Story Teller

Bonacaud is known for its breathtaking beauty. Bonacaud was once a majestic tea estate set up by the British right below the Agasthya mountain ranges in Trivandrum.  Bonacaud is very close to Ponmudi hills, taking a deviation at the Theviyode Junction, takes you to Bonacaud. The road forward is fairly rough. Be careful as you drive along this winding road because coming across wildlife is a common occurrence. As you go on, you might get to see the Peppara Dam in all its grandeur. Getting a good glimpse however is rare as the area is almost always shrouded in a thick layer of mist. The plush green mountain ranges move past your windows and the buildings in the Bonacaud estate stand grimly in the distance. The journey started with one of my close friends, Rajesh and his wonderful team of colleagues.  Trekking expeditions are quite common in this area and quite a few groups arrive every day to explore the factory ruins and the famous, haunt...

I love travelling the length and breadth of my home state Kerala and this time around, I decided to cruise the back waters around Alappuzha (Alleppey).  This is mostly unknown initiative "See Kuttanad" service of the Kerala State Water Transport Department (SWTD) where I was able to do a 2 hour cruise for a very reasonable sum of 30 Rupees. I reached the State Water Transport Department (SWTD) boat station near the local bus station at Alappuzha around 01:15 PM. On reaching I found that the SWTD offers a "See Kuttanad" cruise. This is apparently running since 2012 and there are five daily services. of 2 hours (round trip). There was one at 01:35 PM which I decided to take. These are not strictly cruise boats. SWTD has deployed a double deck boat on a regular passenger service from Alappuzha to Kainakary - a village in the Kuttanad area with multiple stops which is about 1 hour away. The boat turns back immediately...