EXPLORING THE BEAUTY & CULTURE OF KERALA

Kerela Fam Trip with Riviera Travel 6th – 13th May 2026

I am back from my first-ever trip to India, and what a fantastic experience it was. If you have clients who want to visit India but without the hustle and bustle of the busy cities in the North, Southern India is a great choice.

Having been to Sri Lanka in the past, I was able to compare them, and when you consider the proximity of the two, it is understandable that there are many similarities.

Air India

My trip started with a flight on Air India. As with most airlines, you are allocated a seat for free at check-in, but if you wish to secure a specific type of seat, you are able to at a cost. Check-in opens 48 hours prior to your flight. My outbound flight was via Delhi. Due to the conflict in the Middle East, Air India has some variations to the routes, and therefore the flight was a little longer than normal, taking just under 10 hours. This flight was on a fairly new aircraft and therefore very comfortable, even in economy. Seats were leather and provided good lumbar support. The inflight entertainment was excellent – good-sized screens, a good choice of channels for films, TV, music and games. Food was as you would expect – mainly curry-based – but enjoyable. A few things did let them down. The staff, although polite, are not particularly friendly. They had far more vegetarian meals than non-vegetarian meals on all their flights, and many passengers were left with no choice but to take the vegetarian option. They only came along with drinks once, just before the meal. If you wanted a drink at any other time, you had to call them, and quite often they took a while to respond. This aircraft, being a newer plane did offer the option of premium economy, however some of the older planes only have economy and business class. These older planes have less comfortable cloth seats and the TV screens are slightly smaller and harder to navigate.

On arrival in Delhi, we had to have our visa and e-arrival card on hand to pass through passport control. The queue was about average. As with most countries now, you need to have your fingerprints taken.

Even though we were transiting, we still needed to collect our luggage and recheck it in. To reach the domestic terminal, you need to exit the airport and walk outside to the next building. We were lucky that we had the amazing Riviera ground agents (TBI) there to assist us, and this was a smooth operation.

The flight from Delhi to Kochi took a litle under 3 hours. We were offered a drink and a breakfast as it was early in the morning. We flew back via Mumbai – it is worth noting that the airport is currently undergoing a complete upgrade.

The trip begins:

We had an overnight in Kochin to recover from the journey and then an early start the next day for our journey to Thekkady (Periyar National Park). The journey should have taken 5 hours, but like other major cities in India, the traffic trying to leave Cochin was extremely busy. Our journey (with comfort stops en-route) took nearly 8 hours. The coach was extremely comfortable with lots of room, air con and footrests. The TBI staff were fantastic at keeping us fed and watered, with plenty of water, snacks and fizzy drinks. We were given plenty of information about the areas we were travelling through and some of the history of the region. As we reached our destination, the roads became mountainous; there was a lot of horn-blowing and overtaking, which is apparently the norm. The scenery was stunning, very lush, with lots of tea plantations, flora, and fauna.

Our next 2 nights were spent at Spice Village hotel. Eco friendly with grass thatched cottages and their own spice garden – this property was all about nature. Late into the night you can lay in bed listening to the crickets and frogs and in the morning you are woken to an array of stunning bird noises as well as the naughty monkeys who can be seen around the property. We enjoyed a cookery class where we were given a fantastic insight into the health benefits of many of the spices used in everyday cookery. We were also taken to a spice farm where we had a tour of hundreds of locally grown herbs and spices. 75% of India’s spices come from Southern India.

In the evening, we were entertained by a show of Kerala’s ancient martial arts called Kalaripayattu – this daredevil extravaganza is extremely popular with locals and tourists alike. The show highlights the traditional combat techniques practised in this region for centuries. There is some audience participation, and of course I agreed to take one for the team!

After 2 nights in Thekkady, it was time to move on to Kumarakom. The drive this time was a little shorter but just as picturesque. Kumarakom is essentially a lush coconut palm- and paddy-filled stretch of countryside dotted with mainly high-end resort hotels. Fine food, spas, yoga, and Ayurvedic treatments are very much part of the scene here, while the beautiful lake is a focus for Keralan houseboats. These can be seen dotted along the lake or cruising up and down the beautiful backwaters. Our first evening we were treated to a stunning sunset cruise – Captain Kirkup took a turn steering!

An early start the next morning to go bird watching. We boarded the boat and sailed along the serene waters with a local birdwatcher who spotted the birds and shared many fun facts and figures. More than 180 species of bird inhabit this area at certain times of the year, so a real bird watchers dream!

Lunch today was on the 5* Blue Jelly Houseboat – this is moored in the tranquil backwaters of Alleppey. Clients would normally stay on here for 1 to 3 nights, enjoying the fantastic scenery on offer in this area of Kerala. Cabins are spacious and all en-suite. The food is delicious and the fresh fish plentiful.

After 2 nights in this beauiful and serene area, it was time to travel back to Cochin where we had a city tour taking in the Dutch Palace with its’ wonderful collection of mural paintings depicting scenes from Hindu epics of Mahabharatha and Ramayana – St Francis Church with its’ splendid Portuguese architecture, where in 1920, the Cenotaph was set up in the memory of the inhabitants of Kochi who died in World War-1 and Jew Town where in 1568 the Paradesi Synagogue was built. It still functions today and is the oldest in India. Jew Town was formed around it and homed a group of Jews who had been expelled from the Iberian Peninsula. Today, only one Jewish family remain in the area.

Some facts about Kerala:

• It has some of the best medical facilities in the world. In fact, many people travel to Kerela for operations and medical procedures.
• 75% of milk is from water buffalo and they are the biggest producer of milk in the world.
• The hottest and driest months are May and June – Monsoon season is June to September.
• Smoking and vaping are prohibited in public places.
• It is extremely difficult to buy alcohol – in many hotels you can drink in a designated bar but not in the restaurant. This is because drinking used to be a massive problem, especially with drunk drivers.
• It was the British that first introduced tea to India, smuggled from China. Tea plants are pruned every 5 years and harvesting is always done by ladies approximately every 2 weeks.
• Rich families own elephants as a status. An elephant quite often kills the Mahout (the trainer), which is why not many people want to do the job.
• Cardamom is the queen of spice and pepper is the king of spice.