CAPTIVATING KERALA—TRAVELOGUE
JANUARY 2026
By Rochelle Almeida
Llew had never been to Kerala, while I would be returning there for the fourth time. I had first been in 1984, then in 2011 and 2018. This time round, I was invited to present a paper at an International Anglo-Indian conference in Cochin and decided to use the opportunity to tour Kerala with Llew who made the choice to accompany me. Accordingly, I used Chat GPT for the very first time to plan an itinerary based on a ten-day break and then tweaked its suggestions to suit our needs.
Kerala is often referred to as “God’s Own Country” and by the time we were done with our travels in this state, we had to accept that the appellation is entirely appropriate. We had a really lovely time and returned home with beautiful memories of a very gentle place and very gentle people.
Friday, January 9, 2026:
Bombay-Cochin
As our Indigo flight was scheduled to leave Bombay at 8.10 am, we needed to be at the airport at 6.10 am. This involved waking up at 5 am, calling an Uber at 5.30 am and driving through the still-quiet streets of Bombay to get to the airport. Indigo recently had a major disruption of its service which had caused chaos in the lives of millions of Indians and although services had resumed, there were still some glitches to be ironed out. We were not surprised, therefore, to find that our flight was delayed by 90 minutes. By the way, we were airborne, it was about 9.45 am. This meant that we would miss a meeting with my cousin, Blossom and her daughter Menaka, both of whom were flying into Cochin at approximately the same time. Our delay meant that they waited for us for over an hour to enable us to grab a coffee together at the airport…but in the end, they tired of waiting and left. We would meet them, four days later, in Cochin once again.
The flight was short, comfortable and uneventful (until the very end—when something very unusual happened—more about that later). I know that flying down South offers passengers seated on the left side of the aircraft the opportunity to see the coast of Bombay pass down below. Hence, we had chosen our seats carefully. However, it was really smoggy and although I did get some pictures of the map of Bombay as seen from at least 20,000 feet above sea level, they are not as clear as I would have liked.
For the rest of the flight, after we left Bombay and headed south, we flew over multiple mountain ranges—all really picturesque and pretty as the early morning sun’s rays hit them. Llew and I had downed a cup of coffee before leaving home, so we were quite hungry by the time in-flight breakfast service began. However, we had already paid for a Chicken Tikka Sandwich which we really enjoyed with the airline’s famous Blue Tea (a delicious cinnamon and cardamom-flavored brew) and with that we felt ready for what the day would offer.
Viewing Cochin from the air when we were flying over it was a very interesting experience especially as we could clearly see Fort Cochin laid out before us. We could see the river that flows down to the sea and the two halves of the land mass that makes up this port area. A few days later, we’d actually be exploring this area on foot—so it felt terrific to see it from up there. We also saw maps made of this area in the 1600s by Dutch cartographers when they first arrived on the Malabar Coast. Their versions exactly mirror the land mass we saw below us.
An Unusual Landing in Cochin:
We also had a most interesting and unusual experience when we were landing at Cochin International Airport. We had made the grand descent and were actually parallel to the runway—in fact, just inches above it—when the aircraft suddenly picked up height again and became airborne once more! We had absolutely NEVER encountered such an experience in several decades of flying and the entire aircraft was stunned into silence at what had just happened. It was a good fifteen minutes later and, after we were very up much in the air again, that the Captain came on the PA system to inform us that there had been a technical reason for the second take-off. He told us that this was actually common practice and nothing to alarm us. I have to say that we were not convinced. Anyway, about half an hour later, after we had encircled the city for over twenty minutes, we made another landing—thankfully, it was safe and uneventful. We texted our relatives only to find that they had waited for us for a good hour and then left the airport—we missed them by a hair.
Getting out of Cochin airport (we had no check-in baggage but just a small carry-on each as we are notoriously light travelers), we found our private taxi driver Shiju waiting with a sign that proclaimed “Dr. Rochelle Almeida”. I went up to him while beaming and said, “Hello, that’s me”. The taxi service, by the way, had been organized by me while still in Bombay, through a Kerala-based friend, who had recommended the company (Vaz Travels). They had sub-contracted this 9-day trip to Shiju who stayed with us throughout. And so, within ten minutes, he brought our car, a white Suzuki, to the pick-up area and we were off and away. Hello Cochin, I thought, and Hiya Kerala. We had arrived and were ready to begin our travels.
First Destination—Munnar, Tea Garden Capital of India:
Once in the taxi, we stashed away our bags, put on our seat belts and were off. Now, the distance between Cochin and Munnar (our first destination) is just 126 kms or 78 miles. In the US, we’d have been able to cover this distance in a little over an hour. Here, it was estimated to take four hours as we’d be traveling through tiny little villages, narrow roads lined with shops and people and then through mountainous terrain with hairpin curves. Yes, it would be slow going, but we were in no hurry and were determined to enjoy the journey as much as the first port of call.
Lunch En Route to Munnar:
En route, we stopped for lunch as we started to feel distinctly peckish. Shiju found us a small restaurant where we opted for a typically Keralite meal: we had prawn masala and beef roast with Kerala Parotta. A word about these items: Kerala is one of the few states in India where beef is not banned (we do not get or eat beef in Maharashtra of which Bombay is the capital), Hence, when traveling, we do try to eat as much beef as possible. Kerala’s Beef Roast is legendary as is its Fried Beef (although this tends to be much more spicy as it is marinated overnight in a mixture of spices). The Parotta is also different from that of the rest of India. It is also called a Malabar Parotta—it is far more flaky than the usual and is structured in an interesting circular pattern. For dessert. we chose to share the Payassam—which is a typical Kerala pudding made with a different star ingredient (vermicelli, sago, wheat, dal or lentils) and coconut milk, sweetened with raw sugar called Jaggery. Well, this one was a wheat payassam and while it was very good, it was also a bit filling. We could not get through the whole cup although we shared it. Anyway, our meal was just delicious. We had it with lassi (we had decided to drink only bottled water on our travels—just filtered water, we felt, would not do) and soon we were off on the road again. This was the first of the many delicious meals we would consume as Kerala’s cuisine is legendary.
Arrival in Munnar:
About ninety minutes later, we arrived in Munnar. It was clearly evident that we were there as the first tea estates came into view and, on seeing them, my heart leapt up. Using the GPS, we arrived in Munnar Town and found the location of our first accommodation: the Rheinburg Town House B&B which was owned by Germans and run by a Keralite man called Kannan. After climbing up a really steep hill, just past the very center of Munnar Town, we arrived at the entrance where Kannan met us. He introduced himself to us and informed us that he would look after all our needs as he was the manager.
Kannan led us about 150 meters, past a small and very noisy church (apparently it was a religious feast and they were celebrating by making a most unbelievable din), into his property. It was a very pretty place indeed with a lovely flower garden in the front. However, we did not have either a garden or mountain view as we were led to the very side of the property and in through a side door into a very sparsely furnished room. I guess you could say this was a ‘no-frills’ place. But the bed and mattress looked clean and comfortable and the en suite bathroom was just as clean and satisfactory. As we’d only be there for two nights, we were not unduly concerned by the spartan accommodation.
The din from the church next door (shot through the air through a most powerful PA system) was unbearable and I was simply disgusted by the noise. I realize that while I can take air pollution, it is the noise pollution that drives me nuts in India. Anyway, Kannan assured us that it would stop in about half an hour and he was right. We sent him out to buy us cold tonic water (as we had stopped en route to buy ourselves a bottle of red wine and a bottle of gin) and since we were really too full after our rather late lunch, we merely nibbled on chips and nuts and got ready for bed. Yes, the cacophony from the church next door did stop in about a half hour and we had a blissfully quiet night’s sleep.
We would leave the bulk of our sightseeing in Munnar for tomorrow—so it was with very grateful hearts that we fell asleep.
Until tomorrow, see ya…
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