This is God’s own country indeed
One of the best ways to know about a place is to go there and see it by visiting places and meeting people. The same is true for God’s own country known as Kerala. However, there is another way to know this place by traveling through backwaters in a beautiful boat available in all sizes and price range according to your pocket and requirement in the vastly spread network of lakes, lagoons, canals and rivers. Backwater network although is used by locals for transportation, fishing and agricultural use but this has become a big tourist attraction lately with planned and aggressive advertising and facilities available.
Spread over almost fifteen hundred kilometer area
Most of the area that comes under the network is spread over in four districts of Kerala namely Kollam, Alappuzah - I prefer to call it by its old name of Alleppy, Kottayam and Kochi also Cochin or Ernakulam. There are more than forty rivers a vast number of lagoons, well-knit canal network and lakes that makes the network of backwaters spread over fifteen hundred kilometers and every inch of it filled with splendid heavenly beauty.
The biggest of the backwaters network is Vembanad Lake, which in itself is the longest lake and the largest in Kerala located in between Alleppy and Kottayam, which falls in Arabian Sea in Kochi finally. The second biggest backwater is Ashtamudi Lake in Kollam district of Kerala, which is as famous and beautiful and probably more famous than other such spots around.
Vembanad Lake
Oh- that is so beautiful! As much you spend your time in this heavenly place here, you can spend your time boating, sitting, fishing and looking at the beauty nature has provided to this lovely adorable area. A Simple walking along the banks of Vembanad Lake and experiencing the love of nature is enough reason to take a trip of this lovely land. There is a new landscape waiting for the feast of your eyes wherever you look at. The place is beyond description in words.
What else can you do at Vembanad- The other attractions that you can find at the Vembanad include a local village tour, local temples, boat ride to Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary boat ride of Vembanad Lake etc, trip to the beaches. Elephant ride is another big tourist’s attraction along with massage therapy in a systematic way, which is an expert’s job here.
The other famous places include - Kumarakom beach, Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary, bird watching, Thirunakkara Mahadev Temple, Thazhathangady Juma Masjid, snake-boat races and many more places according to your own interest. Kumarakom is only about 10 miles away from Kottayam, which is well connected with all the major cities of India. In addition, Kochi is nearby big city with all facilities of harbor, airport, railway and road transport
Ashtamudi Lake is probably the best in the world of its kind
I am at loss of words while trying to describe this wonderful lake. I am also amused to see a number of lakes so beautifully associated together in fact this is a group of lakes that makes it more beautiful and worth visiting. However, if you want to enjoy the beauty of this place you should make a program to visit it soon because the area of lake is reducing at rapid rate and the pollution is making it a little different despite the government is doing its best to keep it clean.
Now the best of them all- Kettuvallam
Without the boat, Kettuvallam the trip to backwater would be a no trip. This is a houseboat made of wood using coir rope and would you believe it that not a single nail to make it. The boats, which are made of Anjili wood, bamboo poles, coconut fiber, rope carpets etc. have a standard size of 67x13 feet mostly. These boats have all the luxury of star hotels according to your needs, these boats mostly consist of all the facilities of a well-furnished 2-3 BHK flat depending upon their rent. The charges may vary but there is a standard rate of air-conditioned houseboat that covers different occupancies. The package for one bedroom for two adults may begin with Rupees 6,500, a double bedroom for four adults may cost Rupees 10,500 and three bedrooms set for six adults would be in the range of Rupees 15000. Prices may vary according to their facilities and season.
There is ever facility available inside a Kettuvallam
These boats provide its occupants all the facilities of a luxury hotel including air-conditioned bedrooms with glass windows providing a beautiful view of backwater even while you are lying on your bed. These boats have the facilities of bathrooms with all the modern facilities with shower, washbasin, geyser and toilet seats of your choice etc. The kitchen in the boat serves you dishes of your choice with the help of an expert cook available from morning to night. You can cook according to your own choice if you wish so. There is almost every other indoor games facility available for in-house activities those you can enjoy if your friends and family accompany you for a fun trip. You can find fishing rods, painting pads and even a library there inside a boat itself.
If you are ready for a trip to backwaters
You might have a few questions in your mind in case you are ready to go for a trip to backwaters in Kerala after reading my description of such a nice travel destination. I know what is cooking in your mind; let me explain them in detail so that you may not feel any problems while visiting there.
1- The best option to hire a boat for your trip is from Alleppy where there are hundreds of boats available for this purpose. This is easy to reach Alleppy from your place depending upon your traveling method. If you are going by air, the nearest airport is Cochin and if you are going by train, Alleppy is on the way to every mainline leading to Cochin or Thiruvananthapuram the capital of Kerala.
2- The best and popular most boat rout is in between Alleppy to Kollam the distance about eighty-five kilometers. You can hire a boat for duration according to your own choice but a trip of two to five days is enough to recharge you sufficiently.
3- As I have mentioned earlier also that the rates of hiring a boat depend solely on the availability, season, type of boat whether you have opted for a deluxe boat or super deluxe. The rates may vary in the range of five thousands Indian Rupees to fifteen thousands per night/day including food and all other facilities those are part of the package.
This may prove to be your lifetime trip
Therefore a trip to Kerala backwaters spread over fifteen hundred kilometers is going to prove a unique attraction especially staying in most luxurious house boats and enjoying the slow speed ride watching through the windows from the bedroom the most beautiful palm groves. This is an entirely different experience to watch landscape, local villages and wildlife sitting on the deck of a boat on uniquely designed furniture with a different mood. I for one would never forget my trips those I have made during my different visits alone as well as with my wife, family and friends.
Your travel trip may look a burden
Yes, if you are not careful how you carry your clothes and other items, your tour may become a problem rather than a fun trip. Packing your items while going out for a fun trip is important aspects of your travel program- plan it carefully. You find it so very exciting while chalking out a plan to go out for a fun trip but poor planning of packing may destroy the basics of joy and convert you into a porter therefore take a few precautions to enjoy your trip fully.
We do not think about problems on the way
As a matter of fact while we pack for our travel, we want to keep every thing that we use in every day’s routine without thinking that we shall not be able to travel with a weight exceeding limit of allowed by railway or airlines. We should always make a proper checklist to make sure that we are carrying items, which are must and we should not forget to carry.
See to it that you have your –
- Tickets, Passport/visa
- Your ID card
- Talk time vouchers
- Your ATM cards
- Credit cards
- Details of your stay arrangements and concerned bills/receipts
- Contact numbers where you are going to visit
- Hotel confirmations
- Required foreign currency
- Your camera
- Batteries
- Chargers
- Data transfer cables in case you are carrying your laptop
- And details of your travel insurance.
Plan in detail about the places of visit
If you have a proper program about the places you are going to visit would make it easy to carry clothes according to weather of the places. Some places have the nature of sudden rain and that makes it mandatory to pack accordingly. This is wise to carry lesser but appropriate clothes of darker shades and flip-flop so that you do not face a shortage of clothes because the darker shades do not look soiled easily. Pack your dresses according to duration of your stay and allowed weight by the travel media.
This is wise to travel with light and lesser quantity, select clothes those might go in mix and match way on different occasions or night outs. This is good to wear cotton but keep some polyester options as well because these are easy to wash, need no ironing and dry fast. Keep undergarments according to need but do not carry a large quantity because these are easy to wash and use. Avoid carrying tea shirts with odd/conservative messages printed on them; they may single you out in an unknown place that may make your position awkward. Dark colors would serve your purpose best because these are able to hide dirt and stains up to a maximum extant. As advised before also, if traveling to a place where it rains occasionally a thin windcheater would be very handy to protect you from rain and cold weather. This also goes in case of footwear, you need not carry a matching shoe for every dress, and taking two, sets of shoes those cater to every need should e sufficient. This is better to carry a comfortable pair of shoes if you are going to a hill station that would make your tour a lot more comfortable.
You should know in advance about your limit of allowed weight
This is necessary to know especially while you are going on a foreign trip because the extra luggage attracts heavy charges according to rules of different airlines and every Kg may cost around up to Rupees two thousand. There are chances that while returning from the trip you may find some gift items for your family members, please see to it that the cost of extra luggage does not exceed the cost of gift items because you did not consider the weight aspect while buying them. So be careful in what you carry with you and more so while coming back with gifts for the family members.
Be careful while on a tour
Women love to show their belongings, I know most women will not agree with me and in case a woman is supposed to edit my article, I am in grave danger. However, this is a proven fact that most women want to carry a few costly ornaments while going out even for a pleasure trip. I would suggest they should carry junk but funky jewelry on such occasions to avoid losses. Artificial jewelry is very good alternative of real and costly to avoid regret later if any thing goes wrong. Even the wristwatches you use on such tours may not be the costliest ones those you own, you can always use sports watches on such occasions.
Your beauty bag is must but keep lesser to enjoy maximum
I know you are not going alone but with your partner who wants to look beautiful and gorgeous as much as you want to look bold and handsome. I also know that men do not need that many items but women do and they want to carry their makeup kits etc with them. A makeup kit consisting of a few lip colors, glasses, eye-color pencil, mascara, shadow, light colored blushes and a handy mirror should be enough for a travel trip to make your trip light weighted and pleasurable. Please make sure that you do not carry a heavy toiletry because most of the hotels provide such items and whatever you need to carry on personal basis should be in small packing. Avoid carrying glass bottles because they may break in the transit and spoil your other belongings. Do not forget to carry wet end and dry wipes especially handy sanitizers to keep neat and clean on your outing for a better experience. Carry a stylish big enough bag that can carry all your essential items, that would enable you to avoid opening different bags for searching necessary items you may need while in transit.
In the end
I would like to suggest being very careful while making a plan to go out and carrying your belongings. One should be very alert in selecting the items and should avoid carrying, which is not must. Plan your trip in such a way that you remember it for enjoyment you had and not the problems you faced. I wish you a very happy journey with all the comforts in the world, von voyage.
The Queen of Hills
Ooty is one of the most famous hill stations in India. This is beautiful hill resort is one of the most beautiful places which I have visited situated in south India. This lovely hill city is at the height of about 2250mtr from the sea level, which has very pleasant and most scenic beauty scattered all around. This is one of the most visited places situated in the lap of Neelgiris. Ooty is in fact the popular name of Udhagmandalam, which was once the base of Tonga tribe who lived here for centuries.
Ooty is another hill station that came in to existence in British period in the beginning of 19th century. The first building that took shape here was ‘stone house’ by the then collector of Coimbtore, which is the principal’s office of Government Arts college of Ooty and one of the most famous among the buildings. The British Madras governor converted Ooty into their summer capital after they developed the small gauge railway line.
The real beauty - The Hill Queen Rail
While talking about railway line this is one of the biggest tourist attractions for the travelers to this beautiful hill resort. Like the train journey from Kalka to Shimla, this is another hill resort developed by British in their ruling period in India. The journey between Coimbtore to Ooty is a treat to enjoy in itself that gives us a feeling like traveling through the clouds. Although one never thinks of the effort, it took to complete the project of laying the railway line that took more than forty-five years and once it completed at the end of 19th century this was a big attraction for locals as well as people coming from far off places.
Ooty Lake
As I told you, the actual name of the place is Udhagmandalam but mostly people know this place as Ooty because of the beautiful Ooty Lake, which is the reason that people know this city as Ooty. Moreover, like most lakes in different hills this one is not natural but fabricated or artificially constructed by man. This lake came in to existence in 1925 where people enjoy boating and horse riding around this lake. Oh, this is such a beautiful place with Lake Garden adding more attraction to this beautiful garden. Tourists who want to enjoy fishing can do so with a prior written permission from the management.
There are other Attractions in Ooty
Botanical garden is a beautiful garden spread over twenty plus hectare of land, which they planted in 1850. The garden is full of rare plants and trees and has more than six hundred and fifty different varieties of those plants. This garden is very popular due to its lovely maintenance, cultural shows and exhibitions of natural flower shows. These are regular features of this garden.
Dodabetta Top
This is the highest point of the area situated at the height of approximately 2625mtr. This top is just ten or so km away from the city and therefore easy to reach. The tourists enjoy a view of valley even Coimbtore is visible from here provided the weather permits and it is not cloudy.
Kalhatti Waterfalls
Kalahatti waterfall is another tourist attraction about thirteen km away from the city. This falls is about a hundred feet high that is, situated at Kalhatti- Masinagudi area. However, one has to be careful from the animals like tigers, jungle buffalo and other similar animals, which are available in this area.
Kotagiri
This is one of the three hill stations situated in this area. This place is not as famous as Ooty or Kunnore, which are main tourist attractions of the area. However, I prefer it to other places for the scenic beauty of the hills and the tea gardens those produce the best tea available anywhere in the world. This place has the qualities of an excellent health resort due to its climate and his would make a good trip for the nature’s lovers.
Disclaimer- If any names found misspelled may please take the way we pronounce them.
Purpose of Cocktail parties:
Cocktails are a pleasant way to meet several people and get to know them.Companies often invite business associates and customers to cocktails to meet them and to strengthen relationship.
Cocktails parties can be hosted by anyone.It can either be a organized friends or family and it can also be a official party.
Such kind of parties are hosted to rejuvenate with your old buddies, share practices amongst your professional friends and family get together.
How You Should Walk Into a Cocktail Party
When you attend a Cocktail, walk in with your head held high and with enthusiasm.You are going in to meet people and enjoy yourself.Therefore the bar or the hors d'oeuvres table should be your first stop.The purpose of the function is not to eat free food and drink unlimited liquor- it is to meet people and make connection- it is getting into conversation and not appeasing your appetite.
Make eye contact while having a discussion.No one wants to talk with someone who is always scanning the room for a more important contact.There is a city in India where the people are more mercenary then in any other. Whenever you are invited for a party, people confront you in an aggressive "What do you do" when you tell them what do you do they ask your card.You can literally see their mind working-can this person be of use.If they do not think you will be, while they talk to you they will be looking around and at the door to see if there is anyone better to talk to the moment they see someone they'll leave you without a goodbye.This is crude and ill mannered.Do not do this.
What should not be discussed?
Your conversation should be clean and without sexual undertones.Keep away from controversial subjects like religion and from gossip.
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