Little did I know that the trip would be more memorable than I wanted it to be when I had been choosing my annual trip to Kerala. Most of the time, I would spend 10 days at both my paternal and maternal residence and return to my workplace at Bahrain. This time I decided to make use of the trip by extending my holidays to 12 days and spending two days at the most beautiful destination of Kochi. My wife belonged to North India and had never explored destinations in Kerala. Hence both of us decided to visit my hometown at Thrissur and then came to Kochi where we had booked our honeymoon suite rooms in Budget Hotels in Cochin as officially we had not been on a honeymoon yet. So we packed our bags from Thrissur and rode to the hotel where they welcomed us with juices and pamphlets.
The pamphlets contained detailed information regarding the destinations at Kochi. With it, we set off to the first destination on our travel list in the vehicle. Mattanchery, which is a famous city of Kochi was our first stop, where we got down at the Jews Street. Any shopping street would excite my wife due to which she went down shopping while I and the guide walked through the street. We explored the whole destination where the Jewish synagogue was also located. The adjoining city, Fort Kochi also had interesting destinations for us where the beach seemed to be with the maximum crowd.
A lot of outdoor restaurant outlets function here where tourists from various parts of the world had tasted the various cuisines served with love. We got some masala corn and walked along the walkway to the beach where we could find the remains of a fort which once used to be situated there. While returning back to the car bay my wife had got a small sprain out of the heels that she had been wearing due to which we returned to the hotel. She already had an ankle binder in our room at the hotel where we went back. The hotel called a doctor even though we had not insisted which seemed to be a kind gesture. It was just fine and she just required a short span of rest without strain due to which she took rest in the room while I decided to take a swim in the pool. Some people had been there with their families having a perfect pool time while I had been swimming alone.
By evening, she felt much better and hence we decided to set off to the Kadambrayar boating center. We waited for the cab service in the coffee shop from where we sipped the coffee for the day and drove to the eco-village where we got to see the sun all set to immerse in the waters. Pedal boat service was there and the well-maintained destination seemed to be a good feeling. As we captured the sunset, we decided to leave the place back to the hotel. The room service sends a fancy letter to us into our room and called us for dinner which usually used to be served through room service to us. Expecting an event we went down and they led us to the tables whereas we sat the candles were lighted and the lights were dimmed. They had set a candlelight dinner for us which seemed to be a generous surprise to all of us. The aromatic candles and the fresh roses were of delight.
The complimentary soup reached us and then we ordered some specials served by the multi-cuisine restaurant is probably one of the Best Luxury Hotels in Cochin I had ever stayed at. We thanked them for the dinner and went to the lawn outside as we were full of food and did not want to sleep with indigestion. The freshness of the lawn was soothing and it was a great place to gaze the stars.
The next day we set off to Kodanad located on the rural outskirts of Ernakulam. The animals lovers in us could not be happier seeing the elephants being trained by the experts. The most exciting being that had been there was the baby elephant that had been three months old. The excited mammal was being pampered and the sight was worth staring at for hours. We walked through the premises which seemed to be with much of nature fed them with the food the caretakers handed to us.
After spending almost four hours at Kodanad, we left back to the city, did some shopping from the Broadway streets and then got back to the hotel. A function had been taking place in the banquet hall and we were invited by the manager inside. The talk was regarding Yoga and wellness and they had been provided us with pamphlets and essential oils that help concentrate while practicing yoga. After a productive session, we returned to our honeymoon suite and packed our bags.
The hotel bid us a happy journey where they also gave us a box of Indian sweets and I could not have been more happy with a hospitality service which had literally provided us with everything necessary for two days. We would have tipped them, but they had stringent rules for not taking a tip which was also an ethic they carried through their service. Even though the honeymoon plan didn’t work out in the best possible way, we had still had one of the best and most memorable dinners of our lifetime at the place.
They handed us a hamper as a gift of the token which seemed to be different from what usually is done by the Kerala Hotels and Resorts. They send for a cabin which we went back to Bahrain with a promise to return the very next year. It was night and the city had still been shimmering in the night lights and the roads still had traffic. And as always, one would have the hardest time leaving his own country.