A beautiful place and a kind people to meet. Last year (2017) Christmas to (2018) New Year break, me and Mahesh went to his friend Jerin's place in Marthandam and we stayed there for four days. Marthandam is in Kerala, Tamilnadu border, Most of the streets where like the left side is Tamilnadu and right side is Kerala. Colloquial language of Marthandam is not Tamil or Malayalam, it is so different, it’s a mixture of both the languages. We were both awed by Jerin and his family’s hospitality.
The nearby places from Marthandam are Kanyakumari, Thirparappu falls, Trivandrum, Ponmudi, and Varkala. Since Kanyakumari is the (As we have visited Kanyakumari many times so we are planning to explore rest of the places in Marthandam) default place for all time, we skipped it this time.
On first day evening, after spending time with Jerin's family we went to Thirparappu falls. Thirparappu waterfall is some 200 to 300 feet long and consists of a rocky riverbed. The water falls from 40 to 50 feet high.Walking and crossing the slippery rocks over the riverbed and moving towards the waterfall was so exciting with lots of excitement and eagerness we crossed the riverbed and took bath in the falls. Initially, I was refuse to enter into the fall, because of its chillness. Later it was fun when the water touches my scalp. I am feeling like I was stuck with some current wires every-time when that forceful water touches my scalp, it boasts the blood circulations and refreshes the energy of my entire body. We enjoyed a lot at the falls, bathing in it makes me feel light and fresh. It was simply amazing.
The second day starts with a boating in Povaru backwater, it takes minimum an hour to finish, boating starts in the backwater and slowing went into the Povaru and through the confluence of Povaru into the Arabian sea. There we can have a small walk on the beach and we return back to the host by boat. This boating is the time for bird watching, we got a chance to see piper and few other foreign swarms. After the boating, we started to Varkala.
Varkala is a beautiful and peaceful place to visit, try to stay at least a day in any one those beach view resorts, it's a different pleasantness to watch the sea from the cliffs in the daytime and also 1000 of lamped boats in night gives the feeling that we are not nearer to the sea.
Third day morning after breakfast we started from Varkala to Ponmudi and Meen Mutti waterfalls. Trekking starts in Kallaru riverside for more than 2 km in the hills, at one point we need to cross the Kallaru river to see the waterfall. It is so thrilling to crossing the river by stepping on the slippery rocks with the help of a rope. This waterfall is in the foothills of ponmudi, it is so dangerous to take bath at meen mutti waterfall, so it is prohibited. Taking a small dip in fresh water always refreshed our body, It is possible to take bath at the Kallaru river where we start our trucking.
Ponmudi is the hill of grasslands with many viewpoints, a perfect place to take selfies when its sunny and perfect place to enjoy with mist and drizzles. It's your luck whether mist or sunny.
The final day we visited our most awaited place Padamanathapuram palace built in 1600. I am searching for a word to explain about its infrastructures, Also I wonder the way the king's lived on those days, how many workers they had to maintain it and their management strategies. Everything was well planned and convincingly made. King's room and King's mother room has a balcony to see the lawn and separate halls for reading, prayers and meeting the other officials of their kingdom. I have taken more than 200 photos in that palace. I'm going to write a separate post about Padamanathapuram palace and the kings.
See you soon in my next post.
The nearby places from Marthandam are Kanyakumari, Thirparappu falls, Trivandrum, Ponmudi, and Varkala. Since Kanyakumari is the (As we have visited Kanyakumari many times so we are planning to explore rest of the places in Marthandam) default place for all time, we skipped it this time.
On first day evening, after spending time with Jerin's family we went to Thirparappu falls. Thirparappu waterfall is some 200 to 300 feet long and consists of a rocky riverbed. The water falls from 40 to 50 feet high.Walking and crossing the slippery rocks over the riverbed and moving towards the waterfall was so exciting with lots of excitement and eagerness we crossed the riverbed and took bath in the falls. Initially, I was refuse to enter into the fall, because of its chillness. Later it was fun when the water touches my scalp. I am feeling like I was stuck with some current wires every-time when that forceful water touches my scalp, it boasts the blood circulations and refreshes the energy of my entire body. We enjoyed a lot at the falls, bathing in it makes me feel light and fresh. It was simply amazing.
The second day starts with a boating in Povaru backwater, it takes minimum an hour to finish, boating starts in the backwater and slowing went into the Povaru and through the confluence of Povaru into the Arabian sea. There we can have a small walk on the beach and we return back to the host by boat. This boating is the time for bird watching, we got a chance to see piper and few other foreign swarms. After the boating, we started to Varkala.
Varkala is a beautiful and peaceful place to visit, try to stay at least a day in any one those beach view resorts, it's a different pleasantness to watch the sea from the cliffs in the daytime and also 1000 of lamped boats in night gives the feeling that we are not nearer to the sea.
Third day morning after breakfast we started from Varkala to Ponmudi and Meen Mutti waterfalls. Trekking starts in Kallaru riverside for more than 2 km in the hills, at one point we need to cross the Kallaru river to see the waterfall. It is so thrilling to crossing the river by stepping on the slippery rocks with the help of a rope. This waterfall is in the foothills of ponmudi, it is so dangerous to take bath at meen mutti waterfall, so it is prohibited. Taking a small dip in fresh water always refreshed our body, It is possible to take bath at the Kallaru river where we start our trucking.
Ponmudi is the hill of grasslands with many viewpoints, a perfect place to take selfies when its sunny and perfect place to enjoy with mist and drizzles. It's your luck whether mist or sunny.
The final day we visited our most awaited place Padamanathapuram palace built in 1600. I am searching for a word to explain about its infrastructures, Also I wonder the way the king's lived on those days, how many workers they had to maintain it and their management strategies. Everything was well planned and convincingly made. King's room and King's mother room has a balcony to see the lawn and separate halls for reading, prayers and meeting the other officials of their kingdom. I have taken more than 200 photos in that palace. I'm going to write a separate post about Padamanathapuram palace and the kings.
See you soon in my next post.
