My India House
For an inexpensive holiday in Kovalam in the Southern Indian State of Kerala - "God's Own Country"
The address is : LARA Bhavanam, Vaikkokulam Road, Avaduthura, KOVALAM PO, Trivandrum 695527, Kerala, South India.
CURRENT BOOKINGS : housebookingschart
If you want to check the precise location on Google, Multimaps or any of the mapping websites it is :
N : 08.23.48 and E : 76.58.69
Most people in the UK and Europe will be reassessing their spending in the current financial crisis but will not wish to forgo an annual holiday - that everyone deserves.
My lovely house provides that opportunity at very low prices...and airfares are generally only around £350 - £450 return from the UK. Airlines going to Trivandrum currently are Qatar, Gulf, Emirates, Ethiad, Sri Lankan, Kuwait from various UK. Unfortunately, there are no charter flights to Trivandrum any longer.
The person who sorts my flights out is Philip Abraham, a native of Kerala but living and working in GB. He produces a Keralan newspaper as well as a travel agency. Contact him - mentioning me - on www.keralalink.co.uk. .
Also, a good place to source tickets is : www.ticketstoindia.co.uk
The house, completed in October 2005, has been a great success with visitors from the UK, Czech Republic, Spain, Ireland and Germany as well as so many people from different countries in the world popping in for breakfast.
It has white and deep pink marble floors throughout. The 1 twin bedroom on the ground floor and 3 on the first floor, each has its own shower, wash basin and toilet attached, as well as a central ceiling fan, bedside reading lamps and several 2 pin electric sockets . Also, there is a detached cottage with a double bed, shower and toilet.
There is a dining hall with hand wash basin with a large open plan kitchen. We also have DIGITAL cable TV with many channels including sports, film and general interest channels.
We have WiFi internet connection through our TV cable but this is limited so please use it sparingly and DO NOT download film or music.
There is a house MOBILE PHONE ( +91 96 33 44 42 41) and it is very cheap to use and to send SMS messages to Europe. All you need to do is to put a few Rupees in the box provided...the amount is shown on the screen after each use. The nearest phone booth to make international calls is 150m away.
You can make calls TO India for just 2p per minute by dialling 0844 838 59 70 and then following the instructions
It is situated in its own grounds off a quiet road and is 800m from the beach. There are coconut, banana and papaya trees that fruit as well as chilli bushes & other plants.
Our road is a steep downhill one from the main Beach Road. My home is just past the blue gates that you can just see on the right hand side of the photo and on the left behind a set of black gates and through the green gate on the left. At night, there are gate lights as well as illumination over the whole garden.
A non resident housekeeper (KUMARI pronounced KOO MAR REE) arrives each morning at about 8.30am to prepare breakfast and also do the cleaning and your washing....but please remember that water is a scarce commodity in India and I would not expect you to have clothes washed every day.
The donation I ask for is £7 (cR500/-) per room per night and this will include breakfast (Please note that the rate may vary slightly with the current volatility of the £). In addition, an equal portion of the weekly salary of the housekeeper has to be paid…she gets R800/- a week so if there are 4 people staying, then it is a contribution of just R200/-.
The season 2009/10 is now almost booked but there are rooms available in early January and again from mid February to early March.
If you would like to make use of the house, then just contact me as soon as possible. The best time to visit Kerala is from September to April, although several people have been during the Summer months and enjoyed it - less tourists!!! I can advise you on flights and also arrange for a taxi to collect you from Trivandrum Airport some 16kms away. Bookings are beginning to come in thick and fast for next season so please get in contact as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
Kerala is a wonderfully diverse State with wonderful people (speaking an unpronounceable language of Malayalam), has an excellent climate, the sea is like being in a lovely warm bath and the food is just so tasty .. and you can even take a cookery course there.
If you, your family or friends are interested, please use the feedback form at the foot of the homepage to contact me.
Recently, my wife and Czech family had an enjoyable month in the house, their second visit, and already they are looking forward to their return.
