Cochin arrival, Meet and arrival assistance at the Airport by a local representative, followed by transfer to hotel.

Cochin, set along the spice coast of Malabar, offers a bewitching combination of gorgeous beaches, tranquil backwaters, historic monuments, Palaces and dramatic landscapes. Check-in at the hotel, unpack and unwind.

Later, on a half day city tour, explore Fort Cochin area and Mattancherry. Visit the Dutch Palace, built by the Portuguese and presented to the Kochin king in the 16th century, St. Francis Church (oldest European church in India) and Santa Cruz Basilica, built by Portuguese in 16th century. Enjoy the Jewish town with its old curio shops and the more than 400-year-old synagogue. At the entrance of Kochi harbour, see the cantilevered fishing nets brought from southern China by traders — a testament to the centuries-old link between these regions.

Mattancherry Palace (closed on Fridays) and Jewish Synagogue (closed on Fridays & Saturdays).

Cultural evening of Kathakali dance performance: ‘Kathakali’ an important genre in the Indian classical dance form, is associated with storytelling form of art. The story in ‘Kathakali’ is communicated to audience through excellent footwork and impressive gestures of face and hands complimented with music and vocal performance.

Transfer to hotel for an overnight stay.

After breakfast, drive away from the coastal plains to Munnar; a beautiful hill station which retains its colonial charm and is famous for its tea plantations. The town is situated at the confluence of three mountain streams Mudrapauzha, Naliathani and Kundala, where sprawling tea plantations, picture book towns; winding lanes make it a unique experience, enroute visit Cheyyappara & Valara waterfalls (cascading down 500ft in seven steps), Viewpoint etc. Munnar arrival and check-in at hotel.

Later, city tour of Mattupetty visiting specialized dairy farm – Swiss cattle live stock project & stroll by the Kundala Tea Plantations to experience the tea leaves being picked by the local ladies, processed and packed and visit the lake nearby.

This afternoon enjoy boating on Mattupetty Dam (direct payment basis) or enjoy a game of golf at the Kundala Golf Course or just relax besides the Kundala Lake where the locals gather at the afternoons. By late afternoon, drive back at hotel

Spend the rest of the day at leisure enjoying the ambiance of the town or the beauty of its bazaars.

Wake upto the scenic beauty of wonderful waterfalls & hills with low flying clouds.

Today on your city tour visit Rajamala Sanctuary for glimpses of endangered mountain goat Nilgiri Tahr (enroute visit, picturesque Nyayamakad waterfalls (for a breathtaking waterfall here cascade down the hills from a height of 1600 meters and creates a foggy atmosphere) & Anai Mudi, the highest peak of South India. Picture the rare goats locking their thorns with each other roaming on a stretch of grassland or climbing the pinnacles of the undulating hills. The park also shelters macaques, langurs & Neelakurunji (a plant which blossoms every 12 years) and turns the entire landscape blue when it does.

Trek at the rolling hills, at the lush mountains of Pothamedu – offers an excellent view of tea, coffee and cardamom plantations in Munnar.

Evening is at leisure, strolling at unending expanse of tea plantations – enchanting high ranges & exotic species of flora. Overnight at Munnar

Morning, drive through beautiful and lush countryside across the top of the hills to Thekkady,  a small town close to Periyar National Park. As the road winds through mountains, you will descend through a carpet of tea bushes, estates of tall rubber trees and gardens of coffee, cardamom and pepper.

Arrival and check-in at the hotel.

A Spice plantation tour in the afternoon: The tour is all about explaining the history, growth and development of spices like, cardamom and pepper. Others crops include tea, coffee and vanilla. It is very exciting to see all these, as most of the world have seen this only in the supermarket shelves as a packed product.

A cultural evening of Kalaripayattu (Martial Arts) show: Catch some live performances of the traditional Kerala martial art show for one hour, “Kalarippayattu”, known as the mother of all martial arts. Kalarippayattu originated and was crafted in ancient south India drawing inspiration from the raw power and sinuous strength of the majestic animal forms; lion, tiger, elephant, wild boar, snake and crocodile. Enjoy this and get awed by the gravity-defying stunts and the agility of the performers.

After all the sightseeing, you will be transferred to your hotel for overnight stay.

A trek inside the forest: Early morning, proceed for a guided jungle walk in Periyar National Park to admire its abundant birdlife – kingfishers, storks and hornbills; this is a dawn to afternoon range hiking. The forests are rich in bird life and arboreal animals like giant squirrel and Nilgiri langur are a common sightseeing. Animals like elephant, gaur and sambar are also sighted keeping close to the edges of the lake.

We retrace our steps backwards for a quick breakfast at the hotel.

Duration of Hiking: 2.5 hrs

After breakfast, transfer to Konni, famous for its Elephant Reserve. One of the major attractions here are the giant wooden cages used to house the elephants. Locally known as Aanakoodu, they can house up to 3 to 4 elephants at a time.

The chief task of the trainers here is to train baby elephants, which are brought to the training centre after getting separated from its herd or found wounded and roaming lonely in the forest. Experienced trainers, who employ some of the time-tested methods to tame the baby elephants, follow systematic training methodologies.

We check out and drive to Alleppey (also known as Alappuzha) – a principal center for backwater cruises in Kerala. Upon arrival, we board our houseboat and begin our cruise along the backwaters of Kerala, (locally known as ‘Kettuvalam), one of the highlights of the trip, these enchanting boats have been decorated and made into comfortable cruise vessels. While sailing down a maze of canals one sees, paddy fields, coconut palms, fisherman along the palm fringed backwaters, understand simple life of the village people as you cruise. Lunch, and tea snacks will be provided in the boat.

Dining onboard is an experience in its self. The ethnic meals are prepared on board by a personal cook and fish delicacies like white prawns, pearl spotted fish, crabs and mussels are the specialties.  The day ends with a special dinner hosted on the deck of the houseboat, followed by a memorable night stay. The boat will be anchored in the lake for overnight stay.

Note: The Air – conditioned on board the houseboat runs from 21:00 hrs to 05:00 hrs. only since this runs on a generator.

Early morning, enjoy the scenery as our Houseboat again rows over the backwaters. Post breakfast check-out and transfer to Kovalam, a conjunction of three adjacent crescents or beaches, comprising of Lighthouse Beach, Hawah or Eve’s Beach and Samudra beach.

At evening, treat your taste buds as you relish banana chips, raw banana dishes, banana milk shake, banana ice cream, (optionally) hire a boat from the local fishermen to view the adoring sun setting behind the vast sea.

At dinner (optional), enjoy the flavors of India and fell the magic of its food, take your pick from the fisherman’s net, (purchase juicy sear fish, sardines, prawns, red snappers etc.)  & ask the friendly fisherman to fry it for you the local way OR simply try Kerala’s hot red fish curry with steamed tapioca or boiled rice OR simply enjoy a full Prawn.

Morning after breakfast, time at leisure to explore on your own or rest at the hotel.

Afternoon, you will be driven to Trivandrum Airport to board your flight for onward destination.