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Sri Lanka and India Days 8 – 10: A Kerala Retreat

26 February 2016 • 54 km / 33 mi (map)

  • Added to Eric Scouten :: Travel on 4 August 2026
  • India 4

After our day on the backwaters houseboat, we were driven to the Soma Kerala Palace on Kaithapuzha Lake for our last few days in South Asia.

First, a few scenes from the drive …

A tile-roofed roadside fruit and vegetable stall in Alappuzha, Kerala, with hanging bunches of bananas and displays of pineapples, tomatoes, cauliflower, and green beans in crates, where a man in a white shirt bends over to arrange produce. A red bicycle and a black Royal Enfield motorcycle are parked out front, and signs in Malayalam and English, including “Doctor’s Medicals” and a Reliance Mobile ad, line the shopfronts.
Alappuzha, Kerala, India
A street-side vegetable and fruit stall in Alappuzha, Kerala, with produce like bananas, cauliflower, tomatoes, mangoes and onions displayed in crates under a red-and-white umbrella, beneath a yellow and green Supplyco Supermarket sign written in English and Malayalam. A weathered building with a doorway sits at left, and people stand near a cart of bananas along a sunlit road at right.
Alappuzha, Kerala, India
A busy roadside vegetable market in front of an old tiled-roof building plastered with colorful Malayalam film posters, where vendors sell tomatoes, green chilies, and onions from crates and carts. Several women in saris and salwar suits shop alongside a man in a plaid shirt weighing produce, with a red-and-white promotional umbrella and a white tower building visible in the background.
Alappuzha, Kerala, India
A yellow three-wheeled auto truck piled high with striped watermelons parked on a roadside in Alappuzha, Kerala, with a balance scale and stacked plastic crates beside it. Behind it are bright green painted walls advertising “A.R Steels” and “Steels & Hardwares,” a red Malayalam sign for Gentleman Chit Funds, palm trees, and a man in brown walking past in the foreground.
Alappuzha, Kerala, India
A street vendor in an orange checked shirt reads a newspaper beside an auto-rickshaw truck heaped with red shallots, priced at 30 per kilo on a chalkboard sign, along a roadside in Kerala. In front stand crates of tomatoes and other produce with a weighing scale, set against a bright pink temple wall and lush trees.
Aryad South, Kerala, India
A rural roadside scene in Kerala with a cart heavily overloaded with green fodder or grass parked on the paved road, beside a small market stall selling watermelons under a tarp. A black scooter is parked in front of a roadside shop displaying snacks and mobile phone signage, with a ‘Siva Motors Work Shop’ sign and lush trees and a cell tower in the background under a bright sky.
Aryad South, Kerala, India

The resort is on an island in Kaithapuzha Lake. It seems fitting that the final leg of the journey was a well-timed sunset cruise.

A small covered tour boat named “Kamalakshi” moored on calm backwaters at sunset, with a man seated at the helm and an orange life ring hanging on its bow. Palm trees line the far shore beneath a dramatic sky glowing orange and pink over the water.
Soma Kerala Palace, Kochi, Kerala, India
A sunset over calm backwaters with silhouetted palm trees and dense foliage along the left shoreline, the sun low over the horizon casting a golden reflection across the rippled water beneath a sky of purple and orange clouds.
Soma Kerala Palace, Kochi, Kerala, India
A sunset over calm backwaters seen from the curved thatched-and-canvas roof of a houseboat, with the orange sun low on the horizon beneath a sky of scattered grey clouds. On the right, silhouetted palm trees and greenery line the shore near a white columned building.
Soma Kerala Palace, Kochi, Kerala, India

The purpose was mostly to relax and unwind, so we (mostly) put the cameras down and enjoyed our surroundings.

View from beneath an ornately carved dark wooden eave looking out over a calm green backwater lined with tall coconut palms, where two people stand on a white-edged walkway near the water, one holding a long pole beside a boat. Potted palms sit on a paved and grassy garden in the foreground, with a white boundary wall and dense tropical foliage across the water.
Soma Kerala Palace, Kochi, Kerala, India
A long open colonnaded verandah with a polished red oxide floor, a row of white plaster columns on the left opening to greenery, and a whitewashed wall with arched niches and carved wooden windows on the right. Yellow cane chairs and cloth-draped tables line the walkway beneath a dark exposed wooden beam ceiling.
Soma Kerala Palace, Kochi, Kerala, India
A sunlit colonnade of white plastered archways and square columns runs along a covered walkway, with a wooden slatted eave above and a row of potted areca palms lining the brick-paved floor. A cane armchair sits in the shaded corridor beyond one of the arches.
Soma Kerala Palace, Kochi, Kerala, India · by Tara Scouten

All too soon, it was time to begin our journey home. Until next time …

Two men, one in a white Somatheeram staff T-shirt and one in a pink shirt, stand on a tiled waterfront jetty beside a traditional Kerala houseboat with thatched cane roofs, an orange life ring, and a purple decorative umbrella, on a calm backwater under a clear blue sky.
Soma Kerala Palace, Kochi, Kerala, India
Soma Kerala Palace, Kochi, Kerala, India · by Tara Scouten
A weathered concrete boundary wall in Fort Kochi painted with a large black quote reading “I WILL NOT LET ANYONE WALK THROUGH MY MIND WITH THEIR DIRTY FEET” attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, with green weeds in the foreground and a tiled-roof building and trees behind the wall.
I Will Not Let Anyone Walk Through My Mind with Their Dirty Feet · Fort Kochi, Kochi, Kerala, India
Pallathuruthy to Kochi, Kerala, India · 54 km / 33 mi
(Mouse over or tap on the markers to see the photos there. Use the button to adjust the map’s position and zoom.)

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