Kumarakom Trip

We did this 2 days and 2 nights trip to Kumarakom recently between 11th Oct and 13th Oct. A mix of good, and messed up bad experience, Kerala's infamous, brand identity, an unexpected hartaal!

 
Highlights

• Waterscapes, a Kerala Tourism Development Corporation place.
• Unique canal-themed backwater resort with stilted wooden hut cottage rooms.
• On the shores of Vembanad lake, and nested inside the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary.
• Cottage on a micro island with tiny canals all around, you reach through maze of mini bridges.
• A long walk inside the Bird Sanctuary, footpath, dense tree-cover (but no birds, as it was off season).
• But saw some nice birds in the resort, like Kingfishers, Cormorants, Pond Herons, etc.
• Trees and mangrove vegetation, ducks, turtles, dragon flies, squirrels, in the resort.
• A wink and miss sighting of monitor lizard that came by.
• Front lobby building - a brick structure built on stilts on the canal waters; as if floating.
• Pearlspot Restaurant - a wooden structure built on stilts in the lake backwaters; as if floating.
• Night walks from inside the resort to the main road amidst dark dense trees.
• The long walk to the nearby boat jetty on Meenachil river.
• A calm short boat-cruise on Meenachil river.

Lowlights

• Food
• Exorbitant cost of buffet lunch and dinner (each Rs 750 per head) at the restaurant.
• Walking on the highway in the night to a restaurant farby(!) was not too safe.
• Bird sanctuary
• October is not a good time to see any birds in the sanctuary. 
• Even after a long walk for 2 KM inside we did not spot even one bird there.
• But we saw some of them within our resort itself where we stayed.
• Tatkaal ticket
• We had to look for tatkaal ticket online on the next day of stay there.
• The internet was scratchy and their wifi was flaky too. 
• Ran around from the lake shore to the cottage to the front desk; 3-4 hours messed up.
• Hartaal
• A big issue in Kerala. Never know when there will be a complete flash strike!
• We were to vacate the next morning at 11 am, but at 11 pm previous night we heard this!
• Our train to Bangalore was at 3:30 PM from Kottayam Railway Station.
• We were 18 KM from Kottayam Railway Station and no vehicles from 6 AM next!!
• We vacated 4:30 am, got to a hotel 2.5 KM far from Kottayam Railway Station.
• Town was completely empty, with no shops or restaurants open; no vehicles on road.
• The day was messed up; came out and saw nothing; stayed indoors for that ~8 hours.
• Their restaurant was closed too, with just minimal room service, so we were lucky.
• Had to start the 2.5 KM walk from hotel to Railway Station, carrying all our baggage.
• Luckily we got an auto after we walked >1 KM.

Photos
Here are some pictures from our trip, and an Itinerary Outline and a few Trip Tips at the end...

 

 

 

Itinerary Outline

• Bangalore-Kanyakumari Express train no. 16526
• Departure 10Oct16, Mon, at BLR 8 pm, Arrival at Kottayam at 9 am the next morning
• Breakfast outside Kottayam Railway station at Uduppi Restaurant in Hotel Mali.
• Take a taxi (Rs 650) or auto (Rs 300) from Kottayam Railway station to KTDC Waterscapes 
• Waterscapes is in Bird Sanctuary in Kumarakom (about 18KM)
• Reach by about 10:30 am; Early check-in if available by 11 am [Actual check-in time is 1 pm]
• Stay 11th (Tue) night and 12th (Wed) night; 12th & 13th morning breakfast included in the cost
• Plan was to check out 11 am on 13th morning to go to Kottayam Railway station
• Kochuveli-Hubli train no. 12778 at 3:25 pm in Kottayam; Yeswantpur at 4:30 am next morning
• From 11 pm on 12th our trip was messed up by the hartaal next day
• Vacated at 4:30 am on 13th; moved to Hotel Arcadia
• No shops or vehicles; could not get food or water anywhere outside; stayed indoors till 2 pm
• Walked to train station with luggages >1 KM; luckily caught the train still at Kottayam
• Things to do: 
• Bird Sanctuary entry fee Rs 50 per adult - Free if you show Waterscapes cottage key
• Canal cruise boating to see village life on Meenachil river - Rs 650 per boat (3 adults)
• Shopping at the Curio shop on the main road entrance to Waterscapes

Trip Tips

• Trip for three for 2 nights would cost about Rs 20k at normal rates, including food and train. 
• MakeMyTrip sometimes offers a cottage deal of 3.5k discount for the 2 nights with breakfast.
• Keep checking the news and be sure there is no sudden hartaal in the next few hours to a day!
• Calm time sitting near the lake shore on the garden benches (too much of mosquitoes, bad!).
• Economic lunch / dinner outside at Menani Restaurant or Hotel Ashadom (same management)
• Long walk to Menani on the highway, after Meenachil river; about 1-1.5 KM from Waterscapes
• Cafe Kudumbashree chain - Samrudhi Ethnic Food Restaurant is another option for lunch
• Cafe Kudumbashree is at the river boat jetty; no dinner; price was cheap; taste was average

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