Please provide feedback on South India itinerary

machadinha

For one or two? How many hours? What's included (food/beverages/transport)? Is the guide knowledgeable and/or does s/he speak good English? Etc.?

All I have to go on is I recently paid Rs. 6-700 by myself (would have been 100 less had I waited -- possibly several days, and anyway I was happy to be alone with my guide, instead of with some yapping group of tourists -- for a group to be formed), arranged by my guesthouse, for a walk in Coorg area, from early morning till mid-afternoon.* Friendly and obviously knowledgeable local guide, who spoke very little English though. Not that I minded, I just enjoyed the experience. Left him with a 50 Rs. tip upon parting; generous, for my standards. We had some snacks and water along the way, quite a rickshaw ride to our departure point, and lunch at his home, all included.

So, just by way of comparison, and it is my only comparison. But doesn't strike me as exorbitant, per se. It depends what they offer. And, as you can see, for two the rate would be very similar to what I paid. I'm sure other treks and/or elsewhere can be had for much more of the price, I was staying in a decidedly budget place, too.

* In fact he showed up an hour late -- ah, India -- and I'd been told we'd go on till five or so. By three and after lunch I was knackered enough to not pursue the matter though; I'm sure had I insisted we walk some more, we would have. And in fact he may well have noticed my fatigue and so not suggested to walk on himself, awaiting a cue from me rather.

There were other deals on offer involving an overnight stay in a village, you could walk on for days like that, this stuff tends to be fairly flexible and tailor-made.

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vandy

Good day icejaguar,

Pretty certain the 1500rps would be for two persons.

Tommy provides transport and is the actual guide, he speaks good
English and is very knowledgeable,especially when it comes to plants, He is a Qualified Horticulturist.

Take your own water and snacks as been mentioned by me earlier.

From memory,the guided tour took approx 4 - 5 hrs.

Some pics from Tommy's little trek.


vandy

Attached Thumbnails

         

icejaguar

thank you both Mach and Vandy for the quick responses! The price sounds reasonable then. Just making sure- its hard to guage prices when you are in a foreign country. Vandy thanks for the pics! I really can't wait till this trip. 2 more months...

icejaguar

btw do either of you guys have travel journals I can read from trips to Kerala? I'd love to read through them if you do!

santos_g15

I have done that program and its a excellent even if you dont see animals.get up in morning take a walk through forest and swim in lake have a breakfast then siesta then lunch quick nap and again a good walk then swim and bonfire and dinner what fun i had when i was ther.pity its only 3 days you get.


ps:i visited in oct and i saw loads of animals elephants bisons deers.

britindel09

everything looks ok as been to all the places you mentioned except for tiger trial, we did water woods much better resort at kabini.

Don't forget to go and see the dolphins at Chchin harbour, you can get local rowing boat chap to row you right in the middle of them.

Bangalore is a waste of time, nothing to see there at all, lived there for 4 years from 2000 to 2004. Better going to Mysore if you have time. Also there is a tibetan village not so far from Mysore well worth a visit. But and a big But, Do not miss Hampi!!

You maybe better off taking a car and driver for the south trip as then you don't rely on the trains delays etc. I drover fom Bangalore through to coimbatore, then up to the Kerala, Munnar, goa, cochin, varkala, not in that order but in 2 weeks. Roads are much better now.
all the best. If this is teh first time than for India, in through one ear and out the other, if you keep it inside you will go crazy.

regds

icejaguar

Thanks for the feedback Santos and Brit!

Santos- we are not visiting tiger trail unfortunately. Decided we would do either Munnar or Periyar and picked Munnar, because of what we have read about it on IJ. Would you sway us the other way? I wish I could visit both!

Brit- thanks for the suggestions in Cochin! I didn't know there was dolphins. that sounds like a great outing.
We will have a car and driver for a good chunk of the trip it seems. And thanks for the comment on Bangalore. I don't think we will have time to visit anyway. And I can't wait for Hampi!

icejaguar

So we decided to do the guided trek in Munnar, organized by the homestay! The pics from Vandy sorta sealed the deal

I think we will also go up to Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary one day for a trek. Anyone else do a trek here? Looks like it can be organied through this Web site: http://www.chinnar.org/html/ecotourism.htm

britindel09

firstly, good decision on Bangalore. Munnar is great for the tea plantations provided you ensure you go inside the tea plantation and tea factory and get a guided tour of the tea factory.

As I mentioned before I am not sure about Tiger trials, as I prefer Water woods which is a resort on teh same stretch, but smaller and family run with great trekkers. The first sight of and elephant for us was fantastic then when we got to within 15 feet of them , well, in this world there are some magical creatures, Dolphins, giant sting rays, Giant turtles and tortoises, whales and Elephants!!. For our kids it was great seeing wild elephants as well as other animals. Really depends on the time of year you go as to what you see and where.

Compared to the UK Goa for the beaches was great. Actually it went something like this. First some beaches outside Chennai were great much better than anything in the UK , clear waters etc, then we went to Goa, that was better, then Malaysia wow!, then Koh Sumuai in Thailand, absolutely incredible, great diving nothing could top this we thought, then just before we left India we went to the Maldives and stayed at the Taj coral reef. That was it for us, magical!, and the best beach holiday without doubt was the maldives. The best non beach just for comparison is without question trekking around Leh , Ladakh.

Anyway now I don't bother about thinking of going to Goa having done the others. Depends on what you go for really I suppose.

All the best

vandy

Check with Tommy re Chinnar, he can provide some good info about the place.

vandy

icejaguar

Thanks everyone again for the help planning the trip!! My husband and I are back and here is my blog on our trip:

http://jmangst.blogspot.com/2009/10/india-part-1.html
http://jmangst.blogspot.com/2009/10/india-part-2.html
http://jmangst.blogspot.com/2009/10/india-part-3.html
http://jmangst.blogspot.com/2009/10/...inal-post.html

vandy

Hi there,

Thanks for your Blog.

How was your stay at Rose Gardens ?

Did you get Tommy to take you on his Private Trek ?


vandy

icejaguar

Hi Vandy! Yes Tomy took us on a trek through the tea plantations. It was very beautiful. The food at the homestay was excellent and the garden was wonderful to explore. His children and wife were so hospitable as well!

That being said, we have mixed feelings about our stay. He seemed a little preoccupied with construction that was taking place at the house and very tired. During the trek he told us we can continue to hike and then took a quick cat nap on a rock. Not what we want for 1500 rupees. Also he asked us how much we paid for our car and driver to the homestay before giving us a price for one to Chinnar. It seemed like he was gauging how much he could ask for. Not fun to feel nickled and dimed from your host. Finally there were no mosquito nets in the room and I got about 30 bites one night (no joke).

I make it sound like I didn't have a good time- I really did! Munnar is a beautiful place and I enjoyed speaking with Tomy's family. I just want to be honest about the few hangups I had.

Thanks again Vandy for all the suggestions with the itinerary. Chinnar was one of my favorite places to visit btw.

vandy

G'Day icejaguar,

Thanks for your Honest appraisal of Rose Gardens Homestay.

Tomy did ask me for some Advice(Inputs) about the Homestay.

I mentioned to him the following points for his consideration.

1) For what he charges for the trek, he should supply bottle of
water for each person and should also arrange for a cup of tea
and small snack for his guests at the Tea Plantation.
If one cannot get a cup of tea at a Tea Plantation,there is
something array

2) The Hot water needs to come out of the shower head not just
from the tap at the bottom,Foreigners are more accustomed to having a shower rather than a squat bath.

3) Supply some sort of Insect control(Mosquito coils,etc)for his
Guests.

4) Pointless having nice modern bathrooms with filthy,decrepid
looking floor mats.

And yes the scenery around Marayoor & Chinnar is Exquisite.


rgds

vandy