Kerala & around in 2 weeks: New Traveller - where to go?

edwardseco

My friends just got back from Periyar. All they saw were two elephant behinds for a moment and lots of their dung..

pundabee

Problems are mounting here:

1) Your budget is exploding. I seem to remember that you mentioned £1500. If this is including plane tickets there will be around £500 left to spend in Kerala. This is not a problem if you travel sensibly, but extensive use of taxis and staying in tree houses will quickly deplete funds. Your taxi journey will be:

Kottayam to Periyar (110 km)

Periyar to Kochi (180 km)

Calicut to Kalpetta (65 km)

Kalpetta to Calicut (65 km)

In total 420 km. You will have to pay around Rs. 7 per km, including return journey, which is 840*7, which is Rs. 5900 or £80 (all estimates). Add to this £100 per night in a tree house.

2) Your partner seems much too afraid to be able to enjoy Kerala. The buses are not smelly or cramped (unless you are over 6 foot tall or very wide). Travelling by bus in Kerala is part of experiencing Kerala. It is all very civilised, and good fun (a reassuring note: when we first came to Kerala we were almost 40 years old, lived a quiet and comfortable life in the UK, had never been to India before, bud had absolutely no problem using buses even though I often have to sit sideways to accommodate my legs. Now we do (reluctantly I must admit, but sometimes it is necessary) 10 hour+ journeys on Tamil buses, and these are smelly and cramped).

3) Going to Wayanad is way off. It will take too much time to get up there.

4) Travelling by taxi is not significantly more comfortable than travelling by bus. Additionally, there are concerns over the quality of the vehicles and, not least, the drivers. Unless you get a driver through personal recommendation there is a risk that you will get one that either can't drive, doesn't maintain his car properly, or is a suicidal maniac.

In short, you really have to convince your partner that she has to let her hair down. Going anywhere in India is potentially an experience for life, and travelling with the locals, i.e. on buses and trains, is infinitely better than travelling isolated from the world around you.

I am sorry if this sounds like a bit of a rant, but I really think that she is wasting an opportunity for an exceptional experience here. And, after all, you are very young so should have the ability to adapt quickly to new and very different circumstances.

Nick-H

In my salaried days I used to spend around £1,500 to £2,000, including international flight from UK, on two weeks in Kerala. Apart from train from Kochi to Trivandrum, all my trips were by AC car.

My accommodation was 3-star plus, and included one or two high-budget hotels.

My holidays really were holidays; relaxing, invigorating, leaving me longing for the next one .

Yes, there is a certain insulating factor in all this AC-car travel but, hey, it is permitted to open the windows sometimes; even to stop and walk around, mixing with local people!

If Htid and his partner have the budget to travel like this then I am sure they will have a wonderful time. Not everyone can cope with being dropped in India's deep end. If Htid wants his partner to ever want to return, then it looks to me as if that budget needs, this time around, to be as high as possible.

If you can possibly lay your hands on the cash: do it! You'll have a great time

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landoormama

I am in Trivandrum /Tiruvanthipuram now and its already quite hot this side ..I bought an Umbrella & and it is such a respite . I would strongly recommend you buy an umbrella .I was in Kumily where I stayed with a very friendly family , basic but clean , tidy & cheap -his name is Sunny -Kumily--Periyar---folksunny@yahoo.com phone--04869--224231 -cell--09446214006--Rajneesh Bhuvan-Rosapookanadam--kumily.
Do not hire a private guide for Periyar .It is wise to hire a guide from the Forest Deptt ,just in case if you wan to .
If you plan to visit Munnar-Mr Sudheer in munnar rents bike –address—gokulam bike hire ,near high altitude sports stadium----phone - 09447237165.

If u visit Munnar , do not miss Top- Station .The ride from Munnar to Top Station is extremely beautiful . You can trek from Top Station to Berijam Lake ( near Kodikanal )( but you would need a permit from the forest deptt .).also if u plan to make it hire a guide who is very reliable ..there is an alternate route where you do not have to go through the wild life forests ( I did this many years ago).
You can get more info from Mr Mohan of TRACK FINDERS --he plans treks & bicycle rides around Munnar phone—04865 232608 --email—trackfinder@rediffmail.c om www.trackfinderkerala.com cell—0944726632 . address—no3—private bus stand complex –near high altitude sports ground—kerala..
I did visit Kovalam ..but I liked Oddyam Beach ..further north of Varkala ..you can walk from Varkalla to Odyam along the beach ..( You can get good ,clean homestays here for about Rs 250/- during May .. Bargain)
Cheers & have Fun

htid

Exactly

I can easily see your point Pundabee, and it's a good one, but she's not convinced India is safe in the first place and this is only her second choice holiday since we can't afford our first choice (a month in Canada). In respect of that I want to make her feel as comfortable as possible or she'll end up hating it and we'll get into arguements etc.

I'm not too sure dumping her in the deep end is a good idea, or as Nick says, she may never come back!

As for my budget, I'm not sure if you understood but that's £1500 each, not between us. Flight from Heathrow to Trivandrum is £400, if I budget £600 for hotels for 2 weeks that means I can spend £42.85 per night on a hotel (and she can pay £48.85 too) meaning around 6600rp/night. Some nights (in Kovalam) will be more, some in other places will be less, so it will balance out. That leaves us £500 for food/travel any anything else, each.

I don't know about the cost of food and travel yet but I would guess that £1000 is enough for 2 weeks worth of food and travel for 2 people? Of course that could be totally wrong in which case we need to re-look at it. I hope that doesn't sound like I'm being "mean" in how I say it (reading back it kind of does, I honestly don't intend it to be!), I just want to make sure the facts are clear

Nick, unfortunately we can't rent a car ourselves (if that's what you mean) as I can't drive and she has only been driving for 1 year. If you meant by AC taxi (or rented car+driver or however it works) that would be ideal.

Thanks again for all the info, very helpful

steven_ber

That's a very high budget and you should have a great time.

India is safe to visit, and Kerala is one of the safest places to visit.

But when I hear of your GF's worries I can't help thinking that Thailand would be a better choice, it's really easy to travel in Thailand, and whilst it's no safer to travel in Thailand, there seems to be a perception that it's safer, example, ask you GF if she'd be less worried if you were going to Thailand.

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Train information.

htid

Thailand is out as for 1) the flight is more expensive so I'm not sure we could afford, 2) India is better for vegetarians and 3) (the dealbreaker) they still have capital punishment, meaning if someone plants drugs in your bags there's the risk you could be executed. Yes, as you can see, she's very paranoid! Even if the risk of that is 1%, she doesn't think it's worth taking it (and neither do any of her family, they aren't very adventurous, her parents have never left Germany, their home country, and never plan too!). I've had enough trouble convincing her that the chance of getting malaria is low enough not to worry about

In an ideal world I'd go to India alone and do all the things I want, but she doesn't want us to spend only our 2nd summer together, apart, so I'm compromising.

Hmm maybe I should start a new thread in the Itinerary section, unless this is OK here.

vandy

Hi there, the 6600 rps Budget for accom will also easily cover your food as well as accom, Car & driver is still best way to go
for first time travellers on a time schedule.

Most Accom will include breakfast,I just saw somewhere on another
post,someone payed 5500rps for an O'Night A/C Houseboat,which includes all meals and usually bottled water.That was for 2 persons

Plan well and like I said,keep the travel to a minimum.
I gave Periyar a miss re negative reports from travellers who had just been there as far as seeing wildlife,I stayed extra days in Munnar hill station.

Rgds - vandy

htid

Thanks

The reason we are going to Periyar, is for the wildlife as you said. I'd rather go to Nagarhole but it's too far and reading about on here, May is one of the most likely months to see wildlife so fingers crossed we'll get lucky!

It seems there is some tree house accomodation in Periyar, although I can't find too much information on it as of yet - called "Camellia Haven". Would certainly save us going right up to Wayanad as has been suggested!

Fan of India

Maybe you could try Lakshwadeep. It is just an hours flight from Cochin - and a wonderful place to spend a couple of 'secluded' days.

steven_ber

Or this place for a meal and a night stay close by, very close to Kerala (short flight from Trivandrum I think).

http://www.hiltonworldresorts.com/Re...ves/index.html

htid

As wonderful as that sounds, I think it would be a bit too expensive, maybe in a few years for our honeymoon!

Even though pundabee said Wayanad is too far, I'm still thinking about it. From Cochin it's only a 4 hour train journey, it's not really too far imo.

I still think my previous idea of Kovalam (3 nights) > Periyar (2 nights) > Munnar (2 nights) > Cochi (3 nights) > Wayanad (3 nights) would work. Anybody think of any serious reasons it couldn't? I mean time is running, we need to start seriously thinking of plans.

Cheers once more

Lord Average

With your available budget I would reccommend going everywhere by taxi. It's as convenient as it gets, you can stop any time and anywhere you want, and it is clean and odour free (although dont believe that one about the buses being smelly!)

As a very rough guide, you can hire a taxi for around £15 per day although the mileage you cover can affect this. Best tip is to arrange taxis through your hotels as the drivers they use tend to be safer and saner.

Using taxis keeps my missus happy.

Another tip is to encourage an attitude of adventure and exploration, rather than focussing on the fears and potential negatives. Kerala is probably the easiest introduction you could have to India, and if you are on a reasonable budget, then it will all be easy and comfortable.

Also ... if you go to Periyar then I would recommend the one day jeep safari. The guides take it as a point of honour to find you some wild elephants, along with plenty of other wildlife.

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htid

Sounds pretty good then

As for Periyar, I read you can only take a boat tour, no jeep tours are available (if they are, I'll be there like a shot!)

Nick-H

When I was there there was a light trekking option, which we failed to get up for .