Trip to God's Own Country : Kerala

Christmas and New year time is a good time for a trip down to the beautiful state of Kerala,  The God’s own country!!

    During this time, the natural views of the valleys, tea estates, hills, sun rise becomes even more vivid and the climate would be cooler. Cochin comes to life to celebrate the Christmas eve, the fort kochi beach is all lighted up with decorative lights. Various carnival events are scheduled for the last week of December. Some of them include : dance show, rock show, angling competition, burning of big Santa Claus and fireworks for the new year night.

Trivandrum

    We have first reached Trivandrum city, as it is near to our next destination Kanyakumari. In Trivandrum, we booked our stay in Ginger hotel (Ph: 04716663333), which is maintained well, but is located outside the city. In the city, you get to see Military Ganapathi's temple, who is famous among the military people and is said to be a powerful god, because of which one would visit this little temple even before going to the bigger Anantha Padmanabaswamy temple, which is located near to it. In Padmanabhaswamy temple, men are allowed to wear only a dhoti. Purse, mobile phones, shirts are not allowed inside. And women have to wear chudidhar or a saree. If you are not suitably dressed, then you can pay a little fee near the entrance, to store your clothes and to rent a dhoti. Women in jeans are made to wear a dhoti around the jeans. Temple is open for darshan only at certain timings as mentioned below. Though you may not be allowed for darshan, you can still watch around the inside of the temple, which is big enough to keep you occupied for some time.

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Voyage to Ooty-Coonoor

Bangalore once had pleasant climate all though the year and it was one of the destinations chosen during the summer time. But for the past few years summers are more on the warmer side, because of which bangaloreans themselves are preferring to go to the cooler hill stations in the western ghats to spend their vacation time. Ooty is one of the famous hill stations located close to bangalore at 260Km, which is easily reachable by road. 

Ooty to Coonoor

   Best time to visit Ooty and Coonoor is during the peak summer time i.e March to May, as the temperature during this time is around pleasant 20 degrees, with beautiful misty sunrise and cold sunset.

   When i went there for the first time, i did research through online websites and filtered based on friend's suggestions. Before starting the trip plan, try hunting good deals provided by websites like :

• http://www.traveldealsfinder.com/
• http://timesdeal.com/bangalore-deals
• http://traveltriangle.com/
• http://www.travelguru.com/

And you can find good hotel reviews at :

• http://www.tripadvisor.in/
• http://www.holidayiq.com/

   Ooty can be reached from bangalore by bus, which can be booked via : Ksrtc or any bus ticket booking website. If you prefer flight or train (Bangalore Kanyakumari express), then plan to reach Coimbatore which has the nearest airport and major railway station. Ooty is well connected by road from here.

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