Enchanting Kerala – 09days: Cochin–Munnar-Periyar–Backwater cruise-Kumarakom.

<ul>
<li> Accommodation in well appointed hotels.</li>
<li> Exclusive: backwater <strong>cruise by air conditioned houseboat.</strong></li>
<li> Exclusive: visit to <strong>chocolate factory &amp; chocolate making lessons</strong>.</li>
<li> Exclusive: cooking lesson &amp; dinner with Keralian family.</li>
<li> Exclusive: <strong>Kerala village life experience</strong> including lunch.</li>
<li> Explore Jew town and visit Jewish Synagogue.</li>
<li> Unlimited shopping experience.</li>
<li> Complimentary: <strong>Indian wine on board</strong> houseboat.</li>
<li> Enjoy traditional cultural show in Cochin.</li>
<li> Visit tea gardens &amp; tea factory.</li>
<li> Visit Rajamali National Park in Munnar.</li>
<li> Visit <strong>elephant farm </strong>&amp; for feed, bath &amp; ride on it.</li>
<li> Explore spice garden.</li>
<li><strong>Game viewing</strong> boat cruise in Thekkady.</li>
<li><strong>Complimentary</strong>: rejuvenating Ayurveda body massage.</li>
</ul>
<strong>Day 01: </strong>Arrive in Cochin.

You are welcomed at the airport by our tour executive and transferred to the hotel where you are assisted with your check in. <em>Most flights arrive either in the evening or early morning. Your accommodation is reserved from previous day to guarantee immediate check in</em>.
Accompanied by a local guide, visit some of the historical monuments &amp; landmarks in Fort Cochin area in the afternoon. Your tour begins from Jewish Synagogue <em>(closed on Fridays and Saturdays).</em>It contains beautiful Belgian glass chandeliers and paved with painted tiles from China. Later visit the Dutch Palace <em>(closed on Fridays)</em> with its wonderful murals depicting the entire story of the Ramayana. Then visit St. Francis Church, established by the Portuguese Franciscan friars in 1503. Vasco Da Gama was buried in the courtyard of this European church, one of the first built in India. Visit the Chinese fishing nets. More than a century old and still in use, they are a great part of this tour.
Enjoy Kerala’s traditional performing arts such as Kathakali, Mohini Attam, Theyyam and the martial art in a theater.

<strong>Day 02: </strong>Cochin.<strong>
</strong>Post breakfast you are driven to outskirt Cochin. Enjoy a cruise on a country boat through the narrow winding canals. Your boat cruise will give you opportunity to see village folks at work, village temples and visit traditional Keralian homes. Return to your hotel after you relish a Keralian lunch served on banana leaf. You are driven to a central Kerala’s Orthodox Christian family in the evening. Spend your evening with family members and return to your hotel after your dinner.
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Day 03: </strong>Cochin – Munnar.<strong>
</strong>Post breakfast check out from your hotel; you are then driven to Munnar.
You’ll travel through towns, villages, waterfalls, temples and churches. You may also visit rubber plantations, rubber processing units etc. Check into your hotel on arrival.

Day 04: Munnar.<strong>
</strong>Your Munnar visit is incomplete without experiencing tea leaves picking &amp; a visit to tea leaves processing unit. You are driven to a tea plantation estate in the morning. Join the workforce and pick your own tea leaves from the garden. Bring the freshly picked tea leaves to the tea factory and get it processed into fresh tea dust. You are then allowed to carry the freshly processed tea dust to home as souvenir. You’ll also get lessons on different types of liquid tea preparation. You have the option <em>(no charges)</em> to visit Rajamali National park where you might get a chance to see some of the rarest wild animals and the endangered Tahr (a type of mountain goat) in the afternoon.
<strong>
Day 05: </strong>Munnar – Thekkady (Periyar Wildlife Park).<strong>
</strong>Post breakfast proceed on a drive to Periyar.  Stop en-route elephant form. Accompanied by the mahout; drive the elephant to nearby water source where you get opportunity to bathe the massive mammal and also feed it. Continue to drive to Thekkady and check into your lodge. Explore Thekkady town on your own if time permits.
<strong>
Day 06: </strong>Thekkady.
Accompanied by a naturalist proceed on a spice garden tour and trekking in the morning.
Post lunch cruise on the Periyar Lake. The panorama spreads into tropical jungles full of wild elephants, Indian Gaur, monkeys, spotted deer, barking deer, wild boar and birds of myriad varieties. Encompassing an area of 777sq.kms the sanctuary lies at an elevation between 914 and 1828 meters above the sea level.
<strong>
Day 07: </strong>Thekkady – Alleppey.<strong>
</strong>You are driven to Alleppey in the morning. Embark one of the beautifully designed houseboats and cruise on the backwater of Kerala. Relax and have good time until next morning. The cook and other staff will make sure that you are well taken care, while serving you delicious Kerala cuisine for lunch, dinner and breakfast.

<strong>Day 08: </strong>Alleppey – Kumarakom<strong>
</strong>Disembark from your houseboat and check in to your backwater facing resort in Kumarakom.<strong>
</strong>Accommodation, dinner, breakfast and one complimentary general body massage are the only services provided by us on this day.

<strong>Day 09: </strong>Kumarakom – Cochin – Onward destination.

You are picked up from your Kumarakom hotel and transferred to Cochin airport.
Board your flight to onward destination / back home.

<strong>We end our services </strong>at Cochin airport.

<strong>Package Inclusions:
</strong>  Seven nights double sharing accommodation including dinner and breakfast.
One night on exclusive houseboat accommodation inclusive of all meals.
Transfers and sightseeing by air conditioned personal medium vehicle.
Services of English speaking local guides as per itinerary.
One bottle of mineral water per person per day.
Entrance to monuments and parks.
Applicable government taxes.<strong>
</strong>
Tailor made itinerary or Rate available on request.

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