride

The main attraction in Kanyakumari is Vivekananda Rock memorial and Thiruvalluvar statue. But in the morning the ferry ride was closed due to bad weather. The wind was too heavy and not suitable for the transport.

But luckily in the afternoon the weather showed us some mercy and the ferry ride resumed. We got the tickets and...  Here we go!

 

Boarding the ferry

 They gave us the life jackets. Since we all had sea sickness we couldn't enjoy the ride. We would surely not forget this ride as the wind was so strong and it threw us on the air very often. This was my first ride in a ferry and I should say it was adventurous. 

All set with the life jackets

 

The day was hot and sunny. We visited the Vivekananda rock memorial and saw the statue. Its a ~10 foot statue. The opposite building was like a temple which had the footprint of Swamy Vivekanandha.

Vivekanandha rock memorial

Memorial entrance

View from the Vivekandha rock memorial

We spent an hour around the memorial which had a book stall and a meditation hall. I bought a book at the stall. It was a moment to remember when Vinush brought a whistle to the meditation hall. The security staff was quick enough to grab it when he tried to blow it. And I burst out of laughter :) 

The Sun rise

The moment I  reached Kanyakumari i set  mind to watch sunrise at the watch tower. After all the place is famous for it. And we just stayed opposite to the watch tower. I Googled the sunrise time and woke up as early as possible the next morning

 

 I am big fan of early mornings. There is no way better to start a good day.

 I called up Nalini and Arjun and ask them to join me a bit late as they were so tired. I guide them from the top of the tower to reach the view point as the entire stretch was visible from the tower. I called up Arjun and waved up my hands from the tower. He was very excited to see me from such a long distance for the first time.

Nalini and Arjun

The beauty

 You have to climb the tower in circles as below.

Kanyakumari Bhagavadhi Amman

We started our day from Bhagavathi Amman temple which is also called Mookuthi Amman temple. I read a story that the British came by the ship and mistakenly understood the mookuthi as lighthouse. They stole the jewel and planned to gift the British queen. On the way the weight of the jewel increased causing the ship to wreck. Locals rescued the jewel and returned it to the temple and that's the Story. 

Kumari Amman temple

Thanumalayan temple

Our next place was Thanumalyan temple. We met a good tourist guide here who made the visit so memorable. We were bit hesitant to hire him but pretty much convinced. 

We were asked to remove our shirts to enter the temple premises. We later leanrt that this is the only temple where God Sivan and Perumal stays together. 

The guide also showed us the musical Rock pillars. You can just play sa re ga ma.. with it. We admired the artistic interest our ancestors had.

We also saw a 25 ft Hanuman statue which was quite realistic. I just stay there for 5 minutes admiring the beauty of the statue. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the temple which I appreciate a lot. 

 

Padmanabhapuram palace

 We visited Padmanabhapuram palace. A palace build before ~400 years. This  is the first palace I am visiting a palace in the south. The palace welcomed us with its royal entrance. We visited there at the lunch time when the place was closed for an hour. We used the time to finish our lunch and came back. 

There were entry tickets for camera phones too. I just bought one ticket for camera but didn't expect the police personnel would take it so seriously while we were checked for camera tickets in multiple places.  That's the beauty in Kerala! Rules are rules!

Entrance

 

The first thing impressed was this uniquely desinged lamp at the entrance. There were people in every room to explain about the customs of the building.

 

Most of the palace was built with wood except the floors and walls. Here is a look at one of the ceilings.

 

 

We climbed a stairs which was quite steep. And it has become a routine for us to remind our fitness levels when we climb stairs. :)

A view of entrance

 

The courtyard

The steps took us to a court room where the king used to discuss with town's representatives. You can see everything is made up of wood. The place was so cool even at the souring temperature outside. It is said that the floor was made up of a herbal mixture which also includes palm sugar. Surprising!

 

A view of garden from the first floor

 

 

 

These are the giant utensils used to cook food for the public. Almost 2000 people were served food here daily.

The Rooms

We saw the Kings bedroom, ladies dressing room and the guest room. The ladies dressing room was a long one which had two big mirrors on both sides of the room. 

While we almost reached this place the kids were loud enough to make the police officer warn us for causing nuisance. Arjun tried to play with one of the windows while we were not allowed to touch anything. I gave him few lectures while the police officer rushed to us and warned us again. He also warned Nalini for not wearing a mask!

Finally we saw the rooms for foreign guests which has very big doors and windows. The public roads were visible from here.

 

This was the place where we finally took some pictures and came out

Mathur Aqueduct

The next and final place of the day was Mathur Aqueduct which is built by kamarajar in 1960s. I never expected such a place in Tamilnadu. Its a bridge built to transport water from one hill to another which is a drought relief measure.

The entrace

We directly reached the top of the bridge and walked for few meters. You can see the canal carrying water on the side. People can walk across entire strectch of the bridge. Its bit scary to take the kids though. We quickly took some pictures and sent the kids and ladies back. Me and Yuvaraj walked upto half the distance and came back. We dont want become tired as we planned to take a dip at the river.

View of the river from the bridge

full view of the bridge

 

We also took a swim in the river. The kids really had a good time in the water. Nalini and Vishnu also tried fishing with duppatta. Yuvaraj and myself guided the kids in the water to take a bath

We spent the evening here and started to the way back to the room. Me and Nalini had a quick chat with an old man who had a tea shop near the river. That was a fantastic day to remember.

The Anantya resort

The sweetest thing in this trip is the stay in Anantya resort. I give 5 starts for this place. Be it the hospitality of the staffs, Food and the location. It was awesome. Its a huge property situated in the banks of a huge lake. We stayed 3 nights here. First day we took a room without a lake view. But still we enjoyed the stay very much.

The entrance was so modest. we drove through a path with lush green trees. The whole place was lit by yellow light which enhanced the beauty of the place 

 

We stayed few mins at the reception completing the check-in process. 

Reception

 

Fresh rooms and the linens gave us a warm welcome. The kids started playing and rode the bicycles 

 

It was dinner time and we were hungry. The restaurant is built near the pool area. the entrance to the restaurant was beautifully lit by yellow lights. The food was great and everything about the restaurant didn't fail to impress us.

Next morning

I woke up by 6 and made coffee for us. We left Arjun to sleep for a while and enjoyed the coffee outside the room having a good look around. 

We went for a walk and spend some time around the resort having a good look at the lake.

The exotic pool

One thing I loved the most in this resort was the swimming pool. It appears to be merged with the lake which blows our mind. The kids didn't have the patience to use the pool. But we convinced them only with a photograph as we have to move out for the day

Arjun, Yuthika and Vinush

A memorable picture

We had the complimentary breakfast which was great. The buffet served us puttu, kadalai curry, and few more south Indian breakfast.

Poovar boating

We started the day in Poovar boating. It was almost an hour drive from the resort. The guide explained us the course and we all shared a smile when he said actress Sunny Leone stayed in the place for an ad shoot

We were advised to order lunch before we started the trip. We went to the restaurants and orders some Chapathi's and fried rice.

We were given life jackets. And I fastened up the jackets for Nalini and Arjun. Although the weather was hot we didn't feel so as the place was so green and surrounded by water. The driver kept explaining about the history of the place. We learnt that the lake would be floating with flowers in the season. That's how the place got its name as "Poo + Aaru = Poovar"

 

We saw many water birds. Most often we saw the Neer kaakkai fishing under the water.

 

We were dropped at a beach named The golden beach. The sand was so bright and the place was so neat and clean. Just remembered how dirty we maintain our beaches. We had tender coconuts and pine apple. We very often talked about the 400 Rs pine apple we had in Kanyakumari.

 

This rock just looked like an elephant in the water.

 

These were resorts. Yuvaraj told me he also tried to book this place for stay. But somehow preferred anantya. This place looked good but I was worried about the safety of the kids. I clicked few pictures and moved around

 

The trip covered many types of places like beaches, mangrove forests, bridges and absolutely loved the cruise

 

 

The time we came back it was lunch time. There was also a floating restaurant which didn't seem to be interesting. We expected a lot for lunch and the food was below average. He also delayed us the food even we ordered two hours before. We told them our disappointment and moved away from the place.

Aazhimala Sivan temple

We then went to the recently built Aazhimala Sivan temple. A 58 foot tall statue of Lord Siva. The statue was quite different and looked great. The material seems to be so soft. The statue was in grey shades. The majestic statue on the sea shore was impressive. 

The place was very hot to stand due to the souring sun. We manage to take few pictures. 

Yuvaraj introduced this place to Yuthika  as a surprise. But he was surprised by her words "Appa idhu dhan surprise ah !!". She didn't expect a statue for a surprise :)

Thirparappu waterfalls

It was late afternoon and we rushed to Thirparappu waterfalls. We almost reached there by 5. The falls was not so intense and had a decent fall to make the dip enjoyable.

The kids were so excited. Its the first time for Nalini and Arjun in a waterfall. we changed to the swim suit as quickly as possible and I convinced Nalini to take a shower. 

We had a great time for an hour. We vacated the place as the police was clearing the place by 6:30. We came out and had tea. 

 

We reached the room by ~7 PM. This time there is change of room. We upgraded our room which has a lake view and a private waterfalls. Yes! a waterfall inside the room. We had dinner at the restaurant and crashed in the bed

Dinner

 

I woke up by 5:30 waiting for the sunrise. The room had a fabulous view in the morning. I sipped my coffee watching the sun rise from the room.

 

We had our breakfast in the resort and checked out some outdoor games in the lawn before we start our day.

Anandha Padmanabha Swamy Temple

We reached Anandha padmanabha swamy temple by ~11:30AM. We were informed to buy Dhoties and shalls as they wont allow you inside the temple in other outfits. We bought some Dhoties outside the temple and rushed inside. It was so hot at that time where we emptied a couple of water bottles at a single sip

 

We joined the Queue inside the temple. We didn't expect it would take so longer. we were told the queue will move forward every half an hour. But ours didn't move for an hour. The kids became restless and Yuvaraj also tried to have a quick check if there are any special entrances. 

 

After an hour the queue moved and we rushed to see the moolasthaanam. We saw the Anandhapadmanabar lying down. But we could hardly recognize the statue as it was very dark inside. We came out of the rush and relaxed outside for a minute. There were spots where you can see the Gopura kalasam from inside the temple. I showed it to Arjun and moved on.

Annadhanam

We decide to surely have annadhanam(food offered in the temple) here. They served us with brown rice, sambhar, Kappa poriyal and pickle. The plates were so neat and clean. And to our surprise they served hot water with jeera. After enjoying the food we were asked to wash the plates and return it back. 

we were also surprised to see the temple staffs checking the plates and he asks to clean it back if he finds it soiled.

Before leaving the temple

Kovalam

Our actual plan was to visit the city's zoo next. But the driver said it wont be as good as the chennai zoo. We decided to spice up the trip with some adventures. Yuvaraj checked out few places in Kovalam which was nearby. There were many adventures like scuba diving, snorkeling, speed boat and so on. 

we called them and inquired about the age limits and the course plan. Initially I didn't trust the quality of service here. But I changed my mind after the trip.

we reached their office and leaned about what they offer. We were particular whether kids can take the package. There were mixed responses from the team and finally we decided not to take the kids for scuba diving or snorkelling. the parasailing seemed to be a good try since it also covers the speed board experience.

Parasailing

We quickly reached the beach in 5 mins and saw the parachute in action there. We contacted the parasailing guy there and we spoke with the crew. The crew seemed to be very professional

 

We negotiated the charges. They charged us 2500 each for parasailing. They charged extra for camera. I just wondered why they charge for camera but later leaned that they provide a go-pro camera with us which could take better videos than the mobile.

Nalini wearing the life jacket

The crew

Seriously I didn't expect the crew would be so professional. They guided us very well. We took a small boat to reach the main speed board from where the parasailing is performed. It took two boats to take 8 of us including the cab driver.

 

And here we go. We reached the speed boat in a couple of mins. The boat sailed through the strong waves which was quite new for us. We started feeling the sea sickness. Once we reached the speed board Nalini vomitted and the crew member gave a good support morally and he continuosly educated us about travelling in the sea.

Getting ready for the sail

First fly

We were three people and only two can sail at a time. I paid extra for another trip and few with Nalini first and Arjun again.

And I should say I thoroughly enjoyed my first flight. It was not as scary as it sounded. Arjun also had a good time and he had a all time big smile on this face.

The crew member guided us to wear the harness and educated us about do's and dont's. He gave the go-pro camera to me and explained how to take videos efficiently. He made me tell my name and where I am from before I started sailing.

a

 

The view while flying was awesome. It can be only experienced and cant be shared with words. We enjoyed the beauty of the ocean and the shore. They also made us dip in the water twice. they ask you how much we want to dip. Like toes or hip level or full body. And they did it precisely! That shows their expertise. 

Finally after landing the crew made us record how we felt!. 

And our first experience of parasailing ended great. and it was a moment to remember. After we came out we had some parottas and prawns.

Kerala paratta, Chicken gravy and prawn masala

Last day

 We decided not to have any outdoor activity on the last day and to get some good rest in the resort.  I woke up by 6AM and made some coffee

We had coffee outside the room in the small hut which had a small lotus pond near by.

Arjun and kids got ready for the swim

That was a monday and there was nobody in the resort except the staffs. We had a good time in the pool.

There were many games available. We played basket ball for some time while Nalini took some picture of us.

 

The resort had this romantic swing on the lake shore. The couple on their honeymoon would have a great picture to remember. 

 

 

 

Checkout

The trip finally came to an end. We did the checkout process while the kids were playing with the electric auto rickshaw.

We had our train back to Chennai at 5:20 in the evening

It was as usual a great trip. Special thanks to our boss Yuvaraj, who planned this trip, did lot of customization and his family who accomodated us and make this so enjoyable.