Kerala, India “God’s Own Country”
When we landed in Kerala after a few weeks in Rajasthan we immediately fell in love with it. Lush green trees, palms swaying to a tropical breeze and birds chirping. It felt like we were in a whole different place. The few things that we noticed in comparison to the north is that it was a lot cleaner on the streets, less garbage laying around, the food is a lot lighter and less oily, less traffic and honking, and the people seemed more wealthy. Basically all of our happy buttons were pushed at once.
Kerala is known for its beaches, backwaters, mountains and national parks. We didn’t get to explore everything, but the few things that we did we really enjoyed. Kerala is a beautiful place and we hope to go back someday.
Do a Homestay in Fort Kochi
One of the best places to fly into if you want to explore Kerala is Fort Kochi. It’s a great place to begin your exploring. There’s also many buses and trains that can take you to different areas of the state. A great experience to have in Fort Kochi is to do a homestay. There are many that you can choose from but one that we especially enjoyed was staying with Michael at Michaela Homestay.
He owns a small guesthouse with a few rooms. In the mornings he would have breakfast prepared for us and in the evenings he would prepare tea. He was so friendly and told us about all the friends he makes from around the world. We really enjoyed the interaction with his family, his kindness and help with planning our time in Kerala.
Our favorite cafes to eat at in Fort Kochi:
–Kashi Art Cafe
–Loafers Corner Cafe (our favorite spot for breakfast and lunch)
–Tibetan Chef’s Restaurant
-Check out any other restaurant that sells fresh seafood there should be many that display the fish on ice during the evening.
Things to Do:
-Walk in the Jewish Town (great shopping and cafes)
–Watch the sunset at the beach near the Chinese Fishing Nets (walking along the beach and enjoy some of the local snacks and fresh coconuts)
– Walking into Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica & St. Francis Church (many people in Fort Kochi are Catholics)
Spend A Day Floating the Backwaters
Alleppey is one of the most well known places to rent a room on a local houseboat and float for a few days in the backwaters. We didn’t want to spend the night and decided to do an organized tour for the day about a half hour away from Fort Kochi. It’s a popular tour that is sold all over Fort Kochi and can be organized for a very reasonable price.
It was a very relaxed day. We sat on the boat and enjoyed just floating the backwaters. We stopped on an island to see how the local people live and how they make ropes out of coconut fibers. For lunch we stopped on another island to eat a local thali meal on a banana leaf. It was a very laid back kind of day.
Visit the Tea Plantations of Munnar
Munnar is a tea lovers paradise. The hills are covered in beautiful tea plants and they go as far as the eye can see. You can easily spend a few days up in the hills touring tea estates, factories, hiking up to viewpoints, and drinking as much tea as you can!
We especially enjoyed staying at Devikulam (a small little town away from the main city) We stayed at Pavithram Homestay (booked on Airbnb) It was a great place to stay at because behind the building are tea fields upon tea fields. We would walk up the hill every morning and evening to admire the beautiful tea fields. The owner was very kind and had breakfast prepared for us.
You don’t actually want to stay in Munnar because its a noisy little town and there’s not much there. You should look for a place that isn’t too far out but gives you good access to explore plantations. Most hotels and guesthouses can arrange a driver for the day.
The ultimate experience to have in Munnar is to stay two nights at Kolukkumalai Tea Estate. It’s the world’s highest organic tea plantation!
What to do in Munnar:
–Hire a driver for the day (it’s not very expensive but totally worth it because you can create your own itinerary and stop wherever you want)
-If you are staying near Devikulam then a great place to tour is Lockhart Tea Factory (they do tours in English and you can also do a tea tasting)
–Mattupetty Dam (beautiful views and lake where you can take boat ride)
–Echo View Point (another great place to stop at and rent a pedal boat)
-Your last stop would be at Top Station (this is a must, with beautiful views of the tea fields)
–Eravikulam National Park (a great place to visit depending on the season, ask your hotel or driver
–Pothamedu Viewpoint (another great viewpoint of tea fields)
-There are many waterfalls in the area but they also depend on the season so look into that
-If you’re into hiking there are many places you can go hiking at. Some will require a guide
-Another great way to enjoy Munnar is to go camping! Check out Blue Hood Camping or Kolukkumalai for an awesome experince
–Watch the sunrise (ask your driver to pick you up early and take you up to a good viewpoint like Top Station)
How to get to Munnar:
The easiest way to get to Munnar is to take the local bus from Fort Kochi. It’s a very clean bus with AC. We left early in the morning and arrived to Munnar during the afternoon. Another way you can get to Munnar is to hire a driver to take you there.
Relax on the beach at Varkala
After going from city to city we were so excited to stay for a whole week in Varkala! It’s a very laid back kind of place and has many restaurants, cafes and a range of hotels to choose from.
The main hub of the place is located at the North Cliff area. The beach down below is known as Varkala Beach and is a great place to swim at and watch the sunset. We especially loved the red sandstone cliffs and palm trees. The water was clean and very warm. We first stayed on North Cliff at Keratheeram Beach Resort. It was very close to all the cafes and restaurants and just far enough to not hear all the noise. We then moved a little bit south and stayed in a great place called Pachavadi “WeCare” Hotel
The beach is less crowded but theres not as many restaurants around. It’s close enough to North Cliff that we took a walking path up to our favorite breakfast spot.
Things to Do:
–Relax on the beach
–Surfing (check out Soul & Surf)
–Yoga (there are many yoga classes that are advertised as you walk along the street)
–Eat delicious food at the many cafes and restaurants
–Shopping on North Cliff ( if you walk along north cliff you will find so many shops with clothes and souvenirs )
Our favorite places to eat at in Varkala:
–ABBA Restaurant (Our favorite spot for breakfast and lunch. They also have delicious pastries)
–Little Tibet (Delicious Tibetan food! We loved eating momos and soups)
–Coffee Temple (good coffee and food)
–Darjeeling Cafe
–Cafe Italiano
–The Juice Shack
How to get to Varkala:
We were in Munnar before Kerala so we had to take a local bus to Kottayam and then we took a train straight to Varkala. It was a long journey but it was worth it. There was no straight route there so that was the best way to get there. If you are coming from Fort Kochi you can take a direct train from the Ernakulam train station.
We hope you enjoy Kerala as much as we did. Let us know in the comments below if your experiences or questions.
-Katie
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