CYCLING IN INDIA brings you a quick fix for your corona blues. Here’s an invigorating biking tour of Kerala backwaters, thoroughly checked and tested for all the requirements of hygiene, health safety, and social distancing.
Few iniquities of life can match that of adventure buffs having to cool their heels for months. Yet that is the kind of spiritual suppression many of us are living with. The lockdown and the strict social distancing restrictions brought about by the coronavirus pandemic have put a lid on our wanderlust and a tight leash on the irrepressible travellers and explorers we used to be.
But those itchy feet need not shilly-shally anymore. To break the travel deadlock caused by coronavirus, we have designed an exclusive Covid-Safe Kerala Backwaters Biking Tour that doesn’t take more than a week of your time, but gives you the worth of a full-on South Indian cycling holiday.
Yeah, that’s right, but what about safety, we hear you ask? What about the risk of coronavirus? What about social distancing?
Fret not, friends. We have it all covered.
Kerala Backwaters have been one of our favourite biking destinations of South India for years. We have cycled up and down the Kerala biking trails for so long that it’s not a stretch for us to redraw itinerary to chuck out the unsafe spots and stitch in the new routes and trails that are perfectly safe from the social distancing and health safety point of view. Alongside, we’ve recently recced the hotels and restaurants to single out only those that are making the grade in keeping hygiene up to top standards. To cap it, we’ve decided to keep our biking groups small, and all the members well spread out on the road. The bikes shall be disinfected multiple times a day, or as and when you want.
In short, we tick all the checkboxes to ensure your safety on our new corona-safe cycling tour of Kerala.
The itinerary pans out over five days. To give you a refreshing break, we’ve chosen the coastal town of Fort Kochi as our starting point.
The tour kicks off in Fort Kochi, a Keralan coastal town famous for its rich historical heritage. It’s a perfect place to begin our Kerala cycling adventure. Culture buffs would soak in the art and architecture of the town’s buildings that reflect influences from the colonial British, Portuguese and Dutch rule. You may visit the 16th century church where the Portuguese explorer and sailor Vasco Da Gama was buried until his remains were exhumed and carried off to his homeland. You may drop by the ancient synagogue or Jain Temple or Dutch cemetery. Not to be missed are the famous Chinese Fishing Nets, a big draw among tourists on holiday in Kerala, for they are unique to only a few Indian coastal towns.
Hardly any other place in India can boast such a plural mix of international cultures as Fort Kochi, and we spend an entire evening exploring its least crowded parts on our bikes. On the following day, we hit the road for a terrific ride to Marari Beach. The route takes us through a picturesque country, with endless sea on one side and fishing villages and coconut plantations on the other. Cycling through this stretch should be a breeze, given the bracing air, the good road, friendly people, and pretty sights. We expect to reach Marari village by afternoon, after which we lounge around at the pristine Marari Beach, which was rated by National Geographic Survey as one of the world’s top five Hammock beaches. It is a quiet, calm beach and a rejuvenating pit-stop on our Kerala cycling trip.
The journey from Marari Beach to our next destination, Alleppey, is not long and we bike at leisure on a 20km route, making brief stops at small coastal villages where, from a distance, we get a glimpse of rural Keralan life. Many of these hamlets are fishing villages with coconut plantations. At some of them, we may even stop by to watch coconut husks being processed and spliced into coir ropes. By afternoon, we come upon the famed Keralan Backwaters in the Alleppey district. We check into a houseboat and even go for a boat ride.
A Kerala backwaters houseboat tour is an eye-opener for any first timer. The boat winds its way through an interconnected network of lakes and lagoons that are fed by dozens of rivers and lie close to the Arabian Sea. The banks are dotted with villages and small settlements. The boat ride and the overnight stay in the houseboat is a great stress buster. What’s more, the boat has its own cook who will rustle up fresh and delicious seafood of your choice, should you want so.
Any biking adventure of Kerala Backwaters is incomplete without a jaunt to Kumarakom, a popular tourist destination along the banks of Kerala’s largest lake, the Vembanad. The route from Alleppey cuts through swathes of paddy fields and backwater canals. We meet locals and even pay a visit to the famous Champakulam Church, which was first built in AD 427 and has since been rebuilt a few times. One of the oldest churches in India, Champakulam was once under Niranam Church, which was founded by none other than the Apostle St. Thomas himself. The church was recognized as a basilica by Pope Francis in 2016 and holds out great attraction for both the faithful and non-believers.
We reach our destination by afternoon and go on canoe rides in the narrow canals of Kumarakom. It’s an intriguing excursion that aptly caps our Covid-Safe Cycling Tour of Kerala Backwaters.
On the morning of the final day, we may choose to cycle back part of the way to Kochi, which is about 90km from Kumarakom. Or we may just ride in a cab all the way to the Kochi airport for your departure.
In just five days, without putting yourself to any health risk, you may steal back to the old days of adventure and exploring with our Kerala Backwaters Biking Trip. To sign up, send us a mail and we’ll revert with the details.
After all, it’s time to answer the call of wanderlust.
