Mihir's Thoughts

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Periyar Tiger Reserve - the last day of our journey

Kerala Tour - Munnar

We started for Munnar from Kochi at 8.30 in the morning in a hired Indica car. We planned to have breakfast enroute.But as it was a sunday, hardly any restaurant was found open.At about 10.30, we could locate one and had Puri Sabzi and coffee. The quality was not that good but no choice!

We reached Munnar at about 12 Noon and moved to our Hotel Emmel Dwellings located near KTDC Tea County. After freshening up, we had our Lunch in a nearby vegetarian restaurant, and went for a half day sightseeing in Munnar.

Our Hotel at Munnar

Our first spot was Tea Museum. Locally it is known as Tata Tea Museum, but Tata Tea had handed over the company management to the workers long back and it is now being managed by the employees quite efficiently.

We had a cup of piping hot complimentary tea, saw a documentary on the history of tea plantation in Munnar Hills and took a tour of the tea factory.

Next we visited one park and a view point. Our last visit of the day was Atukkad Waterfalls. We had to go down on hilly roads to reach the place. The waterfalls was really worth visiting and we took a number of photographs there.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Kochi Tour

On our first day at Kochi,we left the hotel early,had breakfast in a nearby restaurant and went to IMA House near Nehru stadium to attend Indian Public Health Association (IPHA) Annual National Conference organised by Kerala state branch. Since IPHA is headquartered in Kolkata,many of our colleagues & friends from Kolkata also went to Kochi to attend the conference.
We met Rajkumar of South Eastern Railway.He is very friendly and his humourous anecdotes made our Kochi stay really enjoyable.
Rajumar arranged a vehicle for his use at Kochi and we used the same for sightseeing in and around the city.
On the first day of the conference,we decided to take a tour of the city in the post lunch period.We visited Travancore kings palace which is now converted into a museum,the first Jewish synagogue in India,the Portugese church once visited by Vasco Da Gama and having his tomb and lastly Fort Kochi.We liked the sea front at Fort Kochi very much.The vast sea with ships,chinese fishing nets,local ferry services and setting sun in the horizon gave the entire area a very enchanting look!We spent considerable time in the area,travelled in local ferry and finally came down to Marine Drive.Marine Drive overlooking Kochi dock with malls and markets nearby is a favorite place for the locals.There are two overbridges built like fishing nets on two ends of marine drive,which when illuminated give the area an unique identity.
We later on visited the local market to buy famous Kochi spices,Kerala Sari etc.
On the next two days apart from attending the conference,we visited Hill Palace and the museum.On the way back,we witnessed a local festival with decorated elephants.
For conference dinner,we visited Bolgatty Palace,a heritage property of Kerala Tourism.Its an imposing palace overlooking the sea.Cultural programmes like Kathakali dance and local martial art demonstrations were arranged before dinner.But untimely torrential rain disrupted both the programme and dinnner.We tooke refuge in an annexe bulding before returning to the hotel late ay night.Since we were scheduled to start for Munnar the next morning,we quickly packed our luggage and retired for the night.