Lake + Sea + Sea Bridge = Pozhikkara @ Anjengo

  

The long coastline, the enormous number of backwaters and plenty of greenery makes God’s own country really special. When these three meet, the view gets more impressive. I had earlier blogged about one such place – Veli, which is a popular tourist destination in Capital city of Kerala, which attracts hoards of tourists all through the year (click here to view the picturesque veli).

Little did I know that, there is one more meeting point of sea and lake very close to Veli. A small evening ride along the coastline resulted in another find. The place was historically important too.

My steed on two wheels was having some problem, which I rectified during the day after which a customary ride was necessary to ensure that everything is in order. 

 

I had a visit pending to one of my colleagues home, which was 40 kilometers away from my dwelling place. So I thought of taking a test ride in that direction which will help me meet that commitment too. Called up one of my friend, who also agreed to join.

The two of us ensured that my bullet was heavily loaded, since our combined weight was more than 180 kilograms, which made the thump even more meatier and handling even more easy since the vehicle seemed to be superbly planted on the road.

We took NH 47 from Thiruvananthapuram till Kaniyapuram, from where we turned left and took a village road. The ambience changed soon, from the busy highway traffic to relatively free but bumpy village roads and we could feel the difference of breathing in fresh air.

Passed Murukkumpuzha, Perunkuzhy and reached Chirayinkeezhu, all of which lie in the coastal belt. Stopped for a while in front of the Sharkkara Temple, which is one of the popular divine destinations and festivals of which are famed because of the participation from people having different religious beliefs.

  

After a breather at Chirayinkeezhu, we proceeded towards Kadakkavoor. Soon we reached the first of the bridges over the Murukkumpuzha river and the scenery on the sides ensured that we had another stop over here.

  

  

Since the day light was getting weaker pretty fast, we decided that we will first travel through the road between the Murukkumpuzha river and Arabian sea after which we will visit our colleagues home.

Reached Kadakkavoor, turned left (westwards) proceeded some distance and again turned left to travel southward, and we were traveling with sea pretty close to our right. The sea breeze was being felt.

Another stop ensued soon, when we found a big wall towards the right side, which was the historic Anjengo fort.

  

In local slang this place is also called “Anchuthengu” meaning five Coconut trees. There are lot of stories around on how this place got its name. But one thing is sure, this fort has lot of stories to tell, and has seen lot of blood being shed.

Since it was already 5pm, we could not enter as entry closes by this time. Also it takes almost 1 hour to explore this fort.

The Anjengo light house is also nearby. We did not venture into exploring this light house as we were sure that by the time we reach the top and return it will be real dark and we wanted to ride until road ends into sea.

  

But a climb up the top is sure to yield a breathtaking view. Something which I will soon explore and update it here. Also it is better to leave something explored which will be a boost for us to return back here.

Again the thumping started and as we proceeded further, we could see the lake on our left side and towards our right it was sea. There were lot of houses on the shore too and people here will never have shortage of water and these people are dependent on water resources for their livelihood too.

There were many notorious stories related to this place and I have heard of stories which mainly themed around the dangerous clashes in this area and in case of death people will simply throw them to sea. These stories had instilled a kind of fear in my mind.

Soon I felt like everyone is staring at us and we felt as if being part of a procession where people line up on sides to watch the entertainment. It might be that, not too many vehicles pass through this area and my ride was creating enough echo which was the main reason for the attention.

Nevertheless we proceeded ahead very slowly, only to find that there was a huge crowd assembled in the road. On seeing the crowd we thought of going back, since we were little bit afraid on asking a way. But soon we found out why the stories which we heard are only the fantasies of some writers. All the people who were sitting on the road stood up and moved to one side allowing us to go. It was some kind of prayer meeting and since vehicular traffic is almost zero they chose the road, but were kind enough to let us go, not like the local political parties who while conducting some road shows will not allow even pedestrians to cross the road just to show their strength which is a sad failure of democracy.

As we progressed more and more the road sides were getting narrower and narrower as the sea and lake was approaching closer. Finally the road ended and we had reached the meeting point. The place is called “Pozhikkara” in local slang. I had fun negotiating my bike through the rocky and sandy terrain and finally stopping at a point close to the lake.

  

Riding through this route was fun.

  

The place was deserted, but prestine. It was late in the day, but still it looked bright. The lake looked sprawling, There was a huge pile of sand on one side.

We had to climb this to reach the beach.

  

Once on top the view looked terrific. There was a man made bridge which extended to the sea.

  

This was similar to the Pulimutt at Beypore in Kozhikkode (Click here to watch the popular Pulimutt at Beypore)

The place on the other side of the lake is Perumathura.

  

We could see some people on that side. Some were tourists too. That place can be accessed from Kazhakkoottam via Menamkulam.

The view of the lake from top of this sand hill was awesome. It looked even more sprawling.

  

But just turn around and watching the sea makes everything else look much smaller.

  

The Sun was about to set and we decided to spend time here till it disappears to the horizon.

A closer view of the sea bridge revealed that the rocks used to create it was having a peculiar shape.

  

Some fishing activity was happening in the lake where fisherman were laying a net.

  

We decided to walk ahead through this seabridge, enjoying the lake on one side and the sea on other.

  

As we proceeded ahead, we got a different perspective of the beach behind us.

  

We found a small kitten on the rock.

  

It seems he was getting ready to catch this folk who was strolling around.

  

After having a nice stroll on the walkway enjoying the cool breeze and the prestine nature, we decided to return.

My steed also seems to cherish the location and I enjoyed clicking the mean machine in this ambience.

  

The light was getting much darker, before it got worse, snapped up one more frame of the route which we have to take.

  

Another fun session followed suite, when I had to negotiate those sandy roads till I reached the tarred road. By the time we hit the road, it was dark. 

The ride back was quick and we soon paid a visit to our colleagues home and returned via NH 47 with memories of the live frames ceasing to fade. Tried to recreate a panorama of the lake view and the sea view just to ensure that our memories just don't fade and for prospective tourists a glimpse of what to expect.

  

 

Quick Facts

Name of Place:
Pozhikkara / Anjengo

Places to visit:
Anjengo Fort, Anjengo Light House and Pozhikkara


Nearest Railway Station:
Varkala or Kadakkavur

Where to Stay:
No resorts here in Anjengo. Better to Stay in Varkala where lots of beach side resorts are available and come here for an afternoon visit. Another option is to stay in Kovalam (40kms from anjengo) or at Thiruvananthapuram (25Kms from anjengo)

Travel Plan:
Start from Varkala (15kms away) in the afternoon, reach Anjengo fort, climb the light house, then reach the pozhikkara beach by 5 pm, enjoy the sunset and return back.

Caution:
Never pick up an Altercation with any local, they are simple innocent people, but quite dangerous if you provoke them.

Hotels/Eateries:
No hotel or eateries around. Nearest eatery you can find is at Kadakkavur

Other beautiful places to explore nearby:
Golden Isle - An island which still retains its natural beauty, Ideal for a one day picnic which is 8km from Anjengo. Food available at the Isle. Click here to read a blog on golden isle with loads of pictures and other information
Aquaserene - A resort by the side of backwaters at Paravoor, Kollam, which is 35kms from Anjengo. Click here to read a travel blog on Aquaserene.

Now let me know your views on this place. If you feel like more information is needed please don't hesitate to contact me, you can either comment in this post or send me an email.

Varkala - Thumped by Silver Bulletteers

The Silver Bullet official T's were released after much review and debate over the T-Shirt designs
Once we got the T's the first priority is to ride wearing the T's. So the next bullet meet on saturday we planned to have short ride to Varkala a distance of 40 kilometers from Trivandrum.
Planned to start the ride at 4 pm and return by about 8pm.

Started the ride as planned, but our moderator could not start with us. But he assured that he will catch up with us soon.

The riders who started jointly were Raghu, Anil and myself. On reaching kazhakkoottam Varun joined us.

@ kazhakkoottam





The beautiful stretch of highway starts from kazhakkottam and the frequency of the thumps increased exponentially.

By the time we reached Pallippuram - we could hear an IRON thump. The iron bull had caught upon us.

Stopped to receive him.




Group lead and sweep was decided and we started our group ride to Varkala, proudly showing off the T shirts.
Went straight to top of Varkala cliff, parked our bull mates there.




Strolled down the cliff and found one of the seafood restaurants for the SB Meet of the week.
The SB ambassadors

The back design

The meet as usual was completely filled with frugual and brutual automotive discussions.


The riders with proudly flashing SB Ts


It was about 7pm when we decided to call off the meet and return to our dens.

Strolled back to the parking lot to see the happy lot of bulls exchanging their pleasantries silently.
The chrome was shining even at night.


Got into our bulls, kicked it to life and suddenly the life around was thumping to the tune of bulls.
The route from varkala to Tvm was ignited by some serious thumping and we all got home pretty quickly.

It was another of the meet & rides of the Silver Bullets group (The bullet riders club) of TVM which surely adds another dimension to our lives with pals sharing a common passion.

Golden Isle: Varkala - An island worth exploring

We have been to Varkala umpteen times. But never heard of Golden Isle. One of our family friends suggested this place. On google search and local enquiry found that this is an island which has a temple inside. But more details were unavailable. Anyway it being near to our home we decided to explore this place on a weekend.

After getting up "early" in the morning we got ready for the journey by about 11am. The party consisted of two families.

The route -

Thiruvananthapuram -> Kazhakkoottam (NH 47) -> Attingal (NH 47) -> Turn left to Kadakkavur -> Vakkom -> Golden Isle.

The local name of "Golden Isle" is Thuruth. Any route queries to locals should be about "Thuruth Temple".

From Varkala one can reach this place via the Varkala, Vakkom route.

Just before a newly constructed bridge amidst a lot of trees we saw a small board - Golden Isle. The "smallevity" of the board made us little apprehensive about the place.

Anyway got inside.

The place looked deserted. But we could see the lake. On enquiring with the only soul marching in that yard, found out that we could get a boat from there to the thuruth and that we are in for a lunchless outing. Anyway we waited for the boat here. The weather was little cloudy. But the lake was slowly growing upon us.

The boat arrived

We started our boat journey.

Bye bye to our starting point. See the wakes created by the yamaha powered water cruiser.

The photographer in me suddenly jumped out and started clicking all around. The cloudy weather means the water color was not blue. Still it was a worthy coz it is this changing colors which makes one enjoy the same place again and again.
The boat driver announced that we can now see the "thuruth" (island) . You can see the island the center portion of this image

The thuruth was getting closer & closer. The boat cruise through this vast lake was slowly getting into our head and the expectations about the golden isle was soaring up.

The entrance to the isle is visible now. Hmmm not bad.

On entry to this island itself there was a hanging rope with a tyre. To kick off things tried all type of stunts in that piece of toy. The ropes strenght was tested by mass equalling or above 80 kilograms.


There was a small pooll near by. Did not venture into that due to the non availablility of spare dress.

Next there was an "eerumadam" means a tree house. The steps are made up of wood and constructed in such a way that even children can climb to the tree without losing the effect of climbing a real tree.

Tried different poses to see whether there is any resemblance to spieces which matches desperatly close to mankind

Still we were at the entrance of the island. One elderly man came to us and told us that we can walk inside the island whereever we want. In between he will come and guide us. When we told that we did not have lunch expecting some sort of resort here, he brought us two packets of payasam from the temple. Yummy yummy we gulped it fully from top of the tree itself. It was so tasty. Another pic from the entry point.

We started walking in. Next was a children's park. The kids were happy. Even we were happy too. We tried see saw, sliders and started jumping around releasing all our negative energies.

After exploring each of the machinery available in the park we began our trek inside the island. The natural landscape was reminiscent of a forest.

In between there were some stuff kept for relaxing. Made full use of it. The experience of lying here with the cool breeze from the lake and surrounded by greenery is something which takes us to another world.

These chairs were simple in design and it blended with the natural landscape well. The person who designed this had a clear intention on the ambience matching. My friend enjoying the comfort of the three piece wooden chair

I found comfort amids the creepers where there was wooded bed.

Slowly this resort was making us more and more amazed. So neatly arranged, no crowds, cloudy weather, waterfront view.. What more can one ask for?

Another chair, but this one was kept facing the lake. The beauty of all the furnishing is that, the presence of these piece of small furniture is not visible in a single look. The vast view of the lake from this point is still fresh in our cache memory

Another chair amidst the trees.

We kept on walking more and more deep into the forest. Meanwhile I was trying innovative ways to look impressive. Found an evil dead style tree and posing before it with those branches appearing to be generated from by back and shoulders. But the fact is that no one apart from me could understand the concept.

More deeper into the isle amidst the forest.

Soon we reached an open place where there was a boat and the gate to the temple was visible. Decided to take some rest at this place.

One set of foreigners came from somewhere inside, entered one of the boats and they went away. The scenary of the row boat ferrying in the lake was a treat to the eyes and soon the intensity variation of that frame was available in the CCD pixels of my cam.

All the views from this point looked like a painting.

The kids enjoyed a session of coconut throwing.

After breathing in a lot of unpolluted air we started our walk again. Now we saw the temple - the thuruth temple.

There was a well near the temple. The water from the well was really cool and really clear too. Enjoyed the clear waters for a change from our routine of using chlorinated drinking water.
Next there was a ground sort of open space. Kids were happy again after the long walk. A view from the ground. A small boat was visible long way ahead.

Decided to test the zooming levels of the camera. Zoomed in and clicked a pic. Voila, now I could see more clearly.

Not satisfied with the zoom, zoooooooomed it more. Now I could see the man.

The kids started to play with the only toy available with us. A soft ball. Soon we could not resist the temptation and started playing with them.

Throw it higher and higher. Still the earlier boat has not moved much distance - it is visible in the background.
By this time it was already 4pm and we forgot that we didn't have lunch. More than us there were four kids who also were not fed anything apart from the payasam and some drinking water. The concerned parents in our body suddenly jumped out and the nature enthusiasts suddenly vanished. Had a brisk walking to the return point.

The boat was waiting for us.

The yamaha was ignited to life, and off we gooo.. bye bye island.

The boat jetty from where we alighted was soon visible.

Suddenly the nature enthusiasts propped up again and asked the driver to have one more rounds through this beautiful lake. He agreed and we continued our journey. Some more clicks

The clouds were getting darker and darker. So we decided to finish of the journey. The boat man dropped us and he whisked back through the gorgeous waters, which was also a treat to watch.




Overall it was a great experience. They charged very nominal rates.

This place is worth a visit for its natural beauty, flora and fauna, the ambience created by nature, the cool breeze, the dense trees, and above all to breath fresh and unpolluted air.

Team outings can also be arranged here. Only vegetarian food will be served at the island, since there is a temple in the island. For this we have to contact the concerned person in advance.

Update- Another outing in 2010
We went there again in 2010, this time with a whole bunch of relatives. This time called the manager for arranging a lunch too and what transpired was something we will never forget. The food was so tasty and the hospitality they provided was something truely great. Having lunch atop a buidling with the vast lake flowing by the side, viewing all the flora and fauna, oh an experience which I cannot describe in words. Every preparation was homely and since they served fish too the lunch was arranged in the boat jetty and not in the island. We proceeded to the island after having food and needless to say we had a real good time.

Good to see that the owner of this property has commented here with a link to the website