Kerala: Backwaters, Tea Hills and Beaches

Arrive in Kochi

Cochin International Airport (COK) to your hotel in Fort Kochi

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Kochi
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Soir

The rest of the day is yours: sleep off the flight, or walk the seafront at sunset when the nets are lowered and the fish auction stalls set up along the shore. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week ahead, from what to pack for the cool tea hills to how the houseboat night works, and then we walk to a local restaurant for a welcome dinner of Kerala seafood, appam and vegetable curries.

Compris

• Pick-up at Cochin International Airport (COK)
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Welcome dinner in Fort Kochi

Fort Kochi and Mattancherry

Fort Kochi on foot, then Mattancherry and Jew Town

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Kochi

Matin

A short drive takes us to Jew Town in time for the Paradesi Synagogue's morning opening, roughly 10 am to noon, which is why the morning runs in this order. The synagogue dates from 1568, and the lanes around it still smell of ginger and pepper from the old spice warehouses. Next door is Mattancherry Palace, built by the Portuguese for the Raja of Kochi and later rebuilt by the Dutch, with Kerala murals of scenes from the Ramayana.

Après-midi

Lunch is a Kerala sadhya, a vegetarian feast served on a banana leaf. The afternoon is free.

Soir

In the early evening we go to a Kathakali performance, arriving early to watch the actors paint their faces.

Compris

• Fort Kochi walk with your guide: the Chinese fishing nets, St Francis Church and the Santa Cruz Basilica
• The Paradesi Synagogue and Jew Town, in the morning opening hours
• Mattancherry Palace and its murals
• Kerala sadhya lunch on a banana leaf
• Kathakali performance, with time to watch the make-up

Up into the tea hills

Kochi to Munnar on the road through Kothamangalam and Adimali

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Munnar
• Environ 4 h de route

Matin

We leave Fort Kochi after breakfast and drive about 135 km east into the Western Ghats, roughly four hours with stops, which is the longest drive of the trip and right at our cap. The first half crosses flat country of rubber and pineapple; after Kothamangalam the road starts to climb through forest, past the Cheeyappara and Valara waterfalls, which run strongest after the monsoon in October and November.

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal on the way. By early afternoon the forest gives way to tea, clipped into rounded rows across every slope, and we reach Munnar at about 1,600 m, where the air is noticeably cooler. After checking in, a local guide takes us on an easy walk of about an hour and a half along the estate paths in the late-afternoon light, explaining how the leaf is plucked, who picks it and how the estates began under British planters in the late 19th century.

Soir

The evening is free.

Compris

• Drive from Kochi to Munnar with stops at the Cheeyappara and Valara waterfalls
• Sit-down lunch on the way
• Late-afternoon tea estate walk with a local guide

Eravikulam and the Tea Museum

Munnar to Eravikulam National Park, then the Tea Museum

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Munnar
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

We go up early to Eravikulam National Park, a short drive north of Munnar, aiming for one of the first forest department buses that carry visitors from the gate up to the Rajamalai section, before the holiday crowds of late morning. This is open grassland and shola forest at about 2,000 m, home to the Nilgiri tahr, a mountain goat found only in the Western Ghats, which often grazes beside the path. Anamudi, the highest peak in South India at about 2,695 m, rises inside the park. The park closes each year for the tahr calving season, roughly February and March; on those dates we go instead to the Top Station viewpoint on the Tamil Nadu border for the view down over the plains.

Après-midi

After a free lunch in town we visit the Tea Museum at Nallathanni, which tells the story of the estates and shows the old machinery and a working processing line.

Soir

The rest of the afternoon and evening are free.

Compris

• Eravikulam National Park, with the forest department bus up to Rajamalai (October to January)
• Top Station viewpoint instead, when Eravikulam is closed for calving (about February and March)
• The Tea Museum at Nallathanni

Through the cardamom hills to Periyar

Munnar to Thekkady, a spice plantation and Periyar Lake

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Thekkady
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Matin

After breakfast we drive about 95 km south through the Cardamom Hills to Thekkady, about three and a half hours on a winding road through tea, then cardamom grown in the shade of forest trees, then pepper vines climbing every trunk. Thekkady, with the market town of Kumily, sits at the edge of the Periyar Tiger Reserve.

Après-midi

We go straight to a spice plantation for a walk with the grower among cardamom, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, coffee and vanilla, and lunch there. Mid-afternoon we take the forest department boat, the last departure of the day at about 3:30, out on Periyar Lake, a reservoir made in 1895 when the Mullaperiyar dam flooded the valley, its dead tree stumps still standing in the water. Elephants, gaur, sambar deer and wild boar come down to the shore more often as the day cools, though sightings are never certain.

Soir

In the early evening we watch a kalaripayattu performance, the martial art of Kerala, then dinner is your choice in Kumily.

Compris

• Spice plantation walk and lunch
• Forest department boat ride on Periyar Lake, about 1.5 hours
• Kalaripayattu performance in Thekkady

A forest walk, then onto the backwaters

Periyar Tiger Reserve on foot, then Thekkady to Kumarakom and onto a houseboat

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Kerala backwaters (houseboat)
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Matin

Back at the hotel for a late breakfast and time to pack, we leave at about 11 and drive about 115 km west, roughly three and a half hours with a tea stop, down through rubber estates to Kottayam and on to Kumarakom on Vembanad Lake, the largest lake in Kerala.

Après-midi

We board a kettuvallam, a houseboat built on the lines of the old rice barges, at about 2:30 pm, and a late lunch is served as we set off across the lake into the canals of Kuttanad, where rice is farmed below sea level behind dykes.

Soir

After about three hours of cruising, houseboats moor for the night at about 5:30. The cook shows you how to wrap karimeen, the local pearl spot fish, in banana leaf for dinner on deck.

Compris

• Guided nature walk in the Periyar Tiger Reserve, about 3 hours
• Drive from Thekkady to Kumarakom
• Overnight houseboat cruise across Vembanad Lake and into Kuttanad, in a bedroom with its own bathroom
• Lunch and dinner on board, with a cooking demonstration

Dawn canoe, then Marari Beach

Kuttanad canals by canoe, Alleppey, then Marari Beach

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Marari Beach
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

Back on board, breakfast is served as the houseboat cruises the last stretch to Alleppey, where we step ashore by about 9:30. From there it is only about 15 km north to Marari, a fishing village with a long, quiet beach of soft sand backed by coconut palms. We stay here two nights, so the rest of the day is yours: swim, read in the shade, or book an Ayurvedic massage at the hotel.

Après-midi

In the late afternoon, walk the beach as the fishing boats come back in.

Soir

Dinner tonight is your choice.

Compris

• Dawn canoe ride through the narrow canals of Kuttanad
• Breakfast on the houseboat as it cruises to Alleppey
• Transfer from Alleppey to Marari Beach

Activités en option

• Ayurvedic massage or treatment at the hotel (price confirmed at booking)

Marari village morning, a free day by the sea

Marari Beach and the village

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Marari Beach

Matin

Back at the hotel by mid-morning for breakfast, and then the day is free. This is the time for a longer Ayurvedic treatment, a swim, or a cycle to the next village along the shore. Our guide can arrange a yoga class or a cooking lesson for anyone who wants one.

Soir

In the evening we gather for a farewell dinner of Kerala dishes, with seafood from the morning's catch and vegetarian dishes for anyone who prefers them.

Compris

• Guided early-morning walk through Marari village with a local guide
• Visit to a coir-spinning home
• Farewell dinner

Activités en option

• Ayurvedic treatments at the hotel, including longer sessions (price confirmed at booking)
• Yoga class
• Cooking lesson

Back to Kochi and home

Marari Beach to Cochin International Airport (COK)

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Matin

A last swim or a slow breakfast, then we drive about 90 km north to Cochin International Airport, two to two and a half hours depending on traffic through Kochi. The road runs up the coast past Cherthala and the backwater bridges into the city, and your guide sees you to the terminal and checks your flight before saying goodbye. If you are staying on, we can drop you in Fort Kochi instead. Plan on a flight leaving after about 1 pm; for an earlier flight we leave the beach earlier and pack a breakfast for the road. Many guests add a few days: the Golden Triangle of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur is a short domestic flight north, and our own Golden Triangle trip fits before or after this one. If you would like extra nights at the beach or in Fort Kochi, or an Ayurveda stay of several days, ask us when you book and we arrange the hotel and the transfer.

Compris

• Drop-off at Cochin International Airport (COK), or at your Fort Kochi hotel