"Mountains, rivers and seas have a tremendous attraction for me."

I feel a mystic experience when I am in these locations. It has a humbling effect on me. Couple of years ago when I drove through the 'Lake District of England' and later cruised through the 'Sounds of South New Zealand' I had experienced the ultimate Nature’s bounty to mankind. Little did I know then that I was so near God’s own country and was blissfully ignorant of the beauty and grandeur so near home.

Recently I had the opportunity of joining 50+ Voyagers Travel and Adventure Club on a trip to Kerala, with a group of Senior Citizens. I had earlier always felt that much is being made by that description of Kerala – God’s own country. How ignorant I was! Permit me to share the joy and experience I derived from this trip.

"My ecstatic tryst with Kerala began with the walk on the sun-kissed sands of Cherai beach. "

The pristine blue waters of Arabian Sea left me to totally entranced as I watched the endless waves which rushed to wash my feet. The reward for waiting and patiently watching the waves was the beautiful scene of the graceful setting of the sun in the horizon.

The drive to Alappuzha from Cherai was very picturesque. We passed through villages and small towns which had cute houses, some small and some large, with sloping tiled red roofs surrounded by lots of greenery. Almost all houses sported gardens with colourful flowers and coconut trees. The scene was very cooling and pleasing to the eyes. What caught my attention were the roads totally clean and clear of any garbage or litter anywhere, which is a very rare sight in most parts of urban India. Even the coconut water vendors were very particular about the way in which they disposed of the coconut shells and plastic straws used by the tourists.

The houseboat experience on the back waters for almost one and half days was exhilarating. The gondolas on the Venetian canals are no match to these simple yet beautiful houseboats on the meandering Kerala backwaters.

They were absolutely clean and comfortable, and the teak furniture on the boats were highly polished and shining that one did not need to dust the seats before occupying them. The houseboats were furnished with a view to provide maximum comfort, and the large windows in the cute little cabins gave a good view of the scenery on the banks of the backwaters. Added feature of the houseboat was the hospitality that was shown to the tourists with their tasty food and hot cups of tea that was served during the sailing. The kitchen on the boat was also maintained in total ship shape condition. The houseboat chug chugged through the vast backwaters that were very wide at places appearing like a huge river. At regular intervals we found small blue structures on the banks which were actually boat stations. Small boats operated from these stations to ferry local people from village to the other. This transportation system was as efficient, simple and cheap as the BEST bus system in Mumbai. We also saw a huge station were the annual regatta participants were trained and the races were organised. This sport is a normal feature of the Onam festivities.

After enjoying the houseboat trip on the canals, we headed towards the Wild Life sanctuary at Thekkady.

There was a total change of terrain; from the sea level of Cherai and Alappuzha we began climbing the tail end of the Western Ghats.

The very anticipation of watching wild elephants, tigers and other animals in their natural habitat raised the level of adrenal in me. I had earlier mentioned that mountains stimulate in me a spiritual and mystic feeling.

The winding roads on the Ghats with the deep green forests of teak trees and rubber plantations on one side, and terraced spice and tea plantations in the valleys were a treat for the eyes. As we had left quite early in the morning the weather was very pleasant and there was just a suggestion of mist around the mountain tops, a scene which any painter would love to paint.

At Thekkady we stayed in a forest resort within the Sanctuary. It was a short walk from the forest resort to Periyar Lake, which was formed by the construction of Mullaperiyar Dam on the river Periyar. It was a vast water body the banks on which wild elephants, tigers, bisons and other fauna variety come to drink water. We cruised around the huge lake in a huge motorboat. We spotted elephants and their calf, frolicking near the banks, and also saw tigers, wild boars, bisons, and sambhar. I had seen all these animals except elephants only in zoos and circuses. To see them in their natural habitat was an awesome sight.

The very beautiful scene was worthy of Wordsworth’s thought –'to recall in tranquillity leisure'.

Thekkady experience was followed by the exhilarating drive to Munnar, a tourist paradise. God seems to have been very partial towards this section of the Western Ghats, which is rich in its foliage, forests, and small waterfalls and also man made tea and spice plantations. For the first time I actually saw how latex was tapped from the tall rubber trees and how the process was protected from rains. This trip, I realize, was not just a tourist sight-seeing activity, but it also was an educational experience which taught us about various things which we just take for granted and never try to understand them totally.

Munnar is a beautiful place to escape from the mad rush of the urban cities and relax amidst the natural beauty which God’s Own Country bountifully provides us with.

The visit to the Spice gardens opened to us an encyclopaedic world of information about Ayurveda, our own native medical science. The very well-informed guide described different medicinal values and strengths of the various spices which we use in our daily food. Needless to say that many of us indulged in buying lots of spices which would last for our life time.

The walk through the Rose garden was also very pleasant. It was a terraced garden which not only had different varieties of roses, but also varieties of other exotic flowers. The visit to the tea plantation and factory was also very interesting. A tiny little museum within the factory displayed various communication gadgets and instruments that were used by the Plantation owners in the 18th and 19th centuries.

This Kerala tour ended with a visit to Mattanchery, Kochi where we visited the Dutch palace built in 1555 A.D by the Portugese when they were overwhelmed by the hospitality of the Rajah of Cochin. Strangely it is called a Dutch palace though originally built by Portugese, as it was renovated by the Dutch when they had the political power for a short duration. The palace has some beautiful frescoes and mural paintings of scenes from our Epics, Mahabharata and Ramayan.

Only thing I missed on the entire trip was the sight of the Kerala ladies in their original native pearl white mundu tundu, which seems to have been discarded and have been replaced by the garish synthetic sarees and salwar khameez. So sad!

This wonderful enjoyable and educative trip was made possible by 50+Voyagers Travel and Adventure Club. It would be unforgivable on my part if I do not mention how well they managed a group of senior citizens who could be handful even for their own families, let alone a total stranger. Tour Manager's pleasing manners and cheerful smile lit up even the grouchiest of face every morning. Thank you 50+Voyagers team who made this trip a wonderful experience.