Paravur Trip 2016
In July 2016, we went on a trip to Paravur. Our trip started with an early morning flight to Trivandrum. We hired a taxi at Trivandrum airport and reached our place of stay in 1.5 hours. We stayed at Fragrant Nature Resort.
We chose this place for a do-nothing vacation. 😊 Owing to an off season, we had the resort all to ourselves. We stayed in a lake view room for the first two days of our stay. The lake view rooms are located on the Paravur lakefront.
The resort staff were friendly and always available to cater to our needs. The resort houses a restaurant that serves delicious seafood. The top floor of the restaurant provides a good view of the Paravur Lake and the resort. The sunset bar at the resort was closed due to construction work while we were there.
On day 2, we hired a taxi from the resort and visited Ashtamudi Lake at Kollam. We went on a houseboat ride there; it was not exciting. I think one can skip the Ashtamudi Lake visit altogether without losing much.
We then headed to Kollam Beach. The beach took us by surprise. The waves at Kollam Beach were very rough and dangerous. It is not obvious from the pictures below but there was a steep slope between the shore and the sea that led to at least a six feet drop. The waves themselves were often as high as ten feet or more. Sometimes they made incredible crackling sound similar to thunder. After spending some time at the beach, we headed back to the resort.
On day 3, we went on a speedboat ride at Paravur Lake. The ride took us to the backwaters through mangroves. This was the second best part of our trip. It rained a couple of times during the ride and created a serene atmosphere. Our boatman was very skilled; he took us through narrow passages between mangroves with ease. He also did couple of stunts with the motorboat for a thrilling ride.
We stayed in a private pool villa for the last three days of our stay. It is at one end of the resort that is almost cut off from the rest of the resort. The sun deck in the private pool villa provides a great view of the Paravur Lake during the day. At night one can sit on the deckchairs facing the lake and listen to the faint sound of waves coming from the Arabian sea four kilometres away while watching fireflies twinkling around the lake.
The best part of our trip is a personal one; I started swimming on my own. Detailed history of my global swimming lessons: I stepped into a pool (children's pool 😛) for the first time at Rebak Island, Langkawi; started taking lessons from Susam at Alleppey; got better at Kovalam. Finally, in Paravur, I let go off his hand after learning a few landing techniques from YouTube and began swimming on my own. 😊
The five days we spent here turned out to be very relaxing. It was nice to be in a resort that was close to the nature and near a beautiful lake. The remote location of the resort meant that we were away from the hustle and bustle of a city. However, there is not much to do here apart from enjoying the serenity of the place. This is a good place to have a do-nothing vacation during an extended weekend.
