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

Kappad Beach - Prestine!! but Untouched by crowds

Kerala is blessed since it has a long coastline, resulting in a wide variety of beaches. Somehow only Kovalam has got into the world map. But there are other prestine beaches as well which can give Kovalam a serious challenge. One such beach is the Kappad beach near Kozhikkode in the northen part of Kerala.
Kappad has a historical significance that Vasco Da Gama landed here. For more details about the historical theory visit here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappad_beach

The Indian domination by the European countries was a resultant of this find by Vasco Da Gama.

Well it was supposed to be an afternoon outing from our home @ kozhikkode on a saturday. Someone proposed Kappad, to which we got mixed responses like there is nothing to see there. Anyhow decided to make a visit at least for the sake of visiting a historically important place which we had many a times studied and helped us getting marks in history subjects..

The route was from calicut is this
Calicut --> thiruvangoor (NH 17 in calicut kannur route) -> turn left -> reach kappad

The moment we turned left from thiruvangoor in the road leading to kappad, we smelt something different.
Just see this scenary by the road side.
Soon we were passing through a series of pine trees doing business on a beach side which seemed to be a never ending beach. We had still not reached kappad, but stopped to enjoy this beach. See it to believe it.

We parked out vehicle near the pine tree set

Off we go to the beach
A view of our car from the beach
Unfortunately we didn't carry our swim dress coz someone had told that there is no beach to have a jump at. But what was on display was crystal clear shallow water which really was inviting us for a bath.

The beach was surprisingly deserted. A truly lonely beach with such scenary around is a charm for our eyes. I still remember the sight. Just see it to believe it.

After 1 hour or so, we started our journey to Kappad. A monument in memorial of Vasco da gama's expedition, signals the arrival of Kappad. The prominent building there is the Kappad Beach Resort which is located facing the beautiful beach.

A view of the lawns of Kappad beach resort. You can see the beach in the background.

The beach at Kappad has some rocky areas a la kovalamishque. Neverthless it is one of the must visit places if you are in and around Kozhikkode.

There is along walkway through one side of the resort. A walk through this walkway is sure to rejuvenate your mind and body with the cool breeze of sea, sound of waves, the color contrast of the nature and some of the most picturesque scenes.

Even the fallen tree seemed beautiful

The Kappad beach resort is an ideal place to stay to relax.

The beach is surprisingly not crowdy at all, one of the reason for it to be so clean. Make it a point to visit this place before it gets overly crowded.

Freedom Ride - Bulleting fun

Silver bullets - The bullet riding club of which I am a member had decided to do a ride entitled "Freedom Ride" on August 15th - the independance day of our mother country.But due to some reason the ride did not happen as planned. Instead it got postponed and eventually it happened on 2nd Oct 2007 - the birthday of Father of our nation.

Destination - almost unplanned
Direction - towards nagercoil and get back to kerala through thenkasi.

Only 3 riders turned up, Anil, Raghu and myself. 2 machismos and a std 350. The combination thump of the AVL's with goldie and the crisp thump of std 350 is sure to make our adrenalin pump.
As usual the ride again started on schedule. Met up at a place near karamana in the Tvm - kanyakumari NH.
Soon the NH from Trivandrum to Kanyakumari was blessed with the thump of three musketeers.
Stopped at Marthandom for an early breakfast.
The roads were slowly opening up as was the sun. The nagercoil - thirunelveli stretch starts with the scene of big windmills doing there duty. Stopped near a windmill for a photoshoot.

Now its time to move on. The Ghats towards the eastern side of Kerala was now visible on our back. The nagercoil route is the only stretch from Kerala where we can cross into another state without touching a high range.
Our plan was to ride on through the straight roads of tamil nadu plains till some more time, then turn left towards ambasamudram. The geographical diversity of our country starts to become evident within a travel of just 80 to 90 kilometers. What was lush greenery and hilly terrain in Kerala made way to plains with almost no greenery at all. Advantage of plains is that you will get dead straight roads and all you can do is rip, rip and more rip.

That is Anil on my rear view mirror.

After about 30 - 40 kms in this route stopped to just check whether the turn towards the left which we saw will lead to Ambasamudram. Got the nod from a native of the place and off we go from the highway.

Be it highway or be it any of the local roads, the roads are just awesome. Now we were again facing some hills on our front. That means we are on course. The site of such straight roads with the hill far far away is something to be witnessed to get a feel of it.
In between stopped for a photoshoot near a tree - a rarity in this region. Once we stopped we understood how cruel sun can be in such places.
With our riding jackets on, we were sweating like anything. Got into the bulls as fast as we can and proceeded with the journey.
All group riding rules were abided with and literally zero traffic and straight roads means our average speeds were on the high side with minimal ripping.
Being the tail, I enjoyed the formation of fellow riders ahead. There was some kind of rhythm in the way the bull was ridden. The way they take curves in synchronous action was similar to any synchronous dance forms.
Different kinds of flora and founa was on display even though it is a rarity here.
After some time we found ourselves climbing a ghat sort of area. The papanasam falls were approaching. Got some doubt on the direction. But no one to ask for. So settled the matter after a round of discussions.

Decided to proceed towards left

Had to park the bull at the entrance and do a little bit trekking to reach the top. But we did not enjoy the trekking much. We were at home riding a bull rather than walking up a mountain.
By this time it was almost 2pm and our stomachs were giving signals for a refuel.But where to find hotel.
Had to travel for another one hour in the thenkasi route before we could locate this hotel. The food was real tasty with mutton dish there speciality.
By 3.30 pm we finished our lunch and began to search for a place for a power nap. Soon found a bus shelter and the nap lasted just 30 minutes.
Off we go towards Kerala. The approach to kerala was being signalled by the increase in greenery.
The ghats were very nearby. If it was scorching sun till this time, we could see the ghats engulfed by thick dense clouds. We climbed up and reached the check post.

The roads were getting worse. Another land mark - a bridge of the kollam - chenkotta metre gauge rail track was on this way.
It was getting more and more darker and slight drizzling also started.
We reached Kulathupuzha in another hour or so and soon hit the MC road towards thiruvananthapuram.
Reached back to where we started by about 7.30pm after covering a distance of 380 kms of pure bulletting fun.
If one asks what was the purpose of our journey - It is simply for - bulletting.