in God's own lap!

No points for guessing, it's Kerala I'm talking about. The year 2013 ended with a much awaited trip to the God's Own Country. The pristine beauty of the beaches, the setting sun with sand below the feet, the divine backwaters, vast stretches of tea and spice plantations, fresh and juicy coconuts and pineapples are things my mind refuses to let go even after 2 months. The trip was custom planned by a friend and included some major hot spots of the state. It started from the capital, Trivandrum, here we visited the famous Kovallam Beach, and started off the boating bouts in style with a motor boat. I say bouts because there were many more boat trips of various kinds during the trip. The few days in the city were succeeded by what was later the most memorable part of the trip, Alleppey backwaters. The boathouse was complete with all the modern amenities including air conditioning. It was pleasant to see all the extra effort that was being put to make the experience more fascinating, as the towels in the rooms were arranged like swans and boats. Even the pineapples served as dessert was cut in the shape of fish! The view with endless expanse of water lined with houses and coconut trees on either side was breath-taking. We sat with set cameras and watched as countless other boats, each different from the other crossed our way. During the evening they docked the boat near one of the houses and it was then we were greeted by a swarm of mosquitoes :P The next day we set towards Thekaddy with it's numerous spice gardens. Throughout the journey there were a number of private spice estates and they had made quite a lavish business out of the whole "spice walk" concept. But we gave that a miss and our multi-talented and hindi speaking driver Jaison (that's a rarity!) more than made up for it. He introduced us to a number of spices growing along the road wherever we went and believe me that covered everything from pepper to coffee. So basically it's spices everywhere! Also visited the famous Periyaar Tiger Reserve here, though the cats refused to show up like always, the ferry ride across the reserve was enchanting. Up next was the hill station, Munnar. The road on both sides leading to this place was covered with all encompassing tea gardens, even the road fence was a tea shrub! This was unlike anything i'd ever seen before in such vast stretches of hilly terrain. We'd to finally let go off such beauty when we arrived at Cochin, which was a beauty too but of a different, refined and metro kind ;) The old Jew street with it's shady shops of antiques and the colorful facade of relinquished houses was a treat for the eyes, though we couldn't make it in time to see the synagogue. The chinese fishing nets lined the beach side with ready to cook & eat shops by their side in Fort Cochi. The ongoing bamboo festival which caught my eye (such things don't escape me!) was a bonus. The penultimate leg of the trip included visiting the Kodanad Elephant Camp, which housed some huge tuskers and some baby elephants. Athirapally waterfalls on the last day of our trip made us fall in love with Kerala all over again. But as always u have bread to earn! :P