A few members of Yathra Kudumbam at Punalur Suspension Bridge
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
There is nothing novel about strangers bonding during group tour packages. But what if the camaraderie is so strong that they set out on new trips? That is the case with Yathra Kudumbam, a travel group made up of people who met during Kerala State Road Transport Corporation’s (KSRTC) budget tourism trips.The members of the group, over 300 of them, have been regulars of the budget tourism trips run by the Budget Tourism Cell (BTC), a vertical under KSRTC that organises group trips to tourist destinations, historical sites, temples, monuments and the like across Keralam and outside of it.“This group works in association with BTC. That is, the members choose the destination instead of following BTC’s itinerary. Once the location is finalised, we book a KSRTC bus via BTC,” Thomas TC, a veteran of budget tourism trips and a member of Yathra Kudumbam, who is also a level 10 local Google guide – a non-paying volunteer who posts reviews, photos and information about various locations.Guiding the team is Sajith S, a conductor with KSRTC’s Thiruvananthapuram city depot, who was once a coordinator of BTC. “It is heartening to note how the passengers, most of them senior citizens, became close to each other having travelled together to various locations through BTC trips. There came a point when they wanted to explore those locations that are not in BTC’s itinerary, most of which are nestled within forest areas, and that’s how they formed this group. Since I have been their coordinator in many trips, they wanted me to be a part of it,” Sajith says.
