Taj Green Cove

Looking back towards the Leela (white building on the headland) from Samudra Beach - the closest beach to the Taj Green Cove.

View towards the ocean from the Taj's poolside restaurant.

The Taj Green Cove is the other high-end hotel in the area. It is north of the Leela and is – in my mind – nowhere near as nice. It is set back in the coconut palms and therefore has only a distant view of the ocean (see below). I went for coffee the other day and not only was it more expensive (130 Rs with tax for a probably bottomless cup – I say probably since I had two cups and that was plenty for me but probably could have had more) but I only got 3 biscuits with it (instead of 4 at the Leela). Of course part of my disenchantment may have been because the very pleasant bathrooms contained a scale (the bathroom is obviously for use by patrons of the spa since it has towels, lockers etc) and I was foolish enough to weigh myself. I won't divulge the number except to say that the weight loss I enjoyed last year is not happening this time! Too much thali I guess.

Vizhinjam

Vizhinjam (pronounced approximately as Vuh-yin-yam – that's not 100% accurate but, as with so many languages, the Malayalam sounds that make up this place name do not exist in English) is a primarily fishing village south of Kovalam. It is colourful, unpretentious and much more 'real India' than Kovalam. Go early in the morning and you'll discover that many inhabitants still use the ocean as their toilet (not much different than us in Victoria I guess – except we nonchalantly flush our waste away in the bathroom rather than depositing it directly on the beach and letting the waves take it). Many of the houses are rudimentary and as you wander by you'll often hear a woman haranguing someone (probably a man) and understand how the term 'fishwife' originated!

Vizhinjam is supposed to be developed over the next few years as a deep water container port – I'm not sure if that involves dredging the harbout or not – but the process seems stalled at the moment. It's something to do with competing bids I think. The community is made up of mostly Muslims and Christians and the two most prominent features are the mosque and the church.

The yellow and white mosque is not open to non-Muslims but it is very attractive even from the outside. In the second to last photo – the one before the photo of the church – you can see a second mosque under construction to the right of the existing mosque. You can see one of its minarets just to the right of the third clump of palm trees.

The church of prominence in Vizhinjam is Our Lady of Good Voyage. Its foundation stone was laid in 1949. It is a candy-coloured confection of a place of worship that somehow seems perfect for the background of green palms, blue skies and sparkling ocean. The church is quintessentially Indian with its simple architecture, brightly coloured paintings adorning the altar and similarly coloured statues hung with garlands of flowers. There are only a few rows of movable pews at the back of the church – most worshipers remove their shoes (as you would in a mosque or Hindu temple) and sit on the floor.

Vizhinjam is a very photogenic place with a harbour crammed with colourful boats, a church that looks like it's carved out of rock candy and a mosque set like a jewel in a stunning seaside setting.

Trivandrum Zoo

Trivandrum's zoo and its surrounding grounds are a refuge of greenery and relative peacefulness from the busy, traffic-congested city roads.

The zoo is probably the best I've ever been to in India with large enclosures for the animals and a viewing public that mostly seems to obey the posted rules (about not attempting to feed the animals and not throwing things at them or taunting them in any way). It also, in common with most attractions in Kerala, has a reasonable admission charge (20 Rs for adults) and no differential pricing for foreigners.

I've only included two shots – one of the hippos and one of a relaxed herd of sambar deer. For me one of the highlights of the zoo is something that many other visitors probably don't even notice – the hundreds (if not thousands) of bats (fruit bats I think) hanging in the high reaches of the many trees in the zoo's compound. I have seen such bats in many zoos I've visited in India – perhaps they are attracted to the zoo animals' food or maybe it is that zoos offer the largest concentration of tall trees in cities. The day I visited was quite hot and the bats all seemed to be flapping one wing – perhaps this is some kind of cooling technique. These are not small bats – they are about crow-sized – and you are alerted to their presence by a shrill chattering unlike birdsong or insect noise. Unfortunately they are so high up in the trees that it is hard to get a good picture of them.

Entry to the zoo also includes the reptile house (which is outside the zoo proper) where there are some very formidable looking snakes as well as a group of complacently feeding guinea pigs who are unaware of their eventual fate (becoming dinner for the snakes).