As promised, I’m sharing my experience in Kerala. Read on.
REPORT ON STUDY TOUR TO KERALA
We, the students of MTA II-Semester of AIMS undertook a study tour as a part of our curriculum. The places we had planned as per our budget and time were Kodanadu, Athirapalli Falls, Munnar and Cochin. The tour was conducted in order for us to get an experience of Kerala as a destination, which is known for sustainable tourism.
We had contacted a travel agent, ISLAND GETAWAYS, who had agreed to give us a package which worked out on lower cost and at the same time cover the places of interest. The budget for the tour was Rs. 4000/- per head. The itinerary given by the travel agent worked out to be Rs. 2500/- per head which included Accommodation, Food and travel in Kerala.
We had to arrange transportation to and fro Ernakulam. We managed to book the tickets by Airavat (KSRTC A/C VOLVO) which worked out 1214/- per head to and fro. The date of departure from Bangalore was to be 5th April 2010 from Mysore Road Satellite terminal and the date of arrival to Bangalore was 9th April 2010 at Majestic Bus Terminal.
The entire class strength (12) was present for the tour and the lecturer accompanying us was Mrs. Sheetal.
Explained below is the day-wise detail of the tour and the pros and cons of each destination visited:
Day 1 (6th April 2010)
We reached Ernakulam at 8:30AM. We got down at the Kalamaserry Stop where we were received by our tour guide Arun. We were transported to our lodging area, Malabar Lodge in Ernakulam. We were allocated 4 rooms. One room was allocated for the 5 ladies, and three rooms to be shared by 8 gents.
We got freshened up and finished breakfast by 11:30AM. We set off to Kodanadu, our first destination of the tour. Few websites claim Kodanadu to be the largest elephant training camp in Asia. But, that did not turn up as said. It is a pretty small area by the river Periyar and had just about 4 elephants which were all tied up by chains. Not so excited, we proceeded to go by the riverside. Fortunately it had been raining since three days, so we could see a decent water level in the river.
There were people washing clothes in the river water and buffaloes enjoying the sun and water. So, pretty much not so clean river. The area around the camp was littered with many plastic covers and plastic bottles. This is due to a small shop which is setup in the camp which sells eatables and beverages. This could be kept under strict vigilance, but the authorities were quite negligent.
The positive point of this place was that the entrance ticket to this place was made of recycled paper. It had just plain prints. This contributes a lot to the environment as recycling paper helps save many trees. The greenery around this place was quite dense with tropical rainforest. If the place is better maintained, then chances are that the wildlife here will evolve for a long time to come, else 10 years down the lane, the nature here may not exist the way it is today.
We then proceeded to Athirapalli falls. We reached the falls at around 4:30PM. As soon as we reached the destination, it started raining. Because the destination is at a high altitude, the rainfall was heavy. We cautiously had to proceed towards the falls area. We had to climb down a stone path which led us to the best view of the falls.
The weather was in our favour as we climbed down. It was just drizzling lightly and we did not have any issues in getting to the destination. Now this place is a plastic free zone and it has been maintained the same way. Thanks to the authorities’ vigilance here, we also were supportive as to not litter the place.
There was a Tourism Police check post. The first one I’ve ever come across, which is a good thing. Security of the tourists has been kept in mind and this sort of arrangement has been made. The shops here also maintained cleanliness so as to not litter the zone. This destination is a perfect illustration for sustainable tourism. The vegetation here was quite dense with varieties of trees and plants. We did not find any negative area in this destination.
After considerable time spent, we started to Ernakulam at about 5:30PM. On our way, we also went to Vazhachal Falls. This place was hardly populated as it started raining again. We had the best view of tropical vegetation in this area.
We then reached Ernakulam at around 8PM. Our day ended after our dinner.
Day 2 (7th April 2010)
A new day began with all of them quite excited. We were all ready by 6:30AM to set off to Munnar, which was a hill station. It took us about 3 hours to reach Munnar view point. This view point is also called as Karadi Para (Bear Hill). It had the best view of Munnar.
After this we proceeded to Pallivasal, where our accommodation was arranged at Sun Mount View resorts. We had our lunch at the restaurant and after which we proceeded to Munnar town.
We stopped at few tea estates and enjoyed the view of the nature.
We first reached Munnar Dam which also had boating facility. The ticket price for 13 people in a fibre motor boat was Rs. 700/- and we hired an entire boat for ourselves. We had to wait for about half an hour before we could go to the boating. There were no facilities in this destination. No proper restrooms, no place to eat and were hardly maintained. The boat uses Kerosene which makes a lot of noise and also emits smoke.
This contributes to the noise and air pollution. This place was not littered by the road side, but all the waste was dumped into the water which was right behind the shops present here. Thereby this place is clearly against sustainable tourism.
We then reached Echo point. Now this place is absolutely commercialized with too many shops and was hardly maintained. Absolutely no cleanliness was visible here. We spent less time here after which we left to another dam called Setuparvatipuram Dam. This place was hardly populated as it started raining during the evening. But the view of the dam during the rain was absolutely amazing. We had a nice time here amongst eucalyptus trees. The shops here were closed as it was raining. We then left back to our stay at Pallivasal, Munnar.
Day 2 ended with celebration of two of our classmates’ birthday at the resort. We had campfire and music being played. There was a strict rule that the music had to be turned off at 10PM sharp due to restriction from the local police. So, we had our dinner and retired for the day.
Day 3 (8th April 2010)
Yet again, the next day, we had to leave early to reach Ernakulam. After our breakfast, we set off to Ernakulam. Took us three hours to reach Ernakulam, but without any stops, we proceeded directly to Mattanchery at Cochin.
At Mattanchery, there is a Dutch Palace with historical importance. This is the first occupancy of the Europeans in India. This is also a museum which houses the paintings and belongings of the Royal family of Cochin.
After visiting this, we proceeded to Jewish Synagogue through the market place of Mattanchery. But to our bad luck, the church was closed until 3PM. Since we did not have much time, we just took a stroll through the market place and then left to Cherai Beach in Cochin.
We reached Cherai Beach at around 4:30PM. And thanks to the rain Gods it started raining while we were at the beach. The streaks of lightning across the cloudy sky added a joy to our celebration to our last day of the tour. This place was moderately maintained. There are many hotels by the roadside and also a public bathroom for taking bath after entering the sea. No proper maintenance at the public bathroom. But it was tolerable. After which we had to leave to the Ernakulam Bus Terminal to board the bus to Bangalore.
After some delay, the bus finally arrived at Ernakulam and we reached Bangalore at around 8:30AM.
Thus, we can find differences in the contribution of Kerala to Sustainable Tourism within its state. Yet, it has been successful in sustainability at most of the destinations. No wonder it is called “God’s own country”.
