I too just got back after 3 weeks in Kerala (I believe I was on the same flight home as Mike) and had a fantastic time; the Palmshore hotel in Kovalam was well up to my expectations. I was slightly taken aback when I first saw how steep the climb was down to the beach - however, after the shattering events of Boxing Day, the height of the Palmshore above sea level did not seem such a bad thing.....although the impact of the tsunami on Kovalam was nothing compared to some areas in S.E Asia(basically an extremely high tide that led to the beaches being closed for a few days) there were some Kerala dead, and there was some nervousness when it was thought possible another tsunami might affect the coastline.

My body clock is not quite back to normal yet and I am back to work tomorrow (erk) but soon as I get my head together I will do a little review of the Palmshore and/or Kovalam if anyone's interested. Mike, glad you got back safely too - I hope the Uday Samudra was ok, will look forward to reading what you thought of it in due course.

Paula & Stewart - thanks so much for the recommendation of the Cardamon County in Thekkady - we stayed there 1 night and would have been happy to stay there for a week had we more time, they upgraded us to a suite which was the last word in luxury (the marble bathroom with jacuzzi was bigger than our room at the Palmshore).

Regards to all, Sue.

Hi sue,

unfortunately came back witH a sore tHroat and a Heavy cold but least of problems witH wHats gone on etc.
we Had a lovely time and apart from tHe cramped fligHts every tHing was fine but tHe same as you wHen i get in order at work will write a full review quite soon.

That made you look!!!

Just surprised that kerala isnt mentioned more as it is supposedly the goa of twenty years ago, dont nobody fancy it?

By the way i do think the food is better in kerala.

Off to Goa in April, but have just booked for Kerala for jan 06. (2 adults & 2 kids). Any ifo would be welcome Mike. We have also heard that it is like Goa was 20 years ago.

Yes we fancy it, off to Goa next week for third time, fancy Kerala in Nov.

Hi Sarah Jane,

Please look at my earlier posting titled 'kerala or goa' i think its on page 3 and dont hesitate to get in touch if you need to know anything else and i will do my best.
You should have a great time.

Also its worth having a look at http://www.indiamike.com and go into minor destinations and click on kerala.
By the way which tour company are you going with.

Goamike, We're going with Manos !!-Big mistake I think but they had the hotel that we wanted, Uday Samudra. We've wanted to go for years but we didn't feel that the children were old enough. Can't wait, but Goa come first (7th April for 3 weeks)

Hi,

I visited Kerala in 1982 and in 2 weeks in Southern India I only saw 3 white backpackers, is the picture house still there in Trivandrum ? Back in 1982, travelling in India was like the first pioneers exploring the wild west. Train journeys of 2 1 /2 days on cattle wagons stopping at every station. My girlfriend certainly had a rough time, being blonde and blue eyes, manhandled whilst getting off the train from Bombay to Trivandrum by upto 30 men, being assulted in a lift by the porter in the International hotel in Trivandrum and being chased by lepers down in Cochin. Just a few of the memories, looking back all part of the experience in them days, I guess !!!

Joe

Went to Kerala couple of years ago.
Beautiful backwaters, more laid back than Goa, Food no different to Goa, but more going on in Goa.
Having said that I would go back.

Hi Sarah Jane,

We went went with manos, basically the rep dident want to know about a new years mix up with the hotel incidiently the uday samudra which could have left a sour taste but i dont get to het up when i am on holiday anyway.

There are a couple of uday samudra hotels and we stayed at the uday samudra beach hotel please try the waters edge restuarant as the food is to die for and dont get conned into paying for the sun beds if you are eating & drinking there on a regualar basis also the hotel has a old part and guess what thats where was based in which it wasant too bad but the new part looked better but cant vouch for them as i dident really have a good look but also they was in the process of building another block <i bet manos havent warned you about that but to be honest it should be more or less finished> plus there wasant too much noise.
Hope you have read my review for the best places to have a swim and eat etc.
We did venture in to trivandrum for half a day but picked the wrong day to go on the monday as the museums are closed and found it very hot & stifling which doesant normally bother me but was glad to get back for a swim.
The only other drawback was the flight going over as it was with monarch 757 very uncomfortable espiecally if you are on the tall side or carrying some timber.

We are going back to goa next week, have you ever visited kerala while you were there, if so could you please advise best route. Thanks,

Taxitaxi we went straight from the uk to kerala, but im sure if you go to this website http://www.indiamike.com and go into minor destinations and click on kerala or even try goa im sure its been mentioned on there.

Hi there
can anybody tell me if theyve ever been on the back water trip and if so tell me all about it Ive been reading alot on kerela and since were going to goa for 3 weeks this time would like to do something alittle different thanks for your time
sharon

isnt kerela abit far from goa ? be interesting to see how far it is as i have a internet chat friend who lives there and also 1 in chenni .so maybe if i could make it to kerela i could meet them both ..we going for 3 weeks too

We have done the backwater's trip from Allappuzha to Kumarakom
with one night on the boat. Although enjoyable for the relaxation part
one day and night is enough because after a couple of hours one boat
begins to look like another as does one duck farmer look like the next.
The crew (one cook, one captain and one crew) were great and could
not do enough for us and the food was also exceptionally good. Kerala
is a very interesting state with wonderful welcoming people there is more
than enough to do and see rather than spending more than 24 hours on
a Kettuvellam ( Houseboat)

Paula

Goa is quite a distance from kerala and if im right about four hours flying, we went on half a day trip on the backwaters as our first week was cancelled due to the tsunami.

The trip was nice but would have like to have done a day/night trip as we started from kavolam on a massive lake which takes over a good hour to clear to start the backwaters on which some parts were very nice but we turned round one corner on to a industrial area and i thought i was back home on the dudley canal.

Also try this website http://www.indiamike.com as there is a lot of information look under minor destinations and click on kerala and there are some reviews about backwater trips.

Thanks for all your replys and i must say india mike is an awesome sight
just spent 2 hours on it and i havent even started yet its so full of info Anyway decided to go to Gokarna now instead as its only a couple of hours on the train and has nice beaches so thanks anyway PS the site also has time tables for the train services great
sharon

Have a nice one dont forget we expect a full report.