I was relocating to Thiruvananthapuram from Mumbai along with April (my pet Alsatian). Hence made it into a road trip. The idea was to travel every alternate day (around 300 kms) with one day rest in between and stay in more remote, not much visited beaches instead of popular ones. Cities are certainly "No, No."
The trickiest part was getting accommodation in these areas for me with pet. But we got to stay in really beautiful places, see some wonderful sceneries and taste some amazing country food (Malvan to Malabar). Please refer itinerary.
It was so nice of April that she cooperated so much in this travel of 13 days & 2000 kms.
Thanks to my Ford Fiesta & my driver Datta.
Tips for travelling with a dog:
Alter/ Arrange the rear seat of your car for the dog. Every one & half hour take a break for 15 mts at least. Feed her lots of water & take for a walk. Have a stick in the car for frightening stray dogs which try to protect their territory. Also note that many of the hotels which are mentioned as pet friendly in websites are NOT in actual. Throughout I stayed in resorts & not hotels.
April's friends were there to see off her in Bandra.As we were vacating from Amchi Mumbai on 2nd April, thought of taking a break in friend's house in Navi Mumbai. Stayed in Kalamboli for 2 nights just to digest & gradually take on the change. It is a different world altogether.
Our first stop. Reached there on 4th April after a long drive of 11 hours.Stayed in Kondavali village (Malvan region) with Arabian Sea beach in front & Kalaval creek behind.When you drive on the village road in evening you will see lot of people occupying almost half of the road & chatting. Wow. Kesari holiday beach resort - Basic facilities, Village Malvan food (Too good malvani fish dishes).Asked the resort owner family to give us the same food what they prepared for them. Freaked out with Tandlachi bakri, amti, sol kadi, malvani murgh & various fish fries during stay.Went on boat to the nearby island(? 10 m X 20m), Shimple point. A bit scary when you see water on all your 4 sides at few metres distance. The island was filled with shells.First time visited a Sangam (Confluence point). Sangam of Kalaval creek & Arabian Sea.Boat ride on confluence point was worth a experience.
Our second stop. Reached on 7th April after 7 hours drive. Here we reached a mountain jungle. Received on the roads by monkeys & peacocks. Beautiful place with Kudle beach on one side & Om beach on other side. Visited Om beach. Very different & lot of walking to reach. As i heard there are leopards on the other side of the road left just after one night. Nice lonely place. The wooden house stay will be really worth a stay. Wonderful view of Kudle beach.
Our third stop. Reached on 8th April after 4 hours drive.The most beautiful view i have ever seen on a road. Arabian sea on one side & River Sowparnika on the other side. You must see to feel it.On 9th April early morning, sat in the beach watching fishermen pulling the net back in the shore early morning. Easily half KM long net. 8 fishermen, couple of hours & result 5 fishes which was sold out for 300 Rs then & there.While coming back to resort, village kids were running along with the car looking at april. Watched how they climb coconut trees in this region. Calmest birthday ever. Am at peace.On the way to Kannur had breakfast in Mangalore, Shriratnam restaurant. Authentic SouthIndian taste.Lunch in Safire hotel, Kannur. Kerala parattha, mutton curry & rice.
Our fourth stop. Reached there on 11th April. It took more than 8 hours drive for 250 Km. Narrow roads & heavy traffic. Dinner Kerala paratthas, Kerala mutton biryani (very good rice).Also tasted fish rice balls for evening snack. The resort was really good & great hosting by the owner. Amazing view, right in front of the sea.Had amazing kannur special puttu, kilanghu, pathri, chemmeen, velappam.
Our fifth stop. Reached there on 13th April. Almost 12 hours travel. On the way in the village restaurants you have standard menu of parattha, chappathi, appam, patri along with chicken/ fish/ kondakadalai/ tomato curry. As the target was to reach Trivandrum by new year, we just rested that night. lot of jack fruit trees in the campus.
The destination. Reached here on Chithirai 1 (Tamil New Year), April 14th. Almost 7 hours drive. The state is getting ready for Vishu.And my journey will start now.
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