Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside

Tripoto
22nd Apr 2014
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 1/23 by moumita chakraborty
The thick green by the side
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 2/23 by moumita chakraborty
Through the water
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 3/23 by moumita chakraborty
Get, set...go
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 4/23 by moumita chakraborty
Happy me!
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 5/23 by moumita chakraborty
Yes we went inside those mangroves
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 6/23 by moumita chakraborty
The estuary
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 7/23 by moumita chakraborty
Fifty shades of Green
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 8/23 by moumita chakraborty
The Coconut of God's own country
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 9/23 by moumita chakraborty
The sea ahead
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 10/23 by moumita chakraborty
Surrounded huts and houses
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 11/23 by moumita chakraborty
The Resort
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 12/23 by moumita chakraborty
Something the photographer can understand :P
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 13/23 by moumita chakraborty
The resort building
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 14/23 by moumita chakraborty
Yes that is very much India
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 15/23 by moumita chakraborty
What a view the residents have!
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 16/23 by moumita chakraborty
One of the restaurants
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 17/23 by moumita chakraborty
U read it right! Thats Chilly's
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 18/23 by moumita chakraborty
Me and my happiness
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 19/23 by moumita chakraborty
Nothing more I ask of
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 20/23 by moumita chakraborty
The beauty
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 21/23 by moumita chakraborty
Now the shades of blue
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 22/23 by moumita chakraborty
The wild and blue it is
Photo of Poovar Backwaters – The floral ride and the foodie inside 23/23 by moumita chakraborty
Vigor!

I know it is insane if you think of it, but believe me, we took a ride in a local autorickshaw to reach Poovar from Kovalam beach. A 30 minute ride with a lot of stories from the driver Alex about the place. Poovar is a small coastal village in the Trivandrum district of Kerala. It has an estuary which connects with the sea during high tides. The 56 km Neyyar River passes through Neyyattinkara taluk into the Arabian Sea near Poovar. The name Poovar descended from Malayalam words for flower “poo” and river “var”. The place was enchanted indeed.

On reaching the river bank, we took a boat with boatmen to row us through the mangrove estuary to the sea. Our boat sneaked into the thick overhead flora reflecting in the dark water of the estuary. With a fervent photographer by the side, thankfully, the boatmen rode us real slow for us to capture the beauty around us. During our ride, there was a point where the overhead green growth actually hid the sun light. Oh yes, it reminded me of the candle light boat ride to Tia Dalma of Pirates of Carribean.

The ride took us through small villages and the boatman relayed us the information about the places. After about 30 minutes, I could not let myself sit any more, the vast blue water of the sea was ahead of us. It was a treat to the eyes. As a contrast, behind us was the think dark water with trees, shrubs lining every inch of it. It was like God just changed his mood of drawing mangrove and opened the canvass for the wild blue sea.

I was eager to get down on the sand and rush to the shore, but the boatman shows us something more interesting. A floating restaurant. Woohoo!!! Who would not like to gratify the tummy in such a beautiful setting, and why not when we are getting to eat freshly caught butter fish fry with some spirit to go along? We placed our order and then our tactful boatman rode us to the shore. It was not a shore to be specific, but a narrow strip of land dividing the sea and the backwaters. The throng was scarce and we soaked ourselves in the beauty of the place. After a playful 20 minutes, we came to the restaurant to devour our lunch. It was heaven! The people there were friendly and surprised us with a card transaction to the bill in the middle of the sea. Technology!

Then we rode back to the stream side bidding goodbye to the good people who provided the service. Absolutely amazing the experience was. The pictures can most explain my elation.