impressions of kerala

Kerala is the land of festivals. Each of the many temples will have at least one festival a year. All of them seem to have a few temple elephants and they often lend them to each other so that each festival will be more spectacular! These elephants are paraded around the temple compounds, decorated with golden caparisons with drummers and sometimes thousands of pilgrims.

Our tour is scheduled to coincide with the festival at the Goureeswara Temple Festival at Cherai near Kochi. The festival isn't the biggest in the region, but should have at least a dozen caparisoned elephants in line abreast! The festival is also a good time to see the spectacular religious Kathakali dancing where costumed dancers act out scenes from Hindu mythology.

Our tour starts in the atmospheric city of Kochi (formerly Cochin), famous for the cantilevered Chinese fishing nets that line the shore of the ancient Fort Kochi area. This was home to the old Jewish town and their synagogue can still be visited – the oldest in India. It was in these characterful streets that Salman Rushdie set The Moors Last Sigh.

From Kochi we head into the mountains to the tea plantations of Munnar where we will have the chance to see how tea is produced and of course sample a brew whilst admiring the view!

For our next stop, we detour out of Kerala to the nearby city of Madurai in

Tamil Nadu. The main attraction here is the incredible Sri Meenakshi Temple. This temple is massive, with soaring towers at each of the four gates. These towers are covered with brightly coloured statues and religious icons. The effect is stunning, but for all of this the temple is a relaxed and spiritual place.

We cross back into the Kerala to the Periyar National Park where we get to go on a guided walk with a chance of seeing bison, elephants, deer and even tigers!

Vembanad Lake has been called a paradise on earth, and a fantastic place for birdwatching. We spend a day here, and also get to visit a local tea museum.

Kerala is famed for the sprawling and verdant backwaters. We spend a day cruising through these waters and will be able to take many photographs on our leisurely journey.

We spend two days on the coast at Varkala, where we have a chance to take a dip in the Arabian Sea, visit the 2000 year old Janardhana Temple and even have a traditional Ayurvedic massage.

At the end of the tour we end up back in Kochi, for some more sightseeing and also to have a full day visit to the Poornathrayeesa Temple festival where hopefully we will be able to see the elephant parade!

After the tour, you can either head for home, or spend more time in Kerala, possibly on the beach at Kovalam!