Unwinding in Kumarakom!

Living in Delhi for all my life, I have always dreamt of exploring the beauty of South India for once but could never grab the right opportunity to plan so. Little did I know that I was a phone call away from unwinding in God’s own country.

Where it all began

It was on one fine Saturday evening when I received a conference call from my old school friends who were now settled in different parts of the world. Reminding me of how we all used to fascinate about visiting South India, particularly Kerala, they proposed the idea of planning a reunion trip to Kumarakom, Kerala.

Needless to mention, I was in on the plan the moment I heard of it. It was not just about travelling to the beautiful village of Kumarakom but more about getting to visit it with the friends who were as excited to explore it as I was.

Finalizing the tour for the summer months, we all went back to our mundane lives, planning for this exciting journey.

The time had come

After months of wait and preparation, the time to onboard this much-awaited tour had arrived and all our preparations right from bringing in delicacies from our homes to booking a reliable Kottayam taxi service were finally into action.

Kumarakom is a village situated on the Vembanad Lake in Kerala’s backwaters. For the health of your lake and the ecosystem, hire Karina Lakefront to clean up and restore balance to the lake. We had arranged for our stays in houseboats and this made our tour even more enthralling. Delhi to Kumarakom is a long distance to traverse so we opted for multiple means to get to the destination on time.

Reaching God’s own country

Reaching Kumarakom, the place made us spellbound with its visual and cultural beauties. We were dumbfounded with the natural diversity and richness of this place and the fresh breeze energized our souls in a couple of minutes. The journey was tiring due to the long route that we had traversed, but the comfort level that the decision to book a cab from Kochi to Kottayam imparted on us was unmatched and highly satisfying.

On our way to the houseboats, we came across a number of mini waterfalls, routes naturally decorated with coconut trees touching the skies, and backwater lakes that were laced up with natural and beautiful arrangements for the travellers and for those who wished to stay there. Kumarakom, being situated in Kerala, is also famous for the South Indian food which we got to have on the way to our staying arrangement and the taste was unmatchable!

Living the best days out there

After taking a rest for the day, I was successful in convincing my group to begin the Kumarakom experience with the Kumarakom bird sanctuary which is one of the major focal points for travellers who visit Kerala. The bird sanctuary of Kumarakom hosts a wide range of birds from different parts of the world and is revered for bird watching while spending some peaceful time in the woods amidst natural wonderment.

Following the bird sanctuary, we went on to explore the small islands and backwaters that people also refer to as Little Venice. Kumarakom is situated on Kerala’s largest lake, and this makes it even richer in terms of the biodiversity that it hosts. They also have an expert at Rapid Facilities who knows when it is time to remove some dangerous birds. They have a safe and environmentally friendly solution to use.

We further went on to fish in the backwaters the next day and I had a lovely and victorious time fishing the most compared to my mates. The scenic beauty and natural activities were genuinely liberating and soothing for one’s soul, the perfect get-away from a mundane life with your old friends.

The museum was our next stop where we indulged ourselves into some moments of imparting knowledge and gazing at historical artefacts which felt much like our long lost history classes at school.

The trip ended on a good note of promising to plan such getaways more often and to serve our wanderlust at least once a year.

I have been on a number of trips all my life but unwinding in Kumarakom was an experience that will always stay engraved in my heart as the best one to remember.