Can you imagine spending a vacation relaxing under the shade of some palm trees with a delicious and refreshing drink while the cool breeze caresses your face? In Kerala, you can enjoy a well-deserved vacation strolling peacefully through its river channels, lakes or streams and admiring the diversity of natural colors that this incredible place offers you in India. It is considered one of the best tourist places in India for its variety of landscapes and climate, in addition to its extraordinary cultural heritage, expressed in various forms of classical art and colorful festivals.
If forgetting about the chaos of the city is what you want, Kerala is the place you are looking for!
You can explore the exotic green colors of the exuberant body of earth that surrounds the Arabian Sea. On the southwestern coast of India lies the state of Kerala, which has an area of 500 kilometers. It is a place without roads or cars, where you can enjoy a system of lakes, lagoons, canals and extraordinary mangroves, as well as rice fields, coconut trees and small towns, all of this on the edge of the Indian Ocean.
Sleep on water!
Several legends explain the creation of this beautiful place and, according to one of the stories, it was created by the warrior Parasurama, who is the avatar of the sixth god Vishnu, and by throwing his ax into the sea, he made Kerala stood out from the waters, which also formed fluvial labyrinths. On an interesting kettuvallam, one of the traditional boats, you will have one of the most incredible experiences you could have in Kerala.
These boats travel through the calm waters of the canals, thus allowing access to the new rural areas that you could not know on foot. In spite of enjoying a very rural trip, the traditional kettuvallam with thatched roofs will also offer you the comforts of a European yacht with the integration of double rooms and a crew that takes care of the food.
On your trip, you can enjoy watching the children enjoy the riverside, women doing their typical tasks of a rural life and workers keeping the fields inherited by their ancestors, the people you will find there are always friendly and smiling.
Through the narrow water channels, you can enjoy the view of one of the largest lakes in India: the Vembanad. You will also find cocoa plantations, mangoes and their main fruit: the coconut. Around the plantations are small villages, mosques, churches and of course the famous and colorful Hindu temples. In the narrow trip through the channels, you can only travel in canoes, because they are narrow enough to travel and enjoy the sweet waters of India close by.
If your decision is to go for a kettuvallam, you can rest in the front and uncovered part of the boat while you wait for a delicious fresh fish, marinated with the delicious and traditional local spices, cooked by experts in that cuisine. In Kerala you can enjoy cultural, traditional or autochthonous experiencesin without renouncing exclusivity.
The route of spices
The region of Kuttanad is where you will begin to perceive the life of Kerala, in one of its main seaports, Cochi, a stunning magical city. This town is characterized by attracting its visitors especially for its spices and sandalwood for two millennia.
Before it was discovered by Vasco Da Gama in 1498, the coast was already known to Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs and Chinese, and that influence is still noticeable in the architecture and sounds of the city. In the morning you can take a tour through one of the oldest parts of the city to see the Chinese networks of fishermen taking the freshest fish for its inhabitants. At night, you can enjoy a classical theater dance style from the Kerala area: the Kathakali, this art form is characteristic of the area, since it combines dance, mime and narration.
If you want to relax your body, you can opt for an Ayurvedic massage, which is very popular in India. It is a massage that consists of oils mixed with Ayurvedic remedies that favor the restoration of the balance of vata, pitta and kapha, these constitute basic forces that interact and are present in the organism of all people.. With this massage, your body can obtain lightness and energy, as well as it stimulates mental activity, lucidity and body tone, it increases confidence in oneself and improves the endocrine system.
Long-term vacation!
If your vacation lasts longer than what you initially planned, you can take a trip through the legendary curves of South Indian tea: Munnar. These beautiful hills are 130 kilometers east of Cochin and are the showiest tea producing area in India. A landscape of green hills covered with fog is the ideal place to admire.
Whether on a boat enjoying the sound of the river or between waterfalls and wildlife sanctuaries that Kerala offers you, your pace of life will relax to a level where you won’t want to leave this majestic place.
Among the companies that you can choose to travel to this dream place, you will find Trans Tour, who are in charge of organizing tours that will allow you to explore Kerala completely, from its Backwaters channels, through the city of Fort Cochin until you finally know the place English settlers went to during summer vacations: Munnar, where you can stay in your tea plantations to appreciate its mild climate.
You can do all of this in a rice boat or you can stay in one of the accommodations offered by the Windermere Estate hotel, whether the bungalow or the traditional one-story houses, with a gallery or porch in the front, a place to experience the family life.
Finally, on the Manimala River and near the cities of Kottayam and Alappuzha, you can explore the meanders by canoe or boat, and if it causes you to go fishing or observe birds you will have the freedom to do it in this impressive place.
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