Though it happened exactly one year ago, and my letter went to various Indian media along with Tourist Corporation of Kerala Government, from nowhere did I receive even a line. Therefore let my impressions help other tourists heading for this South India state. I have been visiting India since 1972 as a part of my professional duties. Last year I voted for a change, and accepted a tourist packet from the KeralatoursNtravels of Kochi and its Marketing Manager Sajith Balachandran . Contrary to a given promise, the latter neither turned up on my arrival to Kochi on January 13, 2008, nor later. My husband and I were met by some Geo Thomas who brought us to an untidy hotel located on a narrow stripe of the Cherai public beach covered with litter and garbage. It met neither my requirements nor was in accordance with the Marketing Manager’s assurances about the quality of the place(I have kept intact every piece of correspondence in my computer) or the respective Internet sites(both of the agency and the hotel). The more the worse. Geo Thomas explained that he was not responsible for the reservation made by somebody else(i.e. by the lost Marketing Manager of the agency). A lot of lies followed that there were no vacancies in other hotels(I managed to find two alternatives within 15 minutes, and we left for one of them). Eventually we asked for a shift elsewhere, and were moved to an overrated heritage place at the Alleppey beach owned by a relative of Geo Thomas. The irony of this shift was that a room in that very bungalow had been offered to me in November, 2007, by the same agency at the rate of Rs 2, 000, and then the offer was withdrawn on a pretext of a nearby foul smell etc. Now the same place was offered as a boon at the rate of Rs 2, 875(in the second half of January, 2008, when a high season was over!) on the pretext that everything was full. As it happened, we were almost the only residents of the place. The driver arranged by Geo Thomas who brought us to Alleppey did not leave the same day for Kochi but got drunken and spoke rudely. On my complaint, Geo Thomas said that he was not responsible for the driver’s behavior also. There were many other nuances in relation to the abovementioned agency’s services that made an absolutely negative impact upon our perception of Kerala. Needless to say, that I failed to get in contact with anybody else from the agency on its land-line phone or to get apologies for my spoilt time and wasted money. The other experience that made me feel cheated was related to a house-boat trip. The boat was arranged with a mediation of my Alleppey host and K.P. Sugunan of Suguna Tourist Boat Service who assisted in renting a one bed-room non-AC house-boat from some Sebin Philip, the boat was unnamed, and an owner or a company’s name was present nowhere). The rent of Rs 4, 800 was demanded in advance, and instead of 22 hours which is a period for which a house-boat was rented, it ran less than 7 hours within two-three km distance from Alleppey, otherwise being anchored for lunch, dinner, night hours etc. From nobody, by the by, did I get an authentic receipt for the services rendered, or, to be precise, services failed to be rendered! There were either some visiting cards with cell numbers(the card presented by Sebin Philip had the name of “Mobile Aluminium”, Aluminium Fabrication Work & PVC Doors etc.) or mere sheets with the upper name torn apart and “Opp.K.S.R.T.C. Bus Stand Allepey” words left etc. This dishonesty and greed for money was particularly disappointing as my husband was on his second visit to India and the image of Kerala has been marred in his perception in comparison with other places he had visited on his previous visit. That happens to be the impression of many other foreign tourists we came across and shared our experiences with. I am absolutely sure that the Kerala Tourism Association, or Kerala Government Tourism Department, or whatever other body available in the state should know of this maltreatment of tourists in case Kerala intends to promote its tourism brand. Of course, there were nice and friendly people, too, we were lucky to have met, like students of a Syrian Orthodox seminary in Kottayam, or an autoriksha-driver from Allepey, or a book shop-keeper from Ernakulam, or just everyone who gathered for the festival of St. Sebastian in Arthungal, or an owner of a small eatery from Fort Cochin or a family from the same place who – from their balcony - invited us for a cup of coffee etc. Still, the question I kept on asking myself throughout my stay in Kerala, was: is it “God’s Own Country” as it is advertised on every sign-board here and there or unscrupulous travel agents’ and middle-men’s own country? Ag Bai