🚗 The Road Beckons - Breaking Free from Routine
There’s something wild about waking up one December morning in Indore and deciding to chase south India all the way to Kerala’s quiet backwaters.
Indore was cool - literally and metaphorically. Great food, big city energy and that “get-things-done” vibe. But my spirit was like, I need contrast. So I booked the flight. Packed a small backpack. And said peace out ✌️.
This trip wasn’t about a checklist - it was about feeling places. That’s the soul of travel right there.
✈️ Touchdown: Coimbatore - Gateway to the South
Coimbatore was hotter than Indore (weather-wise). But the first thing that hit was the texture of the city - casual, unhurried, grinning Tamil vibes everywhere.
It’s funny - you land in a city like Coimbatore and you immediately feel the transition from north Indian cadence to south Indian rhythm. The tempo changes. The hum of street life sounds different. The way people speak … even the pacing feels distinct.
That’s a travel lesson:
Culture isn’t just something you see - it’s something you feel. 🙌
The city itself is kind of an underdog. Not flashy, not touristy - but real. The roads were wide and clean, autorickshaw drivers laughed more than screamed and the aromatic chai stalls were on every corner.
🍽️ First Food Notes: Welcome to South Indian Flavor
Dinner that night was classic Tamil Nadu fare - filter coffee that tasted like silk with espresso kicks ☕️🔥 and idli-dosas that made me wonder why I didn’t eat them daily back home.
Here’s what hit hard in my foodie brain:
📌 Filter Coffee - thick, sweet, creamy and perfectly punchy.
📌 Masala Dosa - crispy edges, soft inside, chutney that spoke gospel language.
📌 Sambar - spicy but subtle, warm but zingy.
Pro tip:
South Indian food is built on balance - spice, tang, salt and sweetness.
It’s like a flavor orchestra with perfect timing. 🥁🍛
🛣️ Coimbatore → Vaikom: Where Green Gets Greener
The highway ride south was cinematic.
Like, I’m talking coconut groves lining the roads, lush hills in the distance, occasional cattle casually strolling as if traffic laws didn’t apply 🐄😄 and that unmistakable South Indian sky - deep blue, high clarity.
If I had to sum up that drive:
The world turned into a gradient of green with palm trees acting like nature’s sentinels. 🌴🌴🌴
We hit some small towns on the way - roadside snack joints with fresh banana chips laid out, truckers playing Tamil movie songs loud (and honestly good) and diesel fumes mixed with sweet crop smells.
It’s in moments like these that your brain switches from productivity mode to presence mode. That’s when travel gets addictive.
🌺 First Impressions of Vaikom - A Different Planet
Walking off that highway into Vaikom felt like stepping into a slow-motion painting.
You know when a place doesn’t shout, but whispers? That was Vaikom. Then the whisper suddenly grips your lungs and says, Stay. Breathe. 😌
#What Hit Me First:
🌊 Backwater Canals - silent glassy channels that mirrored the world like a magnified emotion.
🛶 Boats drifting like slow thoughts, rarely buzzing, always gliding.
🌴 Palm trees - not just a landscape element but constants in every snapshot.
I still remember walking down to the local jetty at dusk. The water gleamed orange. Birds called in long harmonies. Small kids splashed playfully while elders watched quietly.
It wasn’t loud.
It wasn’t flashy.
It was altogether real.
🧠 Culture Crash Course - What I Learned in Vaikom
Vaikom is a small town - but its soul is oversized.
Here are a few lessons tucked into local moments:
#📌 Life Is A Rhythm - You Just Follow It
No one was in a hurry. Not even traffic. Roads were alive but calm. It felt like the world paused just enough so your mind could catch up.
#📌 Hospitality Isn’t A Trend - It’s a Lifestyle
People welcomed me like I was a friend they forgot existed. No pretense. Just authenticity.
#📌 Food Tells Stories
Kerala food is earthy and grounded. It’s spice without aggression - like warmth with intention. From fish curry to fresh coconut rice, everything tasted like home if home was exotic 🐟🍚🥥.
🌅 Vaikom Mornings - The Energy Was Different
If you ever catch yourself in a place where mornings feel conscious instead of routine, destination unlocked.
Here’s what my Vaikom dawn looked like:
🌄 Mist over the canals.
☕ Local filter coffee with that sweet edge.
🐦 Birds singing not chirping (they sounded poetic).
🛶 Fishermen readying boats like it was ceremonial.
It didn’t feel like a “morning routine.”
It felt like a spiritual reset button. 🌞
📍 Vaikom Backwaters - The Heartbeat of the Town
The backwaters weren’t just water - they were narrative threads weaving the town together.
Locals didn’t rush - they pedaled through life on bicycles, kayaks and slow talk.
I got onto a small boat one afternoon - no engines - just paddles and stillness. The water grabbed your reflection tighter than your own shadow. And every direction you looked was green meeting blue, meeting texture, meeting peace.
No filter needed. Not even a caption.
🌙 Vaikom Nights - Lanterns & Quiet
Once the sun dipped, things got even more cinematic:
✨ Fireflies popped up like tiny blinking stars.
🌾 Night market aromas sneaked into every corner.
🚲 Kids zoomed past laughing.
🔥 Cooking fires crackled like community hearths.
I remember an old man by the water teaching me how to make pazham pori (banana fritters) - crispy outside, soft inside, sugary and fulfilling. He said:
“Good food is quiet until it hits your soul.”
And he was right.
🛫 Back to Coimbatore - Last Night in the City
I made my way back to Coimbatore for one last night. It wasn’t just a waypoint - it was a buffer between worlds.
One last dosa 🥞.
One final filter coffee ☕️.
One long walk through quiet streets.
There was a rhythm to that city I hadn’t fully felt before - like it was saying,
“You’ve seen something wild. Let this be your landing pad.”
✈️ Final Leg - Coimbatore → Indore
Flying back felt like rewinding, but sharper.
The landscapes below looked familiar yet new - like reality had upgraded in the background while my senses took notes.
Landing in Indore, that December night was cool and sharp. I remember thinking:
> “This isn’t an end. This is an opened door.”
And that’s the real magic of this trip.
✨ How This Journey Changed Me
Here’s the short list of what I brought home:
✔️ Fresh eyes - a reminder that places shape perception.
✔️ Food memories - worth their own chapter.
✔️ Quiet confidence - from roads less rushed.
✔️ Stories that still whisper when I close my eyes.
Travel isn’t a destination - it’s an upgrade to your internal OS. 🔄
🌈 Your Takeaway?
If you draw a line on a map, you trace distance.
If you feel a place, you trace identity.
My route -
📍 Indore
✈️ Coimbatore
🛣️ Vaikom
🛫 Back to Coimbatore
✈️ Home to Indore
It wasn’t just the distance - it was exploration of how deeply life changes when you slow down enough to absorb context, culture and people.
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