Responsibly yours / Gramam, Kochi
If you have to showcase responsible tourism practices the way it should be – a collective effort – then frame this one. All the seafood, vegetables, egg, coconut, oil and fruits used in the homestay are produced locally ensuring benefit for the entire village. In the three-acre coconut farm surrounding the property no chemical fertiliser […]
Straight to the heart / Azheekan’s Homestay, Alappuzha
Babu Azheekan is the patriarch of the homestay, a celebrity chef whose culinary skills are a featured series in a local television channel. Now if I tell you staying at Azheekan’s is a gastronomic adventure, it will be redundant, right? Not really considering that most of the meals at the homestay is made by Girly; […]
Love lurks in every corner / Varikkat Heritage, Trivandrum
If the stories are anything to go by then this is a hopelessly romantic place; we won’t go to the extent of telling you that ‘this is the best place to renew your vows’ etc but certainly you could renew your love here – there is love in the air, in the history at least. […]
Life, simplified / Olavipe, Kerala
Being right next to the backwaters has its advantages – like free canoeing lessons for one. At the Thekkenat Parayil house on Olavipe island, the cerulean Kaithappuzha backwaters provide the best training ground for all wannabe-Robinson Crusoes – it is still and average a depth of just three feet. Then, till about early 2000s boats […]
Gondola town / Coconut Creek, Kottayam
The oar latched on to the show wall is not reminiscent of an era past but pretty much a pointer to all the fun and action awaiting you on the creek – right next door! Okay, fun and action in slo-mo; these are canals that lead to the famed Kumarakom Lake. Here under the masterful […]
The house by the side of the road / Walton’s, Fort Kochi
‘Let me live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to man.’ These words by poet Sam Walter Foss not just inspired but define Christopher Walton, the owner of Walton’s Homestay in Fort Kochi. By extension, it goes for his homestay as well – Walton’s is right by the […]
The sloth appeal / Serenity, Kanam Estate, Vazhoor
The best way to take in hinterland views is a ride with Puli and Chathampuli who are in no hurry unlike a cabbie or an auto rickshaw driver. In fact, to get them started after a break is a task in itself – they would be chewing absentmindedly, lost in some faraway thoughts. Yes, Puli […]
Like a flower from a bud / Amrutham, Trivandrum
Real rejuvenation first manifests as an acute happy somnolence. At Amrutham, a host of Ayurvedic massages and therapies by qualified practitioners take care of the first one; the location – surrounded by plush, green forest atop a hill – and aesthetically designed premises as per Vaastu caters to the second. When UK-based Sarah Cohen first […]