Jani Jermans – Travel Diaries

January 18, 2021

Beach Vacation in Kannur

Filed under: India — jani @ 12:02 pm

About Kannur: It is a coastal city in the south Indian state of Kerala and it was once an ancient trading port. This trip was with our friends (Sala and his family, Jagjit and his family, Anita, Judy, Sur and myself), which was long over due. So it was decided that we go for the trip during Pongal holidays. Some of them had been to Kannur, so they were ok to revisit this place and we were happy to tag along as long as we could spend time with each other which we couldn’t do due to our busy schedules.

Before you visit Kerala, do register with https://covid19jagratha.kerala.nic.in/. This was approved instantly and we didn’t find anyone doing the check either. But it’s highly recommended that you register with the correct details (as per your photo identity card like Aadhar) and follow the instructions which ever state that you are entering. This is to comply with the Covid protocols of each Indian State.

Day 1: We started our journey early morning and we ensured that we had minimal stops. We didn’t find any place to stop for breakfast so we stopped just before one of the tolls and had a quick bite of sandwiches and snacks that we carried. After almost 7.5 hours of drive, we reached by noon at Sea Shell Haris Beach Home. We were hungry but our lunch was not ready as we were little early. So we had our snacks till we were served our lunch after an hour. We were served with simple lunch with Rice, Sambar, Rasam and Cabbage with Fish Fry and prawns for the non-vegetarians. It was decent. Then we headed to the beach which was next to the home stay. We enjoyed in the water till the evening, came back for tea and then spent some time with each other and then headed for dinner. The showstopper for the dinner was Kerala Parotta, while vegetarians enjoyed their paneer, cauliflower and mixed vegetables, we enjoyed the Chicken curry. After a great meal, we crashed for the night early.

Day 2: We started early to reach Bekal Fort (Bekal Fort was built by Shivappa Nayaka of Keladi in 1650 AD, at Bekal. It is the largest fort in Kerala, spreading over 40 acres.) after having a quick sandwich we had brought with us since we couldn’t wait for breakfast at the homestay. After almost 2 hours of drive, we reached the beautiful fort. This was worth the visit, we walked around and enjoyed the historical monument and headed out. Since we were early, we avoided the crowd and also the scorching sun. The fort was well maintained and had a beautiful view. As we stepped out, we stopped at the small shop opposite to the fort and enjoyed the pineapple which was soaked in the salt water and green chillies. Then we drove back to the homestay. On our way we stopped for our favourite Kerala Chaaya (Tea), and enjoyed the roadside snacks like Pazham Pori, (Ripe banana fritters), Unnakkaya (banana roll with coconut) and Mutta mala (rice dish with egg and sugar). Then we headed back to the homestay for our lunch. They had made Mini Sadhya for us (variety of traditional vegetarian dishes usually served on a banana leaf, Sadhya means banquet in Malayalam). All of us were happy that we could get a taste of Sadhya and then we headed to Muzhappilangad Drive In Beach. This is was our first time experience of drive in beach and we just loved it. After enjoying the beach, we headed to Nouka Retaurant for dinner. We had our best meals in this restaurant during our trip in Kannur. We ordered the Kerala Parotta with a beef roast (the best dish that you should never forget to order while in Kerala) and vegetarians had their panner and cauliflower dishes which was also delicious. After an awesome and delicious dinner, we headed back to the home stay and crashed for the night.

Day 3: We had our breakfast of upma, appam with coconut milk and then headed to Arakkal Museum. Unfortunately that was closed, so we headed to St. Angelo’s Fort (it stands majestically on a hill overlooking the sea and it has a significant place in the historical map of Kerala. The fort also known as the Kannur fort), we enjoyed the place and then sat on the lawns and spent some time with each other and then we headed to Sky Palace Restaurant, which was next to Nouka Restaurant. They also had their Sadhya, including non-veg Sadhya. The food was decent but it didn’t impress as Nouka. The waiter who came to serve the extra curries had a sambar and fish curry, even though we (vegetarians and non vegetarians) sat at different table, he without asking ended up pouring the fish curry on everyone’s plate. No one could figure out as it was overpowered by coconut and it tasted like coconut curry rather than fish curry. When one of us, just asked out of curiosity what was that gravy which was served along with Sambar then he said it was fish curry. By then most of the vegetarians had already ate and then we had to stop and ask the person who was taking orders to change the plates. Thankfully, the vegetarians didn’t raise any concern, so we had to finish the meal and leave as neither of us were impressed with the food nor we liked their service. The disappointing thing was, none of them came and apologized for the mess, I know how sensitive this was to the vegetarians. We didn’t want to continue at this place for the dessert, so we headed to MRA bakery and restaurant to try the Faloodas. This place was very crowded and finally our order came and it was good, but everyone felt it was too sweet and most of them had too much of cereals added which made it more sweeter. Since this also had a bakery downstairs, we thought off doing a quick shopping for the local snacks. We found this place expensive, but since we couldn’t go anywhere at this time, we purchased some local snacks and dry fruits and headed to the home stay. While some of us went to enjoy the beach for the last time, others sat and caught up with friends in the homestay. Then we had our dinner where we were served Ney Pathri (Deep fried version of Rice Rotti with Cumin Seeds) which is famous in Kannur along with Kerala Parotta. Since we were planning to leave early the next day, we crashed for the night early.

Day 4: We started early so that we could reach Bangalore by afternoon. I was too tempted to taste the Kerala Chaaya and Pazham Pori before we hit the ghat section, however we couldn’t stop as we didn’t want to delay. So we headed off and were enjoying the morning drive in Brahmagiri Forest Ghat Section. Once we came out of the ghat section, we were planning to stop for breakfast in Coorg, before we hit the Nagarhole forest area, however we didn’t notice our colleagues, so we drove forward. By the time we communicated, Sur and myself were already 5.5 Kms ahead so, we both decided to stop closeby for breakfast and we found The Spice Rack restaurant, while others had their breakfast at Coorg family restaurant, immediately after the ghat section. We ordered the bread omelette, Poori and nice coorg coffee. The breakfast was great and most importantly the place was clean including the rest rooms. We enjoyed and waited for others to reach and then started back to Bangalore. We planned to Stop over at Sala’s place for lunch, however Sur had to complete his assignments for the week, so unfortunately we had to miss their hospitality (We always loved Geetha and Sala’s hospitality) and had to stop at Sahara Family Restaurant, near Nelamangala for a quick lunch. Even though the chicken biryani was decent. The vegetarian order for Sur was disappointing as the Kerala parotta was old, reheated and rubbery and vegetable hyderabadi was decent. Then we headed back and finally reached home after almost 8 hours of drive. This was a deserved break with the friends and it was finally great to catch up with them after 5-6 years.

Even though I thought 2 days in Kannur we may not have much to do, we ended up thinking, we could have stayed for few more days, but we had to leave for Sur, who had to complete his weekly tasks for his studies.

Kerala never disappoints and their food always tempts you to visit. I don’t think you can ever get tired of visiting Kerala as it always has something to offer and am sure am looking forward to the next visit to the state.

Until then Stay Safe………..

1 Comment »

  1. […] The first trip of the year was to Dindigul where we had gone for New Years. It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed it quite a bit. The second trip was to Kannur, Kerala (not to be confused with Coonoor, Tamil Nadu), which we did with Jani’s friends from IBM with whom we had been talking about going on a trip for over 4 years (almost 5). The drive to the place was quite nice and we made good time. I had planned on writing a trip summary as I normally do but didn’t get the time as I was swamped with classes and assignments. In any case, Jani has now started writing about all the trips so that reduces the pressure on me :). Her writeup on the trip is available here. […]

    Pingback by Travel in 2021: 3294kms driven as of date « Suramya's Blog — February 7, 2021 @ 2:55 pm

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