India Journal 03- The colors of Vaasthu and a trip to a resort

I spent the last week in the wonderful southern town of Nagercoil. The big draw of Nagercoil is its proximity to Kanyakumari and the lush green scenery of Kerala. We undertook one such trip to the backwaters of Kerala on Friday and this journal entry is much about that.We started on Friday morning - a big Innova with a bunch of us bound for Poovar. Poovar is on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and is an estuary resort town where the Poovar river meets the Arabian Sea. It is about 25km from Trivandrum, its closest airport. Our drive from Nagercoil to Poovar took us through interesting parts of Tamil Nadu and a very small portion of Kerala. One thing that struck my fancy throughout the trip was the colors which very many houses were painted with. Upon further enquiry, I found out that the zany and bright colors owe their use to the ancient craft of Vaasthu Shastra. Just as fashions trends and colors change every year, Vaasthu Shastra supposedly recommends colors for houses that would ensure that the house and its owners would prosper. This means bright purples, greens, oranges and pinks. They stand out everywhere and I spotted dozens of such houses on our 45 km drive. I took some pictures of these houses as we drove past- unfortunately some of them are fuzzy due to having been shot on a moving car in traffic.[gallery ids="1007,1008,1009,1010,1011,1012"]We arrived in the coastal town of Poovar soon after. The resort we had selected- Isola De Cocco  was supposed to be a heritage resort that offered a unique and traditional experience. We drove through some coconut tree lined roads and arrived at our destination. Isola Di Cocco is all that it is advertised to be. The setting is spectacular. The property is spread across a huge area and the villas are traditional Kerala style buildings. Villas are spaced apart for privacy. Each villa is filled with antique furniture and much of it is made of wood. The villas also feature an outdoor bath area which is awkward to look at but pleasant to use.[gallery ids="1014,1015,1016,1017,1018,1019,1020"]The setting is truly gorgeous. The complex features a huge swimming pool. They offer a calming boat ride on a catamaran along the outer edge of the property which takes almost a full hour. At the end of the ride, a motor boat took us to a beach where the river meets the Arabian Sea. At sunset, it makes for a spectacular view to say the least. We also took a Whole Body massage at the Ayurvedic massage center at the premises. The massage cost us about Rs.1200, lasted an hour and was very good.Overall, it made for a great experience. One that I would strongly recommend to everyone if you happen to be in the area.I am back home to Coimbatore and hope to file a couple of more journal entries before the trip back to the States.