Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(Hotel Sudarsan; meals ?90-150; 7am-11pm)
This darkened air-con restaurant is recommended
for its tasty veg and nonveg cuisine, thalis and Sunday lunch buffet. There's a less-formal
coffee shop for snacks and the Golden Tavern bar in the same hotel complex.
Information
DTPC Information Centre
( 2745625;
www.dtpckollam.com
; 8am-7pm)
Helpful and can organise
backwater trips; near the KSRTC bus stand and boat jetty.
Post Office
MAP
2746607; Alappuzha Rd)
9.30am-6pm Mon-Fri, to 4pm Sat, to 1.30pm Sun)
For chan-
UAE Exchange
(
2751240; Alappuzha Rd;
ging cash and travellers cheques.
Getting There & Away
BOAT
There are cruises to Alleppey (
Click here
)
. From the main boat jetty there are frequent
public ferry services across Ashtamudi Lake to Guhanandapuram (one hour). Fares are
around ?10 return, or ?3 for a short hop.
BUS
Kollam is on the Trivandrum-Kollam-Alleppey- Ernakulam bus route, with buses depart-
ing every 10 or 20 minutes to Trivandrum (?50, two hours), Alleppey (?55, 2½ hours) and
Ernakulam (Kochi, ?95, 3½ hours). Buses depart from the
KSRTC bus stand
(
2752008)
,
conveniently near the boat jetty.
TAXI
A taxi to Alleppey costs ?1200 and to Varkala ?700.
TRAIN
There are frequent trains to Ernakulam (sleeper/3AC ?140/308, 3½ hours, six daily) and
Trivandrum (?140/249, one hour) via Varkala (?36/165, 30 minutes). A couple of trains
daily go to Alappuzha (Alleppey; 2nd-class/AC chair ?45/165, 1½ hours).
