Going to Kerala.

Its unfortunate to see travellers come to Kerala and follow a schedule and route to see places and return.

 There are three common ways they travel.
1. Land in Cochin, move to the hill station in Munnar, see the wild life in Thekkadi, the waterfalls in Vagamon, maybe visit Fort Cochin and return
2. Land at Trivandrum, visit Kovalam, Varkala, Ponmudi, drive down to Alleppey and return via Kumarakom to Trivandrum.
3. Land at Calicut, visit Wynad, Kannur/Bekal and return
This is not how you should experience Kerala.

Kerala, is really God's own country. It is a slow, peaceful, tranquil experience. To find a true holiday here you need to take a break from it all and erase your itinerary.

You need to drive on the inner roads(M.C Road) or take the sea side roads (from Alleppey via Arthungal to Cochin). Travel to places beyond Kuttikanam and find where the road ends and the silence is defeaning at Mundakayam.  Take a jeep drive across the hills where it takes an hour for a few miles and discover a top spot from where you see for miles and know that Kerala is indeed Green.

Discover idle countryside "chai" and "thattu" kadas with sizzling hot delicacies. Discover how a single newspaper stokes the knowledge of an entire village around a cup of chai or how a local issue is sorted over a bottle of toddy. Enjoy the pleasure of swimming in chilled, clear waters that flow down small hills.



To enjoy Kerala, drive away from the main roads, the towns and the traffic. Take a U turn, go down that small road that will take you to the most magical holiday.

Pangkor Island. A holiday to remember.

One of the best holidays that I have had was at Pangkor Island, Malaysia. The drive from Kuala Lumpur to Marina Island Jetty is about 270 kms. It was my first international driving experience. As we left the city and the traffic jam it was such a joy to drive along the northwest coast to Lumut on the highway to the jetty from where we took a ferry to the island.

We were a group of seven. The ferry in itself was such a pleasure with amazing scenic beauty and very cheerful crowd on the boat and the warmth of the service staff. It is a magical feeling as if you leave all your worries and thoughts behind as the boat moves further away from the land.

The Pangkor Island beach resort is an island in itself. The sprawling grounds have all the facilities of sports and cycling on the land and a variety of water sports in the sea. The rooms are very well set and furnished and not too expensive.

The food is amazing and the spread was a joy for all of us including the kids and we felt brave to try our a few different culinary experiences. The staff were very cordial and helpful.

The beach is an amazing expanse of white sand and all over the island peacocks and hornbills grace your sight in plenty. We even had a peacock spread its feathers in all its glory and dance in front of us. What a sight it was. In the evenings the feeding ground for the hornbills was a major attraction as we found the birds in hundreds. There are so many other birds and even monkeys all over the island making it a fun trip for all of us as we had to watch out for the monkeys stealing snacks from the rooms.

The water sports was fun yet safe since we could venture out and walk into the low and calm sea for upto a kilometre. We cycled around the island and spent the afternoons on the water scooters speeding away on the small waves.

Two days passed by in the blink of an eye. But the moments will stay with us forever. I recommend this holiday to all of you who want to take a break away from this world. Go to paradise.