Monsoon : Travel - 2

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Guruvayur and Athirapalli

Our next stop was Kerala, where our family of seven flew to Kochi for our first trip together. As always there is no fun without family drama :) and makes it more interesting when one starts recoginising the patterns. Namma Bengaluru airport T2 has a good covered parking for long term parking, it works out cheaper than cabbing from home to airport and back if it is a 2-3 day trip. 

As we landed in Kochi, our taxi was ready, and the driver informed us that it had been raining continuously. Unfortunately, Athirapalli Falls was closed that day. We headed straight to Guruvayur and checked into The Temple Inn hotel, which was close to the temple. We reached Guruvayur around 2:00 PM, but the temple was closed. 

Since the rain had stopped, we decided to visit Chavakkad beach. We were the only family there, did some kite flying and took some photos. Later, only three of us went back to the beach to catch the beautiful sunset before returning to the hotel. That evening, we got ready and went to the Guruvayurappan temple. Since it was close to closing time, we opted for the paid darshan. We were also fortunate to see the elephants performing the parikrama, which made it divine.  Finding a place to eat afterward was tough, but the kids enjoyed Kerala parotta, and I found a nice roadside tea shop. The next morning, Amma and I went to the temple early. After about a half-hour wait, we had a peaceful darshan and spent some time inside the temple. 
After breakfast, we checked out and made our way to Athirapalli Falls on the way back to Kochi. The walk to the falls is about 2 km, and though it was a bit tough for Appa, Amma, and Puthith, they managed it with determination. Their enthusiasm was really inspiring - it made me wonder if I’ll have the same energy when I am their age. The falls, often called the "Niagara of India," was absolutely stunning, with the mist rising. It was the perfect end to our trip, and the rain stopped just in time for us to enjoy the view.
Before heading to the airport, we had a good meal at Saravana Bhavan and stopped to shop for Kerala chips and sweets, so many varieties, however the classic ones were the best, i got some for office and to ship to Niru. As always, we bought quite a lot! We arrived at Kochi airport ahead of time. The airport is really nice, and over the past couple of years, I’ve found Vistara to be the best airline—our flight was on time, and we got back home smoothly. 
 

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