Kovalam Beach

Finally got some time to visit the place which I already didn't like much at the first sight...

Yup...May be you people too wont like it if you are looking for a beach with lovely sand to walk on it with naked legs....

This isn't such a place....But beach is a beach....Huge waves...too much crowd....small coast length....Too many people playing around...Speed boating....and shopping market nearby....

You could no doubt spend atleast 3 hours hours around the place.....Talking about the water...very clean though silt obviously accompanied....

Make sure you stick hard to the sand when in water. The force to retreating waters,we experienced,was quite high. It might drag you in. Also the sand slope is uneven which might given a sudden steep fall at some place. But not too risky after all.If you are in Kerala in the wrong months i.e specifically March and April...This place also could do the healing when it comes to extreme heat.

So if its a few hours time to spare and you are unable to fin ways to other places...Just go to "east fort" and catch direct bus to Kovalam. The frequency of buses in damn high. The last bus leaving from Kovalam is at 7:30pm ...

A specific odd point to mention about the place is that the people around very pretty much cheap and not worth get into quarrel with. So make sure you ignore any such locals who come in your way to the beach...

Overall, you should go once here if you are in Kerala...atleast once....:D

Sunrise in Kanyakumari and Sunset at Kovalam...:D

Finally it eas the time to return....It was also the time to see few remaining monuments around kanyakumari...So we began before it was noon....

We hired a taxi from a nearby agency...The agency promised 5 venues to be covered...They were the suchindram temple,padmanabhuram palace,hanging bridge,the thiruparappu waterfall and kovalam beach-all en-route from kanyakumari to Trivandrum.

Would talk about each in partial detail now....

Suchindram temple- a 7 storey huge sculpture,temple of brahma,vishnu and mahesh.....It also contains a Hanuman idol which is 18ft long...crafted from a single stone...may be you could google out the photos online...

Talking about interiors it was very dark temple...full of stone sculptures all around...the entire outside sculpture is very nicely sculpted....so its a worth visiting stuff for people interested in archeology and historical monuments...:)

The palace, if we talk about, was not of much interest to our group specifically as it contained merely a museum of antiques and a partly broken palace...could be considered an attraction for the archeologists again...

It has got few shops near the entrance which contains good range of novelty and artistic items.You might find interest in buying them.

The next venue-hanging bridge.Not entirely disappointing but the name seems to hardly mean anything whem compared with reality. The first thing that comes to our mind hearing the term hanging bridge is a wooden bridge hanging on ropes and oscillating due to wind blows.But this was nothing as such.It was a walkway constructed on a series of pillars.The height of the bridge made it seems like a hanging bridge.The scenic beauty was just awesome.Greenary all around when you look far off.The view gives a feel of satisfaction...one cant stop from taking pictures here.There are fruits available on the way to bridge.You can have them...they're good.Not a trouble.
Would like to put one point off the mark-Branding of Modi has creeped into every indian it seems.Even a fruitseller here says Gujarat-ohhh modi ka state!!
Dats real marketing!! Hats off!!

The next place to visit-Thiruparrapu waterfall-if you dream of seeing water falling from a high hill in the midst of coniferous forests-just put a break.
It is an artificial fall.It is a waterfall from a hardly 25ft high reservoir. The people bathing in it make it seem worse.They dont even realize that the same water is being sucked in and dropped down on them.Advice fromy side-go to the place if you are with a group of fun loving people as you would anyhow make your visit worthwhile once you are there. :D

Now would like to end with a short review of Kovalam beach. A high tide beach-risky to go far inside.A pretty small beach when compared to Varkala beach which was a beauty. Would write in more detail about it during my next visit to it when we might actually try out the water....:D

So enjoy your journeys,be safe and keep exploring.

You can always mail your reviews and feedback on abk.edu@gmail.com

The Sunrise at Kanyakumari..

Day 2:
It was the time to watch sunrise after the beautiful sunset we just watched. The sunrise point is nearby the rock shore mentioned in the previous post but you could enjoy it better if you go to the rock lane mentioned in the earlier post. That would give you a clear vision. The waves during the sunrise is quite gushing in fast so be cautioned!!

We got to the spot at around 5:45am and found a place to sit. Make sure you take an unobstructed view of the sunrise...it increases the feel....I got to hear that usually the sunrise as well as sunset remains cloudy around here and visualized it during sunrise...

As it is visible, this is the pic taken at 6:10am. The sun is actually already out but the view is obstructed by the cloudy sky above it. The sun rise atmosphere and the gush of waves was no doubt a must experience event.

Once we got a view of bright sky with sun visible partially...We went on searching for breakfast and found a place to eat in Leaves...:D

Had idli and vada along with tea/coffee. If you are not a south indian,may be you might not find the place so good to have breakfast. But yes , the tea and coffee were good.

So here's the view of how they preferred us to eat.It culture out here. Natural and habitual for them but some of us might find it odd.

Next we managed to get into the queue for ferry and boarded ferry finally by 8am. Reached Vivekanand rock memorial. A rock monument made in the memory of Swami VIvekanand who meditated here before going for the world conference. A scenic beauty place again. You could see the "TRIVENI SANGAM" from here when you look behind the Kavi Thiruvallur statue. You could identify the difference between colors of water. Might or might not find it so interesting.Depends on personal view...

The next thing we could do was to board a bus,train or taxi and rest in it....We chose taxi for enjoying site seeing en-route Trivandrum. The sight seeing journey described in depth in the next post...To keep this short and not bore you much with the topic...:D

The Culture of Own Country-Tamilnadu

Day1
Had an awesome weekend as always with our group....Though tired of too much heat around....It wasnt too much for the fun we had...

It was Kanyakumari and surroundings this weekend.....Quite unplanned yet was a great time along....

A beautiful place if you love to see scenic beauties....Its all about scenic beauty here....

The journey began by train...several trains available to reach kanyakumari-our's being a Memu local caught at 1pm from Kochuveli.A peaceful journey nearly.Make your you get in from Kochuveli rather than Trivandrum central.It adds to peace when you've got a place to sit...:)

The train got us there quite in time...We had a walk to beach from the station...if you couldnt tolerate heat,I would advice you to catch a rickshaw....

We walked down to a church in the name of "Lady of ransom"(my apologies if I am using inapt way to name it).It was huge church, all in white...prayers going on...peaceful place....

From there, the rear side of the beach was quite near...The rear side was bit odd...You could snap pics but being residential area around you need to respect their privacy too...

The place around is full of fishermans being their way to earn their bread...So you might have bit odd feeling about people there...But they seemed no bad at heart...

From the rear side,you could view a rock lane which takes you in the sea...it is a walk path where in you could walk along till the end and then enjoy the drizzles of water....

Also your sight would be caught by vivekanand rock memorial and Kavi Thiruvallur statue.You could catch a ferry to these rock monuments.The ticket availability timings were 7:45am to 4pm.There is a huge crowd for the ferry so make sure you spare enough time if you wish to go...Getting into line in the morning after sunrise is a better option.....

The one to the left is Vivekanand rock memorial and to the right is Kavi Thiruvallur statue...

All this spots are in the way when we travel along the boundary of South India...The next that would come your way will be a shore where in you could stand on stones...Enjoy the waves...waves being too high...and the stones being slippery coz of algae...be sure to be cautioned!!

Next comes the sunset point...along your path to sunset point...you find a view tower...the entry fees is nominal and you could prefer it if you wish to just view the sunset rather than enjoying the awesome sand and crushed shells touching your legs...and giving a fabulous feeling....

The sunset point is around 2km far from the rocky shore...the sunset point-believe me was a lovely place to sit and enjoy the breeze and sound of the waves in peace..

We managed to stay at Gujarat bhavan-a dharamshala sort of thing wherein you could rent a hall at a nominal charge or rent rooms also if necessary...Beach is at a 15 min walking distance so you need not worry about getting a vehicle to go tp and fro.

About the managers and workers at Gujarati,one point I would like to mention is they were bit rude...too much strict about rules and behaviour...

The dinner we had was at Gujarat bhavan itself...for reviews kindly view the blog datsfoodie.blogspot.com

The next thing we did was went to the beach and enjoyed the waves,breeze,stars and lonely peace....!!

Just fab atmosphere...

Thus the day came to an end...So explore it soon....

Poovar Backwater reserves

Had the most pleasant day....Got to know a lot about specific days when to visit Kerala....Learned what are backwaters...

Yes!! Correctly read.."Backwaters"...A reservoir created by Sea water being collected during the high tide and staying back due to uneven terrain...It results into stagnant water which gives rise to forests...

The destination for the day was "POOVAR"....a small town...nearly 30km from East fort. Convenient to go by bus unless you have got enough bucks to spare for a taxi. Bus to Poovar is available directly from eastfort bus stop.

Now about the experience at Poovar. Beginning with getting down at the bus stop at poovar, there were rickshaw people available to take us directly to boating club. (They get commission for sure..:D ) Charged Rs20 per rickshaw. Specifically mentioning so that you are know that you are not being looted. Make sure you are not. :D

We were taken to Pulvar boating club. It is the farthest boating club en-route. This allows a longer journey. The boating clubs are in order to hire a boat from there to take a long journey through the backwater reserve all along. You would be taken through good mangrove forest in the reservoirs itself. Natural beauty, one you are gonna love it!!

The most famous place which people specially come to see is "The Golden Sand Beach" where the sand is nearly of Golden colour for a belt of around 3km. Not much interesting for youngsters :D

For youngsters,the waves in the beach were awesome. Do not even try to go deep but they would come and wet you with their heights. Make sure you plan your visit during the high tide that is days nearby a full moon night.

So this is where you got to enjoy....:D

Talking about the particular days the boat driver adviced to visit Kerala were:

November 2nd Saturday there is a long raft boat racing at Allepy beach. Got to visit and see it once.

December month end- christmas days the GOLDEN SAND beach has fire crackers view like never before..:D

So go...explore...and tell me and all more...

Few advice- The people around are not too good.Be cautioned

Do not ever get into mess with any keralians

Girls do not go alone atleast here. Its a male dominated area.

Do bargain for the boating charge :D

(We managed for Rs200 per person though the charge actually was around Rs500-1000 as per your time you wish to)

All in one- do visit the place without fail.

I'll keep updating....you be safe...Specially made the blog for TCSers coming to Trivandrum. :D

Kindly spread the blog and ask others to use it too.

-Abhishek Kothari

Assistant Systems Engineer

TATA Consultancy Services Ltd

+91-9408941843

Do post your comments and reviews once you visit the place.

Varkala beach

The first weekend after joining a training session of 3 months in Trivandrum,Kerala. Also called God's own country,believe me-its true if you love untouched unharmed natural beauty.

Language barrier is persistant for non malyalis but the people here are intelligent enough to understand our non verbal cpmmunication accompanied by Hindi or English. You might miss indigenous food varieties here. You wont feel ashamed if you dont have good table manners...people are used to it....:D

So now...our first trip. The VARKALA BEACH.

An awesome place to when talk about a beach with a rich feel. Huge waves when we visited...being a full moon night nearby. Too much safe. If you could understand your limits. You need to expect uneven terrain in water.
Too saline water when you talk about it. Clean, moderately cold and filled with superfine silt given you a smooth feel when in water but believe me its a mess when you get out of water. It sticks a lot.

Something new i found was we could spend night at the beach sleeping on a rented "khaatla" the jute bed. Didnt have the experience but would soon have it with time to spare.

Now coming to the transport facilities,being a very well organized transport service of KSRTC in the city and around,there are direct buses available for Varkala. You can also board a bus to KallamBallam and then catch a bus from there to Varkala. High frequency available at Kallamballam so it can be preferred. For return journey,the last bus, a semi low floor a/c bus is available at night,7:30pm.

Overall,you would enjoy the journey towards Varkala if travelling in an open bus. A/C buses are certainly more comfortable. It is around 40km from Kazakuttom junction.

So would be a maximum of 1:30hr journey. Spending a night might be a good experience so I personally advice go in the evening and return the pther morning.

Overall,its a pleasure to go. Foreigners all around in the summer specially. Too many beach restaurants. Beer and hook up parties too going on around. Too many resorts and restaurants around. So go there. Wish you a happy journey....

Kindly spread the blog and ask others to use it too.

-Abhishek Kothari

Assistant Systems Engineer

TATA Consultancy Services Ltd

+91-9408941843

Do post your comments and reviews once you visit the place.