Travel Exploring Kerala on Shoe-String Budget
From rustic bus rides to sumptuous fish curries to mesmerising backwaters — traveling across Kerala as a solo woman backpacker is an unparalled experience , says Shipra Singh
T hey say Kerala is God ’ s own country . I wasn ’ t too sure what that meant when I embarked on my solo trip across Kerala from Bengaluru . With a tight budget and loose itinerary , I was brimming with excitement about the coming six days .
Bus ride from Ernakulam ( Cochin ) bus stand to Fort Kochi was my first brush with Kerala and its culture . Arriving at Fort Kochi , I dumped my rucksack in the hostel I had booked and set out for city tour on my ride ; a bicycle . The port city is a perfect amalgam of the old and the new . It offers historical sites like Indo-Portuguese museum , Synagogue in Jew Town , Mattancherry Palace , Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica , St . Francis Church , etc . and has a vibrant art and café scene . The day went by exploring the tourist attractions and concluded watching sunset on the beach while exchanging stories with a fellow Canadian backpacker I had befriended in my hostel .
Day two started with a ferry ride from Fort Kochi to Ernakulam bus stand at six in the morning watching sunrise against humongous ships docked at ports . Hesitantly enough , I took a rustic , non-AC KSRTC bus for Munnar as it was going to be my first one such long journey . However , now I can claim without exaggerating that the bus rides were the highlight of my entire trip . Shared with locals , each ride through lush green mountains and little towns was breathtakingly beautiful . One peculiar detail about Kerala government buses which amused me was absence of glass windows , and even iron bars for that matter , to which nobody had a clear explanation . Either you get an all-clear unhindered view or an opaque shutter on your face .
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Outlook Money December 2017 www . outlookmoney . com