It was one of the back up plans for the anniversary. Even though the real plan didn’t happen, I wasn’t really worried because this was one of the plans which requires an instance like anniversary to splurge without guilt and was it worth it? truly! Our honeymoon in Kabini spoilt us for eternity, if not for that, this would have been a much more splendidly beautiful vacation.
Day 0 – Chennai to Kottayam Train
3/2/2023
We were not eating out much, so that we could indulge in a direct five star experience for our anniversary but the improper timings of the MAS TVC MAIL (12623) train meant we had to start from home early around 6 PM without having dinner. The KFC in Chennai Central seriously has some vibe about it, it’s really difficult to not have there on an onwards journey. We had Chicken Biryani Bucket with Smoky Grilled Chicken and a couple of classic Hot and Crispy Chicken pieces. Oh my god, if that wasn’t a foodgasm, what else is. I topped it off with a coffee from Madras Coffee House. My vacation was already made.
We boarded the train, after a struggle to keep ourselves awake, we slept in an hour.
Day 1 – Kottayam to Kumarakom Lake Resort
3/3/2023
Our train reached on time and we got an auto to Kumarakom Lake Resort. First, I was skeptical whether it’s a distance that could be travelled in an auto. Second, I was not sure about the bargain, as Kerala auto’s mostly ply by meters or are generally honest about the prices. We took an auto in the same idea. The distance was about ten kilometers from the railway station. Guess the auto driver would have charged a little less, if he had not seen the resort. Rs. 500 for that distance looked exorbitant.
We were stopped at the gates of Azkaban for quite a while to check the guest list. The watchman was pretty bemused to see someone coming in auto rickshaw, as it’d generally be luxury cars or resort’s cars. The check in process was pretty smooth, thanks to the super pretty receptionist whom both my partner and I were ogling at. Unfortunately all the rooms were occupied (may be due to a marriage or they just don’t want to encourage early check ins) so we had to pass time around the resort till 2 PM.
As we were looking shabby due to travel, I utilized the time to the fullest by shooting most of the resort pictures which didn’t have to feature us. We also fixed all our massages for the next three days as we had opted for Rejuvenation package. We had a sumptuous lunch and finally checked in to our room. At the first sight, I was disappointed because the room wasn’t as huge as we expected (blame Kabini again), plus it didn’t have a direct stairs to the meandering pool but a typical swimming pool stairs. I asked for a change of rooms, they showed another one but we settled for the former as the room was bigger. After taking a shower, we settled for a quick nap.
We had to be woken up by an alarm for our first session of massage, not before having a quick Kattan Chaya at the resort’s make shift traditional tea shop called Thattukada. The tea was too strong and not to my liking. We went on time for the massage at Ayurmana, the resorts Ayurvedic center. The first set of massage was a mix of Abhyangam/ Rejuvenation Massage and Sirodhara/Taila Dhara. The former was lovely and the latter was annoying. But my better half enjoyed both.
In spite of such a grueling session for one and a half hours, we still were not really hungry and we were advised not to have anything raw or cold. It didn’t really matter though. We ate to the fullest amidst live music and retired to the room.
Day 2 – The Pool Day
3/4/2023
I woke up a bit late but not as late as I wanted to me. Wifey got up early and went to Yoga, of course not without completely disturbing my sleep. By the time she finished I went by the infinity pool to pick up her. It was 8 AM and breakfast was already ready. As it was early, it wasn’t crowded. The whole affair was peaceful. Of the three meals which I had till then, that was the best. Breakfasts always are, especially when it’s South Indian.
Post breakfast, we were in the meandering pool for a good couple of hours, the reason why I booked the resort and why specifically that room. I wanted to burn few calories too, so that I can eat better during lunch. The sun was beating alright but it felt great getting into the pool. As we were in for ayurvedic massages on a daily basis, there were restrictions like not to use the pool post massage, so we thought, this was the best time. Priyanka too enjoyed a lot. I was happy to cover the entire circuit. There was another nice couple we saw the previous day and the girl had become our overnight crush, they too were there by the pool. Well behaved, cultured and nice.
We headed to the next massage at about 12.30 PM called, Pathrapotala Swedam/ Choornaswedam. A thoroughly satisfying one. In spite of a couple of hours in the pool and an hour in the massage table, still we were not hungry. By that time we were used to the luxury and the lunch was a normal affair.
We took a nap but not as much as we expected, because we were woken up by the alarm to go to the evening sunset cruise. We dressed up and hurried for it, not before having a quick Kattan Chaya at Thattukada. As the boat was about to leave, we were asked to the take the tea cups with us. Unintentionally, the tea became high tea, overlooking the huge expanse of the lake.
The cruise was a lovely one, which was not crowded. The guide was an enthusiastic and lively person. We got great pictures. Sunset, along with the traditional music by the artists who played at previous day’s dinner was lovely. As promised it started by around 5.30 PM and we came back by 6.30 PM and headed straight to Ayurmana.
I chose Head massage whereas Priyanka chose Back massage. I talked in depth about my shoulder problem for which they gave some suggestions but they asked me to not worry much as it’s not serious. With that massage, we or at least I got used to the daily routine of massage which made me more comfortable.
We had a nice laidback dinner, grabbed a couple of drinks and went for sleep. We were dead tired. Even though when we book these resorts and think what could we do inside it for three days, we got exhausted just by the in-house activities. Here especially, once the gates of Azkaban closes, you feel that you’re in a different world. You’re completely oblivious to the outside world.
Day 3 – The Party Day
3/5/2023
After hearing good feedback about the Yoga class previous day, I chose to try out Yoga that day so that I can get on Infinity Pool post that as I’d be sweating. I woke up early for the same, didn’t feel so tired. Yoga class was decent. It was conducted by my masseur, who was very professional here too. The swim in Infinity Pool wasn’t as great as I thought, I didn’t really get the vibe which I got the previous day in our room side pool.
From there we directly proceeded for the breakfast, which was lovely as usual of course. We took a bicycle for the village visit. First thing I did was to find out where Kilikkoodu Toddy Parlour was. It was my plan to have lunch there on the last day but decided against it by then because we were struggling to get our metabolism going. We thought we needn’t eat anything post breakfast on the last day. Otherwise we could have tried both Toddy and food there. We further went inside the village and saw some interesting settings, a ghost resort especially was a great photo moment.
We came back to the resort, submitted out bicycles and proceeded for Mat Weaving and Pottery workshops. The first one was meh, the latter was fun. We both made a vessel each, which came out better than we thought, even though it’s all the masters’ work.
Having made the morning eventful we went for the penultimate massage, Njavarakizhi, which was soothing like the remaining massages. We proceeded to the restaurant for lunch. Didn’t feast but still had enough to get a good afternoon nap.
We chose to go to cruise again because that’s where we were feeling like dressing up and getting good photos. After our customary Chaya at Thattukada, we proceeded to the cruise and had an even better sunset. We didn’t have any massage for the evening and in a way it felt like a relief. We went to the room and relaxed with more than a drink or two. We never thought that we’d finish the bottle. It was indeed great fun to drink by the pool and have a swim. For me that was the best night of the trip. It was more than I expected out of the pool.
The drinks not only got us tipsy, but hungry too, as we were having it without any sides. We barely have any idea what happened next. The only thing we remember is that we didn’t walk to the buffet area, the food came to us. The rest of the happenings were not hazy. We somehow crawled back to the room like “that scene” from ‘The Wolf of the Wall Street’ and passed out.
Day 4 – Checkout
3/6/2023
Woke up without an alarm for one last day and jumped into the pool directly. Swam for a good one hour before breakfast. I just didn’t feel like leaving the pool. Thanks to the overnight activity, swim, and late breakfast, we hogged like anything. We came back to the room and took a quick nap before checkout. We were not allowed late checkout so we had to pass time post twelve outside of the room. Obviously we were not hungry and didn’t have lunch.
We fixed our final massage at 1 PM, it was not a massage per se but an Ayurveda Facial. I didn’t like it. It was my second least favorite massage out of the lot, the first one being Sirodhara. The massage got over around 2 PM. We spent a good couple of hours sitting near the Thattukada and looking at the lake. We absolutely didn’t move our ass, probably we were in Zen mode I think.
Around 4 PM when Thattukada opened, we had Chaya and snacks and got a cab who charged Rs. 750 to Kottayam railway station. The cost from the resort was double the amount so we chose this. We went to the railway station in half an hours, bought chips from the bakery opposite to the station and boarded the train.
There was one annoying kid in the train, and a lot many sisters. We just had one Lays chips packet for dinner as we were absolutely not hungry. Had a great night’s sleep and reached home quite comfortably the next day.
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