Kerala · 4 Days
Kerala Hills & Spice
Kochi up into the Ghats for Munnar's tea country and Periyar's forest at Thekkady.
Day by Day
4 Days, In Full
Kerala at altitude, which surprises people who came for the beaches. You climb from Kochi into the Western Ghats to Munnar, where tea has been grown since the 1880s and the air sits fifteen degrees cooler than the coast. Then south through the Cardamom Hills to Thekkady, on the boundary of Periyar Tiger Reserve. The dawn boat on Periyar Lake is the reason to come — drowned trees still standing in the water, elephant along the shoreline. Four days is tight but genuinely workable.
Kochi
Arrival in Kochi — Fort Kochi & the Spice Quarter
Your driver meets you at Cochin airport. The road runs out to Fort Kochi, where four centuries of trade left their mark on one small peninsula. Walk the lanes on foot. St Francis Church, the Dutch Cemetery, the godowns of Jew Town still stacked with ginger and pepper. Evening is free for a Kathakali performance if you want one.
Kochi → Munnar
Kochi to Munnar — Into the Western Ghats
The drive up to Munnar takes about four hours and climbs the whole way. Rubber gives way to cardamom, then to tea. Stop at Cheeyappara and Valara waterfalls when the monsoon has been kind. By the time you arrive the air is fifteen degrees cooler than Kochi.
Munnar → Thekkady
Munnar to Thekkady — Along the Cardamom Hills
Three and a half hours south through the Cardamom Hills. The road is good and the views are constant. You can smell the plantations before you see them. Thekkady sits on the edge of Periyar Tiger Reserve, so the last stretch runs through genuine forest.
Thekkady
Thekkady — Periyar Lake at Dawn, then Onward
The first boat onto Periyar Lake leaves at half past seven. Dead trees still stand in the water, drowned when the dam went up in 1895, and elephant and sambar come down to drink along the shoreline. Bring a long lens. Afterwards you continue on or head for the airport.
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