A group of 100 odd people embarked on a trip to God’s Own Country. You guessed it right, Kerala. An industrial visit was organised by our department to the cities of Cochin, Munnar and Athirapally.
The trip was scheduled from October 2, 2013 to October 5, 2013. We all congregated at the Chennai Central station and packed our dinners at Saravana Bhavan, a high class vegetarian restaurant known for it’s South Indian cuisine dishes. The train departed at 19:45 hours from Chennai. The name of the train was Trivandrum Express. Our destination was Cochin which was scheduled to arrive at 06:00 hours. The name of the station was Ernakulam.
October 2, 2013
After we arrived at Cochin, we made our way to the hotel via buses which were pre booked for the students. The name of the hotel was A.V. Residency and we had checked into our respective rooms by 07:30 hours. The hotel was amply comfortable and we had unpacked and bathed in a couple of hours.
We then embarked on a rather fun and riotous trip on the buses to Wonderla-Veegaland, an amusement park that boasted of an assortment of fun and thrilling rides. The ride was an hour long and we scattered as we entered the park. Water rides, dry rides, thrilling ones and rather childish ones; you name it and the ride was there for you to enjoy. Several canteens also dotted the energetic landscape and we exhausted ourselves till the faculty members declared it time for us to leave. That time was 18:00 hours. A sleepy eyed and tousle haired lot then arrived back at the hotel to have a sizable dinner served by the hotel. The next day was to be the Industrial Visit and we were all instructed to be ready by 08:00 hours at the hotel doorstep.
October 3, 2013
The next day proved to be rather an interesting one that had a very mundane start. The industry that we visited was FACT, a fertiliser plant in Kerala. The visit was quickly wrapped up in an hour and we all left for the Cherai beach. The beach is an hour and a half ride from the hotel, which we spent dancing and singing in the bus. The sea welcomed us with its pleasant temperature and beautiful view and we wasted no time in running into the water. The beach took up the whole evening as we enjoyed ourselves immensely.
The faculty then decided to take us to the “Marine Drive of Cochin”, a smaller version of Mumbai’s marine Drive. It was serenely lit and was bustling with crowds as a group of 100 enlarged the crowd further. We returned to the hotel and prepared ourselves for a long travel the next morning to Munnar.
October 4, 2013
We departed from Cochin at 05:00 hours for Munnar. After a tiring ride of 7 hours, we arrived at Munnar and checked into the hotel Dhanyashree Inn. The place was comparatively chilly and frosty. We left for a tea plant known as Kanaan tea estate. We were shown various types of Tea plantations and procedures to sift them and package. Various photos were clicked and interested people also purchased tea packets to take back home.
We then left for a famous lake at Munnar which was known for boating and sightseeing. After lazing around there for an hour or so, we came back to our hotel to get ready for a camp fire session. The camp fire was to be held at an open ground, a couple of miles away from the hotel. The camp fire commenced after dinner and ran into the night till 23:00 hours. Dance and Singing had worn us out quite a bit and we came back to have a good sleep.
October 5, 2013
The following morning was ‘pack up day’ as we all boarded the bus for a visit to Athirapally Falls, a breath taking specimen of nature’s beauty. The falls was situated at a long distance from the city and we arrived at the falls at 15:00 hours. The path was a steep one and we had to walk for a kilometre before we could view this beauty. No words in any language known to man can describe the awe this place creates in the mind of a man. Make sure you visit these falls when in vicinity.
We then made our way back to the Ernakulam station. The Trivandrum express took us back to where we started from on the dawn of 6th October, 2013.
