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| Luxurious
Malabar – 13 nights |
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About this holiday
This is a two-week tour that provides
you with an opportunity to enjoy the main highlights of Kerala
– the serene backwaters, tea-growing hills, spice plantations,
national parks with elephant herds and tigers, and palm-tree
lined golden beaches – at a leisurely pace. We have
selected our favourite hotels in Kerala, all of which are
small, personal and indulgent. This is a very special trip
and we recommend traveling between December and April. But
don’t be afraid to travel outside of the peak season
either when the hotels offer some very good-value rates.
Holiday highlights
• Wander around historic Fort
Kochi
• Visit St. Francis Church, Mattancherry Palace &
medieval synagogue
• Watch a traditional Kathakali dance performance
• Explore Kerala’s serene backwaters and village
life
• Munnar’s tea-growing hills and Thekkady’s
spice plantations
• Two-night stay on exclusive Kettuvallam style houseboat
• Watch elephant herds bathing in Periyar National Park
• Relax on Kerala’s golden beaches
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Day
1 & 2:
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Arrive at Kochi Airport and be met by a Red Dot Tours representative
and transferred in one of our comfortable Ambassador cars to
For t Kochi, an ancient trading port since at least Roman times
that provided a safe port of call for sailors on the main trade
route from Europe to China. The journey from the airport will
take approximately one hour before you check-in to Malabar House.
After resting at the hotel, dipping into the cool courtyard
swimming pool and enjoying you first taste of Kerela’s
distinctive, spicy cuisine, we suggest you wander around the
fort in the late afternoon. Walk along the fort promontory and
see the unique Chinese Fishing Nets and generally soak up the
atmosphere of the town. During the evening you may wish to watch
a Kathakali dance performance – a noisy, colourful and
spellbinding 400-year dance-drama.The following day, hopefully
after a refreshing night’s sleep, we will show you around
the fort, the highlights of which include Mattancherry Palace,
a gift to the Raja of Kochi back in 1557, St. Francis Church,
first built in 1510 and the resting place of Vasco de Gama,
and a magnificent synagogue dating back to 1568.
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Accommodation profile:
The Malabar House is a fascinating and sophisticated boutique
hotel that has become, quite understandably, one of the most
sought-after properties in Fort Cochin. Formerly a Dutch col
onial mansion which has been lovingly restored, there are 17
individually designed suites that mix contemporary design with
vibrant colours and local antique furnishings. The atmosphere
is serene and peaceful. The staff are friendly, cheerful, attentive
and discreet. The fusion food is acclaimed. |
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Day 3 & 4:
Today you journey east to Munnar, the major centre of Kerala’s
tea-growing hills. The spectacular drive will take four hours.
The town itself is not particularly charming, but the surrounding
countryside is beautiful with its soaring peaks in the distance
and neatly-clipped tea estates in the foreground. We have recommended
staying at Windermere Estate, an unpretentious and natural hotel.
Rest during the afternoon after the long drive. The following
morning you have several options: laze on your veranda with
a good novel; go walking in the tea estates or hiking at the
Top Station, an idyllic spot 41km from Munnar which offers fine
views over Tamil Nadu, or in the Eraikulam National Park, a
100 sq km park of moist evergreen forest and grassy hilltops
that is home to the Nilgiri Tahr, one of the world’s rarest
goats, and also the starting point for a climb up Anaimudi,
at 2,695m the highest peak in South India; go off-road cycling;
play golf; or visit a nearby tea factory.
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Accommodation profile:
Windermere Estate, a beautiful small planter's retreat in the
hills, is situated 1600m above sea-level in the upper reaches
of the Western Ghats, a short drive from Munnar, a tea-growing
hill station town built around the confluence of three mountain
streams, Mudrapuzha, Nallathanni and Kundala. The bungalow-style
hotel offers breathtaking views, spacious and comfortable rooms,
attentive service and accomplished food. It is a property for
peaceful contemplation, a natural hideaway for those wishing
to escape the modern world for a few days. The plantation grows
cardamom, pepper, tea and coffee. |
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Day 5 & 6:
Leave the hills, travelling south across
dramatic ridges and through thick forests to the spice-growing
foothills of the Western Ghats, an area dubbed Cardamom Hills
after its most important crop. Your destination is destination
is the picturesque Periyar National Park, the leading wildlife
park in South India, which was designated as part of Project
Tiger in 1972.
The lakeside sanctuary, best explored by boat or on foot with
a trekking guide, is home to a relatively small population of
game but, encouragingly, thanks to enlightened anti-poaching
policies of the Kerala Forest Department, the game numbers are
increasing fast. The forest department have successfully co-opted
the support of the indigenous Mannan community who now conserve
the reserve in exchange for money from eco-tourism. You are
likely to see elephant grazing by the lakeside and bison, sambar,
wild boar and barking deer are also commonly spotted. But the
tigers are shy and are usually heard not seen, especially during
the nights as they prowl the jungle for their prey. We recommend
staying at Shalimar Spice Gardens, a wonderful plantation hotel
tucked away in the picturesque countryside.
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Acommodation profile: Shalimar
Spice Garden, one of the best boutique properties in Kerala,
is a peaceful property set in the Kerala's spice growing south-western
Ghats, surrounded by jungle and the nearby Periyar National
Park that is uses innovative means to protect its fragile eco-system
and wildlife by helping to build sustainable livelihoods for
the surrounding local communities. The hotel is approximately
100km from the Munnar hills to the north, 200km from Kochi (Cochin)
Airport to the west and 140km from Madurai Airport to the north-east
in Tamil Nadu.Tucked away in the low-lying hills of south-western
Ghats, Shalimar Spice Garden offers a rustic and distinctly
spiritual environment in which to relax and unwind. Designed
simply and stylishly, the property is full of interesting artefacts
and antiques. The rooms are basic, tastefully furnished, homely
and comfortable. The swimming pool is invigorating and an Ayurvedic
centre offers therapeutic massages. The restaurant, 'Mangiatutto'
(which is translated from Italian as 'eat everything'), serves
up delicious feasts cooked from freshly picked vegetable, spices
and fruits from the garden. |
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Day 7 & 8:
From Periyar you travel south to Kumarakom, an island on the
large Lake Vembanad that is blessed with an idyllic location.
The area has attracted several exotic hotels offering backwater
and Ayurveda holidays. There is also a wonderful bird sanctuary.
We head straight for Coconut Lagoon, one of Red Dot’s
favourite properties in Kerala for a relaxing two-night stay.
Accommodation profile:
Coconut Lagoon is an architectural triumph, a boutique hotel
that has been cleverly crafted from the fragments of ancient
village homes and palaces. In some cases whole houses, complete
with beautiful wood carvings and its original brass work, have
been painstakingly transplanted into the property piece-by-piece.
The result is the ultimate backwater resort, a property where
fine traditional craftsmanship and the stunningly beautiful
natural surroundings makes it utterly impossible not to relax,
unwind and dream. The Keralan cuisine is delicious and the staff
are friendly and attentive. Like the other Casino Hotels, there
is a special emphasis on caring for the environment. In fact,
they are so serious about the natural environment that there
is a fulltime director in charge of there environmental policies,
which include comprehensive waste management schemes and a breeding
programme to protect the endangered Vechoor cows. |
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Day 9 & 10:
Relax during the morning at Coconut Lagoon
and wait for the arrival of your traditional Kettuvallum houseboat
(reconverted rice barges) around noon for one of the highlights
of your holiday – a journey through Kuttanad country to
Kollam, a land of shimmering waterways, dense tropical greenery
and age-old village livelihoods so vividly described in Arundhati
Roy’s remarkable novel The God of Small Things.
Your houseboat, fully staffed with a
friendly and attentive crew, will chug slowly through canals
and creeks allowing you to relax and unwind. Hours slip by easily
as you gaze ashore, soaking up a myriad of views as you pass
homes, farms, paddy fields, playful children, fisherfolk in
traditional dugouts and bathing buffaloes. See fish eagles circling
for prey and wise comorants perched on the riverbank. At 6pm
the houseboat will moor up and the staff will cook a sumptuous
traditional feast. Sleep contentedly in your airconditioned
cabin. Spend the following on the houseboat as well. |
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Day 11 & 13:
After breakfast on the houseboat you will soon arrive in Kollam
and then travel overland to towards Kovalum, the most popular
stretch of coastline in Kerala. We skip Kovalum’s more
developed areas and instead seek out Surya Samudra, Red Dot’s
favourite beach hotel in Kerala, a delightful boutique-style
heritage property blessed with a prime clifftop location above
a beautiful bay. Spend three days relaxing at the hotel. We
recommend trying out the Ayurvedya and ‘wellness’
centre which will ensure you travel back home in the pink of
good health.
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Accommodation profile:
Surya Samudra is a delightful boutique-style small hotel with
22 heritage cottages, all reconstructed from 300-year-old Kerala
and Tamil Nadu village homes, spread over a 21-acre site. The
large area means that all the villas have private gardens, verandas
and amazing views from the sea. The bathrooms are open-air with
sunrays cutting through the canopy of trees overhead. The blue-green
infinity pool, hewn out of solid rock and decorated by the temple
sculptures of Ma mallapuram, has a magnetic appeal but there
is also an excellent beach for swimming and sun-bathing. There
is also spa offering a wide range of Ayurvedic and wellness
treatments and massages. |
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| Day 14:
Leave in good time for your flight home.
The drive to Trivandrum International Airport will take one
hour. |
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Cost:
TBC
Package price includes:
- 11 night’s BB hotel accommodation on twin-sharing
basis (FB at Lake Palace)
- 2 night’s full-board accommodation on houseboat
- Airconditioned car and English-speaking driver for transfers
and tour
- Entrance fees: St. Francis Church, Mattancherry Palace,
Synagogue, Kathakali dance performance, spice
plantation tour, one guided trek in Periyar National
Park, unlimited boat rides in Periyar
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