Christmas in Kerala

Rajasthan and Kerala have been always the top two Indian destinations I had always wanted to visit.........and I finally got my big chance this December when my aunt and uncle offered to take me along with them to Kerala.

After much deliberation on my uncle's part we decided to see Munnar, Thekkadi and Periyar. I personally would have loved to add Allepi to our list as well because that's where you can find the true essence of Kerala i.e in its backwaters. Anyway with much enthusiasm i set forth for this paradise early on 24Th morning to Cochin from where we were supposed to travel by road straight to Munnar.

I had heard that Kerala was a Christian state but just had not realized how different it could possibly be from a Hindu one. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many churches dotting the entire countryside.......and the best part was that they were all different but very pretty architecturally. I somehow felt like getting down and taking photos of each and every church that i passed by but due to time crunch was not able to.

We finally reached Munnar in the evening by which time the citizens had already stated lighting their homes and streets and Christmas's carols could be heard playing in the microphone... having studied in a catholic school. I never realized when bible reading and carol singing became part of my life... it actually felt good hearing all this after so long. Anyway that evening a big Christmas party was hosted in our hotel itself which was a lot of fun and the best part was that wine was free :)

We stayed in Munnar for 4 days which is basically a hill station. During this time we saw a lot of waterfalls, Nilgiri tahir(belongs to goat family), dams and even a sandalwood forest. The scenery was absolutely mind blowing at all times. This place is completely full of tea estates and coffee plantations. Perhaps the best part was (for me at least) was the rock climbing. I climbed almost 30feet and also did rappelling!

After that we stayed in Thekkadi for about 2.5 days. This place was a complete contrast to Munnar. Over here we saw the famous kathakali dance and other forms of their Kala. We also visited spice gardens which was quite a novel idea .......different actually.

My visit ended on 30Th December when i caught the plane back home. But would definitely like to see the other parts of Kerala someday. Its truly a wonderful place!