We had a refreshing and memorable holiday to Kerala and I will remember it throughout my life. Now I can understand why it is called God’s Own Country. It was a 6nt / 7day tour covering Munnar-Thekkady-Kumarakom-Allepy and booked via Sanguine Holidays Kochi.
Munnar:
Hotel Mountain Trail was far from the town and need a travel on very narrow road to reach but the location was good. All 2 days we thought that it’s built in sky & there is no land there J . Everywhere we can see clouds & sky. Only few times I got to see the view of the valley and it was awesome. Food & staff is Ok. Munnar is a very nice place. We didn’t go to see the Nilgiri thar at Eravikulam National Park as there was a queue for~3-4hrs. We instead went to Echo point and the Kundala Lake. That is just an awesome place. Go away from crowd and sit down quiet and relax. Just wonderful place. Also we went to see tea gardens & tea museum which is nice for first timers.
Thekkady:
I will suggest everyone to visit this place as it is central place for all activities. We enjoyed the spice plantation tours, elephant ride, Kahthakali dance and the Kalari Martial arts show(both at Mudra) . Also, visited the Periyar wildlife sanctuary. Lake Peryiar is very clam & scenic place to be. We got to see elephants, wild boars, deer from the boat. One can get a great massage here. I recommend to look out for trained professionals from aryuvedic hospitals for massage. I took a complete body+ shiro-dhara massage for 1250/- which was very relaxing. Please do lot of R&D for this place as there are many options available for it. I enjoyed the stay at Greenwoods resort it was excellent.
*Kumarakom:
*We travelled to Kumarakom and checked in at The Lake Song. The room and resort were good but the services were bad, there was no one to receive us & even we had to wait 15-20 mins for the room to be ready. They were supposed to give a free sunset cruise, which they cancelled that day. So, there were no activities at kumarkom. I will not suggest anyone to spend a day here, if you are going in houseboat anytime during your visit.
*Houseboat at Allepy
*We then travelled to Alleppey and boarded a 1bedroom houseboat. It was far better from my expectation, it was big, very clean and had lot of space. The journey through the canals was an amazing experience. I would say that Allepy is the Venice of India. Few villages are connected to main land only by water ways and people use boats for their daily commute. The food was awesome. It was all Kerala style food & I enjoyed it. After reading people’s exp from here, I booked the one with a/c & took mosquito repellent crème with me which was very helpful. We checked out from the houseboat and returned home after a wonderful journey.
About Sanguine Holidays:
My entire Tour was very well planned right from pickup from Kochi airport till the drop. They are truly professionals and excellent in the field. When I arrived at airport the driver handed me a file which had my whole itinerary, hotel vouchers etc. Ms.Nimisha Sumode, is very nice and sweet spoken lady and she would call me up almost every day to enquire about the proceedings of the trip. The cab driver Mr. Reby was well versed with Hindi & English and his driving was very safe. The car provided was also clean and in a very good condition.