Kerala, South India from Dec 28 till 11 Jan

[clioboy]

Dear All,

Will be traveling to Kerala for my annual break.

Staying at an ashram for starters then will be traveling to Cochin..

however I don't have a good idea where to go and see in between!! :bsmilie:

would like to tap the CS community for the places to go and of cos, scenic places!

Hotels, best travel methods..i will be doing my own research too, of cos.

TIA.

*pls keep suggestion between Thiruvananthapuram and Cochin*

 

[jacobindia]

Hi Ciloby, Greetings.

I'm a Keralite based on Cochin who happened to jump into Clubsnap in need for some photographic tips & services associated with 2 to 3 weeks Singapore holidays.


Being a person from Singapore, you wont find anything interesting in Cochin City, it is just a small commercial place in the state of Kerala. But, you can try older cochin (Fort Cochin, about 15 km) for glimpses of portugese colonial remains, chinese fishing nets, jew streets that sells antique products.

Real charm of Kerala is not in Cochin, but you need to explore the rural / remote side far from Cochin.

Kumarakam & Alleppy (about 45 & 65 Km respectively) from Cochin on the way to trivandrum is a nice choice & consider some backwater tourism packages (in floating house boats). Alleppy backwaters is one of its unique travel experiences, and they are few of the river beds in the world that are below sea level.

On the stretch of journey from Cochin to Trivandrum (4 hours by road or rail, about 220 km) there are few good spots. Around trivandrum, kovalam beach is a spot but i advice you to travel upto Kanyakumari, the extreme southern point of indian penisular, where 3 seas meet.

I'm not sure what are your interests. Kerala have plenty of cultural blends, yoga, ayurvedic spas, retreats, wildlife & hillstations. Plenty of ecotourism opportunities. Spots like thekkady, munnar are good places to visit.


With accomodation, what are your preference? Some Resorts far from city? Which location?.

This video give a brief summary of all about kerala
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkaiXjQio4w

 

[clioboy]

great!! thanks for the guidance..

i am starting from south..will be checking into Neyyar Dam where the ashram is..

then will be going to Ponmudi Hill station..

then onwards to Varkala Beach (we are skipping the south tip)

planning to do BoatHouse, but not sure if doing the 8 hrs trip or 22 hrs stay..

then to Old Cochin and a cultural town where they hold the elephant fest thingy..

flying back from Cochin to KL then KL to Singapore as it cheaper though we have to sleep at KLCC for a few hours.

I got some info tat taxi is about 1km = Rs 5? is it true and a good hotel with a/c is Rs 500?

TIA!!

 

[aruns]

HI Clioboy,

I'm a keralite as well. Adding on to what jacobindia said, try to visit Munnar if you can. Its a hill station around 2hrs drive from cochin. South India's highest peak anaimudi is situated there, you can also visit tea plantations,mattupetty dam etc.

Dec - Jan means it would be winter there. On the way back you can visit Idukki, which has a huge hydel power station.

better you arrange a taxi with driver before hand,for the whole length of ur stay.

If you require any help with booking taxi,houseboat in kumarakom or accom in Munnar do let me know. I can check with a few of my friends.

 

[clioboy]

Thanks for the offer!! will keep you in mind!!

 

[munnar]

Hi:

Greets!

We welcome you for the awesome trip to Kerala.

According to your plan, we suggest 2 kind of trips ..

1. Cochin - Munnar - Thekkady - Kumarakam - Marai - Allappey - Cochin

2. Cochin - Vagamon - Kollam - Varkala - Kovalam - Kanyakumari - Thiruvanandapuram - Alleppy - Cochin.

Please choose one; i will get you the details soon, mail on info@munnartrav.com.

We, MunnarTrav; a dedicated tour planner at Kochi offers complete tour packages which covers all the Beautiful Places in Kerala. At MunnarTrav, you will find a team of professionals who contributes optimum expertise to deliver and ensure complete satisfaction to clients. Our team of expert tour organizers, professional tour guides and our friendly staff members strives to give the guests an authentic and rich holiday experience.

Our services include complete travel arrangements including all passenger services with specific packages.

The major tourist locations and services we covers in our packages are Thiruvananthapuram , Kochi, Kovalam , Alappuzha ,Kumarakom, Munnar, Gavi, Thekkady, Chinnakkanal, Idukki, Valparai, Silent Valley, Varkala, Wayanad, Ponmudi, Nilambur, Kozhikkode, etc with Ayurvedic Health treatments, house boats, etc.

Visit www.munnartrav.com to experience more. To view some exclusive photos, please go to www.munnartrav.com/gallery.php.

The major services we offer are: Hotel Booking, Back water tourism, Ayurvedic Tourism, Air Ticket Booking, Itinerary Planning, Car Rental Services etc.

We facilitate the best accommodation in any tariff within cottages, executive rooms, deluxe and super deluxe rooms, suite room, valley view rooms, wild view rooms, honey moon

cottages, bungalow, etc in top rated hotels which we are in tie up. Some hotels are listed below.
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Our team will assist you from the time of arrival to airport till departure without any processing or hidden charges.

We promise the complete security here with expert guidance for the trip. Regarding preference of the destinations you wish to cover, nos. of days in your hand for trip to Kerala, travel period. Number of pax traveling, also the preference of hotel category or per hotel room budget, enable us to work out an ideal tour for you with cost and details of services.

Thanks and regards,