Wow! Another learning experience when we took the 5:30 am train to Alappuzha! At Palakkad railway station, we saw a lot of local people slept on the floor overnight. They must be waiting for the boarding time, we wondered? And the urine smell from the tracks was obnoxious that we had to find a spot to sit where the wind blew the opposite direction!
Because we bought unreserved sleeper class tickets we had to grab the first seat in sight. G hopped on one of the upper beds, I stayed on a lower bench, only one person already there so I had the space of 3 seaters to lie down. Thought we were settled in, but by 8am, people who were going to work, school...started to fill up the train. They didn't like to see an inconsidered foreigner who took 3 seats, I realized that but I had a chest cold and another 3 hrs to go, I delayed sitting up for another hour. G was just being a good traveler, curled up in his upper bunk bed!
We arrived in Alappuzha by noon without breakfast, so we had lunch right away at the nearest restaurant. We got a referral from the restaurant owner and ended agreed to some info( room, boat trip) from an agent whom we soon know we might overpay. We stayed in a nice and small homestay type room for $20US/night with AC, one block away from the beach where we headed right away once we dropped off our luggage. It sad to see some dirty, full of garbage sections of the beach where locals come to enjoy after 3pm. The sections close to resorts or homestay places were much better.
The next day we went to a small boat backwater trip for two cost $60US/6hrs. For sure Alappuzha deserved the name Venice of the East. Gosh! We almost missed this place if we didn't decide to turn around. We so much enjoyed the whole time floating on the water, the delicious lunch as we stopped along the way! All the challenges to get back here seemed forgotten. We took so many perfect pics and videos of this place. There are a lot of tourists here. Some booked overnight big house boats from Kochi or Kollam.
The big house boats just like small cruises; they have bedrooms, bathrooms, chef to cook all meals....ours is smaller called Shikkara, could take 6 people for less cost/person with 4 chairs and 2 lounge chairs but we didn't know that! Some also stayed in the hotels or homestay places facing the backwater (something we didn't know when we arrived; but either way, one just needed to take an autorickshaw to get to the other end-either beach or backwater.
We couldn't ask for a perfect sunset to end the day!
On our last day at Alapuzha, after breakfast and short time at Internet cafe, we went visit a Hindu Temple named Mullakal Temple where they allowed non-Hindu visitors. The rules were: only males devotees or visitors had to take their shirts off when going inside, and no cameras allowed. Then we went for quick lunch and headed back to the beach for the last time. We found a hotel which was renovating and allowed to use the umbrella and lounge chairs as long as we bought a drink from the restaurant. Yah! I got it made for my afternoon leisure, while G walked along the shore, documented the fishermen's daily activities.
We had booked a flight from Kochi to Chennai on Thurs afternoon. We still had to take 1hr+ train ride to Kochi, 1hr taxi to Kochi airport... I wished by the time you read my posts meant I got Wi-Fi again in Chennai as I got none for days in Alappuzha!
There was a highlight of Thurs morning--Valentine's Day. After breakfast we saw two camels walked along the beach. Of course, I couldn't pass the opportunity so we went for a ride. My favorite pic of riding a camel will be in the next post :) BTW, we were too busy planning our move, didn't realize it was Valentine"s Day until someone told us and we saw so many couples came out for the camel ride. Glad we joined them!
G said the unexpected events were always the best. How true!
Because we bought unreserved sleeper class tickets we had to grab the first seat in sight. G hopped on one of the upper beds, I stayed on a lower bench, only one person already there so I had the space of 3 seaters to lie down. Thought we were settled in, but by 8am, people who were going to work, school...started to fill up the train. They didn't like to see an inconsidered foreigner who took 3 seats, I realized that but I had a chest cold and another 3 hrs to go, I delayed sitting up for another hour. G was just being a good traveler, curled up in his upper bunk bed!
We arrived in Alappuzha by noon without breakfast, so we had lunch right away at the nearest restaurant. We got a referral from the restaurant owner and ended agreed to some info( room, boat trip) from an agent whom we soon know we might overpay. We stayed in a nice and small homestay type room for $20US/night with AC, one block away from the beach where we headed right away once we dropped off our luggage. It sad to see some dirty, full of garbage sections of the beach where locals come to enjoy after 3pm. The sections close to resorts or homestay places were much better.
The big house boats just like small cruises; they have bedrooms, bathrooms, chef to cook all meals....ours is smaller called Shikkara, could take 6 people for less cost/person with 4 chairs and 2 lounge chairs but we didn't know that! Some also stayed in the hotels or homestay places facing the backwater (something we didn't know when we arrived; but either way, one just needed to take an autorickshaw to get to the other end-either beach or backwater.
We couldn't ask for a perfect sunset to end the day!
On our last day at Alapuzha, after breakfast and short time at Internet cafe, we went visit a Hindu Temple named Mullakal Temple where they allowed non-Hindu visitors. The rules were: only males devotees or visitors had to take their shirts off when going inside, and no cameras allowed. Then we went for quick lunch and headed back to the beach for the last time. We found a hotel which was renovating and allowed to use the umbrella and lounge chairs as long as we bought a drink from the restaurant. Yah! I got it made for my afternoon leisure, while G walked along the shore, documented the fishermen's daily activities.
We had booked a flight from Kochi to Chennai on Thurs afternoon. We still had to take 1hr+ train ride to Kochi, 1hr taxi to Kochi airport... I wished by the time you read my posts meant I got Wi-Fi again in Chennai as I got none for days in Alappuzha!
There was a highlight of Thurs morning--Valentine's Day. After breakfast we saw two camels walked along the beach. Of course, I couldn't pass the opportunity so we went for a ride. My favorite pic of riding a camel will be in the next post :) BTW, we were too busy planning our move, didn't realize it was Valentine"s Day until someone told us and we saw so many couples came out for the camel ride. Glad we joined them!
G said the unexpected events were always the best. How true!
Wow, you certainly packed in a lot in a short time. Travelling seems to be such a chore in India. You are very brave to even attempt it. But it is worth it for all the experiences. I hope that you are feeling better. :)
ReplyDeleteEleanor
The picture with the camel didn't show up for me. It was so nice to hear your voice. Vietnam here you come. Linda
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