Kerala Tips

It is unfortunate that even today authentic/informative articles on Kerala’s tourist attractions are missing on the Web. So from this week, I am starting an article series under the category "Kerala Travel Diary". In these articles I will try to capture the beauty of each tourist place I visit along with detailed photographs and location maps.

This week I will introduce you to the Veli Tourist Village near Trivandrum airport.

Introduction

Veli is a very popular picnic spot in Trivandrum and is heavily crowded during weekends. The major attractions here include boating in the Veli lagoon, a nearby beach, children’s park, games, horse riding and a lot of disgusting/beautiful(take your pick!) artwork on stone and grass by sculptor Kaanayi Kunjiraman. Veli is about 7 kilometres from the city centre and is very near to Trivandrum airport. You can catch a KSRTC bus (route number 155) or hire a taxi from the city. If you have your own vehicle, there is plenty of parking space. There are two parking slots and the second one which is a bit away from the park entrance has always free space.

Veli Tourist Village is open from 8AM to 6PM. Since Trivandrum has no night life and any night time activity is a playground of anti-social elements the park closes at 6PM.

There is a youth hostel near Veli, but I don’t know whether it is a convenient place to stay.

How to reach Veli Tourist Resort

When you come from Trivandrum city, you need to take the airport road which crosses NH bypass. Take the road which goes to Kochu Veli railway station and after about a kilometre from the railway station you will find the "Veli Tourist Village" sign board. If you continue driving through this road you will reach Vettukadu church and then Sanghumugham beach. The roads here are well maintained, but beware of unmarked speed bumps!

Veli Satellite Map (Click to view on Google Maps)

Veli Google Earth Map

Veli Travel Report

The entrance to Veli tourist centre is narrow and on the right you can see the ticket counter. A single ticket costs Rs.5 and there is no fee for camera.

After entering the tourist village, take a right turn and the first thing you will notice is a stone work by Kanayi Kunjiraman. I have no clue as to what it is, but thankfully Kanayi likes to call it "sunset"! But for the curious minded this thing is a time pass. You get a different perspective as you move around this stone work.

After having a good look at sunset, continue walking towards right end of the park and  you will see an abandoned children’s slider pool. Unfortunately this is not maintained for a long time. Don’t even think you allowing your children to play in it unless you want them to get cholera or something similar. This a symbol of government inefficiency and lack of any real interest in maintaining this tourist spot.

Continue walking and you will come across a fish pool and adjacent to the pool you will find some exceptional coconut trees. People say that coconut tree produces more coconuts when they are located near humans. The coconut trees near a house produces more coconuts than the one away due to this reason. It is probably due to the sheer number of people who visit Veli that coconut trees here are full of coconuts. That itself is view to wonder at!

On the left of the fish pool you will find a grass artwork by Kanayi Kunjiraman. This is a nude and provocative artwork of a woman lying on the beach. It is something many people are ashamed to enjoy! I still wonder why feminists have not yet found this offensive! :-)Anyway Kanayi seems to have "female body weakness"!

Fish pool is big but is not maintained well (it stinks) and the water level is much lower than it used to be. Still you can find some fish (Karimeen etc.) in the pool. Earlier feeding fishes was attractive activity, but not anymore since the number of fishes are too low and they are obviously overfed!

They should have filled this with water and could have provided small peddle boats for couples/families. But who cares!

From the pool, take a left turn and you will cross a small bridge. After this you can see more of Kanayi’s stone artwork. Finally you will reach the Veli lakeside which stretches from beach side to Aakkulam. You can also see the road/railway track crossing the lake. There is a footpath on the right side which stretches up to Aakkulam. You can relax on the footpath or walk all the way up to Aakulam. There is also a good toddy shop (food was good when I went there) on this route. It appears that on the other side of the lagoon a resort is being built.

Take a left turn again and you will reach the boat jetty. You can purchase tickets for various boat types (speed boat, peddle boat etc.). This place also has a pigeon cage which houses some exotic types. You can relax here in the sun shade and buy drinks/food from here. The coconut water here seems to very diluted and I wouldn’t recommend it. Probably if you are rich enough you can buy the packed energy drink red bull from KTDC stall.

Speed boating is exciting and if you want complete privacy you should go for peddle boating. Don’t forget to put on life jackets. The safari boat goes up to Aakulam bridge and the ride is an interesting experience. High speed boat costs Rs.750 and carry 6 people at a time.

After the boating experience, continue walking towards the left end of the park. You will be able to see the sea far away. On the way you will come across a floating restaurant operated by KTDC. Sitting on the top deck of this in the evening is an experience. Unfortunately the food is costly and the service is bad. What I would recommend is to order something light from here just to spend time on the deck and have your food somewhere else.

In order to reach the beach on the left end, you need to cross a floating bridge on the lake. The creaky wood platform is a bit scary at first, but it seems fairly stable. Still I would advise that you cross only when the load on the bridge is less. Sometimes the bridge can be jam packed (especially in the evenings), so you might have to wait for sometime you can cross.

After crossing the floating bridge you will come across a set of small shops where there is plenty of chairs for you to relax and enjoy some coconut drink. You can also go for horse riding, but personally I don’t think it is a good idea for kids considering the risks. Behind these shops you will find a game stall and a small children’s park. The game of chance (where you will get 6 rings for Rs. 5 to try your luck on precision throwing) is addictive.

And the next stop is the beach. The waves here are strong and don’t venture too much into the beach (especially since there are no life guards here!). Your enthusiasm may disappear if I say that the city drainage joins the sea not very far from here!

Trip Summary - Veli Tourist Village

Veli is one of the best picnic spots in Trivandrum. The best time to visit this place is either early morning or in the evening. There are a lot of activities at this place and you can easily spend half a day here. Government inefficiency is all around, but still it is not as bad as in many other tourist places.

Travel Destination - Veli Tourist Centre
Geographical coordinates:  8° 31′ 0" North, 76° 53′ 0" East
Time of Visit - Around 3PM
Date of Review - June 2008
Last Updated on - June 2008

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