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| One of the friendliest people in the world!!! Photographed here with shelled clam sellers near the Thanneermukkom bund jetty or popularly referred to as The Three Bridges by locals. |
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| First morning view from Alfa Inn |
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| Along Kariyad - Airport - Mattoor Rd (NH544) |
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| Along Kariyad - Airport - Mattoor Rd |
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| Mangalapuzha Bridge and Periyar river |
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| Aluva train station |
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| Typical local buses at Aluva. |
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| Having our second breakfast at Aluva while waiting for a phone shop to open. This was a second fail case before a third fail case 20 m down the road later. |
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| Friendly shop owners who readily smile for our camera. Another shop owner 20 m down the road allowed Claudine to use the toilet even though she was not a diner |
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| Predominantly Christians, there are many churches in Kochi |
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| Getting lost while looking for the Pipeline road. This is behind St Mary's High School ground |
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| Aryaas chain of restaurants serves vegetarian cuisines |
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| NH66 with inner road |
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| Met Justin at Decathlon Thykoodam |
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| Kochi Kumbalam toll plaza where toll collector waves you on with a smile, toll free! |
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| Thanneermukkom flood gates are opened during the monsoon to allow flood waters to pass |
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| A small opening in the middle to allow traffic in Lake Vembanad |
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| Illikkalam Lakeside Resort |
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| Illikkalam Lakeside Resort |
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| Illikkalam Lakeside Resort |
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| Illikkalam Lakeside Resort |
Sunrise was earlier in Kerala. We slept less than 5 hours in Alfa Inn, having arrived past midnight to a dark lobby and a young scruffy young man sleeping on a wooden bench with a flat pillow.
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| Onion Utappam |
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| Thosai @ 50 rupees or RM3 is quite a standard price everywhere. |
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| Tea in fresh cow's milk, double boiled @ 20 rupees or RM1.20. Some places offer them at 10 rupees but in small whisky shots. |
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| Palace food court |
Palace food court was serving take-aways at 1.30 am this morning and continued to do so when we walked in for breakfast at their adjoining restaurant.
As India was once colonised by the British, most people can speak English, be it good or bad. We were advised by Palace's concierge to get our simcards from the airport or from the shop down the street. Unfortunately, we took the wrong move, choosing to go to the shop nearby as we knew upon our arrival that the airport does not offer the telco we wanted.
We will soon realize that getting a simcard in Kerala requires a local sponsor with a national ID and not every citizen holds an ID. It seems like the only place a foreigner can get a simcard without a sponsor is from the airport.
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| Pipeline Road at it's worst! |
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| Pipeline Road in general |
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| Pipeline Road passes by some farms and factories |
We were a bit adventurous and decided to try out the Pipeline Road when we spotted a very straight road that ran for miles. It wasn't exactly remote with dwellings along the way. We received a few curious smiles from the locals but Suresh on a Royal Enfield motorcycle smiled to Claudine before speeding ahead to ride alongside VT; chatting for a brief moment and shaking his hand before leaving us!
At the junction to Seaport Airport Road, we decided to leave Pipeline Road for good. There was just so much rattling we could take and it was slowing us down. Turning right, we followed this for a short distance before returning to NH544.
It seems the MRT train from Aluva runs above NH544. We followed this busy road with its MRT line, passing by Cochin University, Pathadipalam and Erdapally stations.
At Erdapally station, we turned left to join NH66 aka Salem Kochi Highway. Stopping for lunch at Aryaas, we were really touched by the owner's gesture to share his hot spot with us. Unfortunately, his package does not allow sharing but he pointed us to the nearest phone shop at Palarivattom. It was our fifth and final fail for the day!
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| Our first sight of Chinese fishing nets |
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| It was a Sunday and the streets were quiet |
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| Beautiful waterways along the way |
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| St Mary's Syro Malabar Forane Church, Pallipuram |
Not far after Kochi-Kumbalam toll plaza, we turned left at Shri Karthyayani temple. Here on, we were travelling on quiet village roads all the way to Thanneermukkom Bund.
Somewhere along this route, a family of four stopped their motorcycle to take a photo of us. We obliged by taking selfies with them. Disappointedly, we forgot to use our camera!
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| A curious local who had requested to try Peanut at The Bund |
Thanneermukkom Bund was constructed in 1974 to prevent tidal action and salt water intrusion in the Kuttanad low lands around Lake Vembanad. It is the largest mud regulator in India separating the into 2 parts; one with brackish water perennially and another with fresh water fed by the rivers draining into the lake. Meant to help the farmers in the area, The Bund had also created ecological problems in the area; primarily, the rampant propagation of the Water Hyacinth and the breeding of fish.
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| Houseboats in Kumarakom |
After The Bund, we still had some legwork in store for us. The sun was setting and we were in a hurry to arrive at Illikkalam Lakeside Cottages before dark. This time, the route was decked with golden paddy fields waiting for harvest.
Turning into Amankari road, the scenes began to change. The road was narrower, decked with potholes. Narrow canals weaved its way between rows of village homes. Through all the disparities, Park Regis and major resort homes loomed in the middle, all with lakefronts.
Just like yesterday, we had to trod on muddy potholes to get to our stay for the night. Dusk was approaching and mosquitoes were quick to welcome us just as our friendly receptionist was going through the paperwork. However, we were really lucky for just as we were walking to our lakeside cottage, the sun rewarded us with a last minute spotlight just before it's final descent into the horizon.
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Illikalam Lakeside Cottages, Kumarakom
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| All toilets in budget hotels comes with pail and ladle for washing. Toilet paper has to be requested. |
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| Meals can be pre-ordered allowing an hour's head ups |
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| Honey bees |
