A Train Trip in Kerala, Is it Good or Bad?

 Uday Samudra Leisure Beach Hotel & Spa - View From Balcony

We are on our way from Kottayam to Trivandrum, after a long time we decide to travel in train. As usual Indian Railway was late for more than an hour. When we reached Trivandrum train was late more than 2 hours. Our chauffeur was waiting for us at the central station. Due to Onam celebrations there was heavy traffic.

This time we decided to stay near airport and outside city because of two reasons. First thing is that we have another connected trip and we need to take a flight in the morning, Second thing is that we don't want to be stuck in traffic all the time and we have our driver available 24 hours at our service. 

Uday Samudra Leisure Beach Hotel & Spa - Pool View

It's an amazing hotel named Uday Samudra Leisure Beach Hotel & Spa, We got very warm  welcome by the management team. After check in process we have been guided to our beautiful bedroom. We have been surprised by the house keeping team, they have arranged something special, our beds were decorated with rose flowers and two swans made with towels. Tomorrow we are super busy as many things preplanned, good night for now.

Uday Samudra Leisure Beach Hotel & Spa - Bedroom Interior

In the morning I opened my window and the cool breeze filled our room. View of Sunrise with coconut grove it is such a beautiful view.  Hotel got a huge pool for adults and a small pool for kids. Ixora flowers are well planned in the balcony of all rooms. It is a great felling to have a zip of coffee in such beautiful atmosphere

Uday Samudra Leisure Beach Hotel & Spa -  Sunrise View From Balcony

We decided to leave the hotel in the morning itself as we have a lot of plans for the day. Receptionist was a nice guy he noticed that we are going out without having breakfast so he quickly arranged for us a small box with some vegetable sandwich and fruit cuts for take away. Such a great service i was really impressed about the way they take care of us. I was so happy that this will definitely make a Kerala culture felling for a tourist visitor coming to Kerala. Hospitality industry and Kerala Tourism doing a great job definitely i have to say that.

Our have an amazing chauffeur waiting outside for us, may be you will think why said amazing chauffeur? I was totally surprised with service level and his patience while driving in the traffic. He was not speeding, knows all locations, roads, shopping malls and resturants, i think this is enough to be a good chauffeur.

We are on the way to Vettukadu Church. When ever i visit Trivandrum it is a must for me to go to Vettukadu church and thank to the grace of God. Also i have a lot to ask ha ha ha.

Now its time to rove around the city and do some shopping. From the car it self we had a view of the great Pathmanabha Swami Temple, Kowdiar palace, Kanakakunnu palace and Thampanoor bus station etc we have been to Trivandrum many times so we didn't want to spend much time visiting these places, only quick look from far just to keep in memories. After finishing our small city tour we wanted to grab some food. Due to the parking issues in the city we decided to find a place not crowded and spend sometime. Our chauffeur suggested us Apollo Dimora Hotel as they good restaurants and lot of space for parking, so good place to have good food and relax a bit. They have an amazing restaurant inside with amazing buffet for lunch but we decide to choose a la carte. Restaurant has great atmosphere, food was average but not bad. It is a great place for official meetings, i didn't see much families there maybe because the price is bit higher.

After lunch shopping time, our first stop is Jayalakshmi.  We brought some gifts for our the family. Our next stop is Pothys. We really love the way the made the showroom, its something similiar to small malls we have in Dubai. Ground floor having a hypermarket, we brought lot of sweets and snacks, Trivandrum has a great collection of South Indian Sweets you will love it. They one or two floors for dress material and the last two floors for house hold accessories and toys. My god i think we spend more than half day in Pothys. Definitely i have to say that shops in Trivandrum has more collection and better price when comparing to Cochin. Finally we reach back to our hotel by 10 PM.  Tomorrow we are taking flight to Maldives, its time to sleep.

Our journey continues, have a look at our Maldives trip here.