Poovar, Kerala

Kerala is my home state. This means I have been to very limited touristic places in Kerala and I end up being at home or visiting the N number of relatives who are dispersed throughout the state. So, I would have traveled along the entire length and breadth of the state, but I would have seen very limited wonders Kerala has to offer.

This time when I planned to be at home, I thought I should take T out to some real backwaters and show her the small kids splashing about and that should help get her to love the water like I do. We decided to visit Poovar and take a long boat ride through the meandering, narrow waterways. There were very recent rains towards the coastal regions of Kerala, so it was perfect with lots of water and not too hot and humid a weather to enjoy the beauty.

Identify the bird

Floating cottages of Poovar

Meandering backwaters

Poovar, lies about an hours drive from Trivandrum. It is an easily accessible location, and worked for us a great day trip. The motor boat rides through the backwaters can be taken for 1 or 2 hours, and they drive you all the way upto the Golden Sand beach. The beach is beautiful and the waves are soft and not as rough a Kovalam. There are just tender coconut vendors at this beach, which is really the mouth where the sea water enters to form the backwater stretch at Poovar.

Once you finish with the boat ride there are some great restaurants around Poovar, at the innumerable resorts which serve great food. Local cuisine and sea food being the top fare.

Giggling kids splashing in the water

We decided to head to Kovalam to gorge on some sea food, and boy, did  we gorge! Crabs, squids, prawns and fish, we did true justice to being at the coast!

Sea wall

Harbour