India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) - Keith Bain [85]
Days 9 & 10: Kumarakom
Drive towards Alleppey to experience Kerala’s backwaters. Spend 2 nights at one of the wonderful homestays in the region (Olavipe is the ultimate) or on a houseboat; alternatively, book into Green Lagoon, Coconut Lagoon, or Kumarakom Lake Resort. If you opt for the houseboat experience, you bed aboard a kettuvallam, one of the long, beautifully crafted cargo boats that ply the waterways—a wonderful way to experience the rural lifestyle of the backwaters as you aimlessly drift past villages, temples, and churches. If the facilities strike you as too basic, and if you’re not interested in a homestay either, spend the night at the intimate Philipkutty’s Farm and take a sunset backwaters cruise instead.
Days 11–13: Kovalam & Beyond
Drive to Trivandrum and continue beyond it to immerse yourself in the simple beach life at Karikkathi Beach House or the famous (and, sadly, recently expanded) Surya Samudra. Spread over 8 hectares (20 acres) amid terraced gardens, Surya has such a glorious setting that as soon as you arrive you will wonder why you didn’t come straight here in the first place. Accommodations are in the centuries-old carved wooden cottages transplanted from villages around Kerala. Much of your time here is best spent lazing by the infinity pool carved out of the rock bed or on one of the two beaches. Spend the rest of your time here enjoying Ayurvedic treatments and massages. At Karikkathi, on the other hand, there’s no pool, no other guests, and a dazzling beach pretty much all to yourself. If you can bear to tear yourself away, take an early morning excursion to sacred Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of India, where three oceans meet and crowds worship the sunrise; or to Padmanabhapuram Palace, for several centuries the traditional home of Kerala’s Travancore royal family.
Day 14: Trivandrum & Home
Completely relaxed and rejuvenated, make your way back to Trivandrum, and from there fly to Mumbai or Bengaluru for your international flight back home. If you arrive in Mumbai, where you will have many hours before your flight, enjoy dinner at one of the marvelous restaurants in Mumbai’s suburbs or at one of the hotels near the airport where many Mumbaikers regularly go for upmarket entertainment and spoiling service.
Chapter 5: City of Dreamers: Mumbai & Maharashtra Side Trips
On track to becoming the world’s largest city within the next decade, Mumbai will do no less than bowl you over. It is a mind-boggling megalopolis—for some, a fantastic whirlwind of chaotic, exuberant energies; for others, a disorderly mess, frightening in the way of some biblical Gomorrah. There’s no doubt about it—Mumbai will not leave you unaffected.
Teetering on the edge of the Arabian Sea, its heaving population barely contained by palm-fringed beaches, India’s commercial capital, formerly known as Bombay, is a vibrant, confident metropolis that’s tangibly high in energy.
Originally home to Koli fisherfolk, the seven swampy islands that today comprise Mumbai originally commanded little significance. The largest of the islands was part of a dowry given by Portugal to England, which promptly took control of the six remaining islands and then leased the lot to the East India Company for a paltry £10. Massive land-reclamation projects followed, and by the 19th century all seven islands had been fused to form one narrow promontory and India’s principal port.
Today the city continues to draw fortune-seekers from across the subcontinent. Thousands of newcomers squeeze their way in every day, adding to the coffers