moto-scooter is ruled out.
I am home and don't really have much to do other than spend time with my son. And being
the kind that is always looking for an excuse to drive, especially to a place close to the sea
and backwaters, I suggest I drive her there. In a car, the whole exercise should not take
more than a few hours.
Wanting to give my parents some time off from babysitting, we take the kid also along.
I can take care of him during the 30-45 mins that she would need to spend at each store.
That is, if he is not happily taking a nap on the backseat of the car.
The drive turns out to be really worth it, with greenery all around and the occasional rain.
We stop at the first store and while she goes about her work, me and my son explore the
area. We see a small stream running alongside the road with a cool wooden bridge over it.
And a nice new home with their cars (oops, boats) parked in the driveway (waterway?).
This is a long time dream of mine - to build a small home on the land we have adjoining
the river, with a small boat (much smaller than these - a 1 or 2 seater kayak kind of thing).
We do some more exploring of the area and by the time we return to the car, wifey is done
with her job. We drive to the next store, which happens to be near the sea. This actually was
one of the coastal areas in Kerala which had to bear the havoc of the Tsunami. By this time, kiddo has fallen asleep and so I stay with him in the car.
We finish off the 3rd store and drive back via a different route. On the way, we can see
these big boats from a bridge - not sure what they are used for - fishing or tourism.
We cross the bridge and drive back home when a small signboard catches our eye. It says
"Coir village lake resport - 1km". Ha, a tourist resort within a 10-km radius of my home
and I did not even know. We decide to check it out and hit the dirt road in the direction
indicated by the sign board. The road is really in bad shape and we wonder why the resort
guys don't take it up with the authorities to get it laid properly. Actually it wont be a bad
idea for them to do it themselves, given that it would be their customers who would use it
mostly and a bad road leading to the resort leaves a bad impression.
Anyway, we slowly negotiate the road, which not only seems more than the mentioned
one km, but at places seems more like a crater than a road. The good side to it is that it
runs along the canal, offering an amazing view. Also, we drive past the boats which we
saw earlier from the bridge. We get a feeling that the boats might be owned/rented by
the resort to give boat rides to their customers.
We reach the resort, but see that we cannot just drive into the resort. A small stream
separates the road from the resort which means that tourists have to park their vehicles
there and take this small boat to the resort. Quaint, eh ? Giving the impression of being
on an island. Nice idea there.
The resort guys ask if we want to come over in which case they would send the boat across.
We really dont have time to explore the whole place. So we decline and instead check out the resort from across the stream itself. Nice place with cabins standing on water.
Nicely landscaped with picket fences, swaying coconut palms, childrens play area etc.
Sure looks like a nice decent resort and a good business idea. Only problem seems to
be that they need to market the whole thing more. I mean, this is like 3-4 kms from
the national highway (NH-47), so visibility is low. Plus I do not remember seeing any
signboards on the highway indicating the presence of this resort in the vicinity.
They did go the internet way and are available at http://www.coirvillage.com/, which
I guess should be the best option for them, given that most foreign tourists select resorts
via the net. Smart move there.
All in all, a good 3-odd hours spent well, with the bonus being the discovery of a resort in
my backyard.
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