Kerala, India – recommendations from our trip as a couple.
Written by Sharon Gidron Peskin in the India Travelers Facebook groupI'll start by saying that until a month before our flight, we'd never heard of this region. All we knew was that we wanted to visit India, but not the north (where we'd been the year before). Then a good friend mentioned Kerala, and another friend gave us a few pointers. We figured that if we weren't enjoying ourselves, we'd catch a flight somewhere else. But it was amazing! We barely met any Israelis or Western tourists during our trip. It was October (=the start of the season), but still surprising.
This isn't a comprehensive travel blog, just a few recommendations from our trip that you might find useful.
We flew from Israel to Mumbai with Azerbaijan Airlines. A great airline, and the airport in Baku was pleasant and modern. From there we flew to Kochi, where we spent 3 nights. Nothing mind-blowing, but it gave us a pleasant, relatively gentle introduction to India: wandering the streets, seeing the fishing nets, enjoying good food and visiting the synagogue.Kochi recommendations:
- A basic local restaurant that looks shabby but serves really, really delicious food https://maps.app.goo.gl/aqhTLVJKPp25McLp8
- An excellent, more upscale fish and seafood restaurant near the beach https://maps.app.goo.gl/SKLuVkooeKW1kNjX9
Aaron's homestay
A simple, clean place to stay. Johnson, the owner, is kind and welcoming.Ayurvedic treatments: Ayushveda
From Kochi we drove to Munnar (actually, to a beautiful spot in the mountains, 20 km from Munnar) for 3 nights. We found our driver, Basil, completely by chance, and he ended up staying with us for 4 days, from Munnar via Alleppey to Varkala. He was excellent, courteous, fond of Israel and a careful driver. His number is +919745452588. Highly recommended!!
Varkala recommendations:
- Dolphin Bay - A clean, well-kept and pleasant place to stay, near the North Cliff
- ABBA restaurant on the clifftop - Delicious cappuccino, and everything we ate there was excellent, from a breakfast omelet to a root vegetable salad and Indian-style grilled fish.
- Tickety Boo A small place run by deaf people, open mornings and evenings but not for lunch. They serve only dosa and idli (local batter-based dishes), along with chai or coffee.
- Trip is life restaurant and café is on the southern beach, a 40-minute walk or a 7-minute tuk-tuk ride from all the action, but worth the effort! Thoughtfully prepared, distinctive, delicious food. A beautiful place that stands out from the local scene. Prices here are higher than at other restaurants, but a full meal for two still cost us around 80₪.
After Varkala, we spent a few days at the Sivananda Yoga Ashram in Neyyar Dam. Recommended if you feel like committing to a daily routine, meditation, chanting (ritual singing of mantras) and, of course, yoga. It was interesting and helped us grow, but we were also happy to leave and return to vacation mode
Trivandrum
This is Kerala's capital, and it has an airport (we flew back to Mumbai from here on our way home). It's much cleaner and more orderly than its bigger sisters, Mumbai and Delhi.A few places of interest in the city:
- The palace museum next to Padmanabhaswamy Temple is actually 2 museums that give you a glimpse into the lives of the kings who lived in the region around 100 years ago. It was really lovely.
- Azhimala Shiva Temple is right by the sea near Kovalam. Tourists cannot enter this temple, but the Cave Temple next door is absolutely amazing!! This underground cave has around 60 figures of Shiva carved into its walls, alongside beautiful goddesses and spectacular sculptures of sensual figures from Indian mythology. Simply lovely and fascinating.
- Arts & crafts village A pleasant, low-key place with lots of shops displaying and selling crafts made from coconut shells, wood, straw and other local materials. You can easily spend an hour or two here.