It was my first solo trip to India. I was a little worried as I was traveling alone. Still, much to my surprise, Adventure Delight in India, the company I book for my tours, made this trip memorable and beautiful. In early December, I visited India or, to be precise, South India, Kerala, and had efficiently made all the required arrangements from Canada only. Indeed, booking Adventure Delight for my South India Trip was my best decision.
I must tell you, Kerala is a beautiful place to explore, and with Adventure Delight, it became the best tour of my life. At Trivandrum, I was met at the airport and taken to the hotel, which was my time to relax. After relaxation, later on, I visited the museum and, in the evening, undertook a walking tour of Trivandrum to learn about history, culture, and the religious practices of the People of Kerala. While on time, I also snapped at some locals there and had a pretty good conversation with them. They were usually using their home language, Malayalam, but what I found the best thing about south Indians is that they will either interact in their home language or speak English. Roaming in the streets of Trivandrum with locals as your guide was the best experience I had. They made me familiar with their culture and food. They taught me how Males there tie their dhotis whenever they worship in temples, as it is their traditional dress. The next day, and we left for Varkala. Varkala is around 1:30 hours away from Trivandrum.
There we went to one of the most famous and profound destinations, that is CLIFF BEACH. I was so excited to see that beach as I heard many beautiful things about the beach. And there, I witnessed bright sunset with my naked eyes. That moment was a breathtaking moment for me. I thank Adventure Delight for including CLIFF BEACH as one of the prettiest destinations of my tour. I was roaming around on a two-wheeler known as scooty, provided by Adventure Delight. There, I met a person named Sherin. He was also on tour booked by Adventure Delight only. He was from Ireland, and we both made ourselves roam around together and have fun. We were exploring the splendid cliff beach being on scooty. We found out a restaurant to have some good seafood as I am so fond of seafood. People were catching fish directly from the ocean before us and then preparing the dish we ordered in front of us. I mean, wow, that was so amazing and so splendid to see your food getting prepared in front of you, which is purely fresh and authenticated seafood. We had a great evening exploring various temples with unique architecture, an excellent roadside Café, and a splash on the Cliff beach. I had a great start to my tour. Yes, I was able to say that my decision to choose Adventure Delight as my booking channel was not wrong.
From Varkala, On the following day after breakfast, we moved towards Munroe Island. It is a hidden pearl in the backwaters, which is composed of a cluster of eight islands. Small water channels and lakes separate all the islands. A British officer excavated the canals to benefit from irrigation of the fields and make commuting easy for the local population. There we undertook the evening tour of backwaters and got acquainted with the flora, fauna, and various aspects of the daily life of an average villagers inhabitant of that exciting and tranquil, and picturesque destination. We saw how local villagers make their food in the woods and experienced how they live their lives there. We had a word with one of the locals there. While having a long deep conversation, she offered a cup of tea she made in those woods. Wow, the tea was so excellent, it’s the first time I had tea, and I loved it.
After this, the following day, we woke up early and started moving towards ALLEPPEY. We went to Alleppey as I have heard a lot about its backwaters ride. The Adventure Delight provided the Kayaks, and the group visited the inland canals. It started early morning to enable us to enjoy the stunning sunrise. Yes, with the sweet sound of birds chirping in the backdrop of backwaters and a fantastic early morning breeze. My Alleppey backwater experience was simply outstanding. I also clicked some pictures of the place as a souvenir. Alleppey has a great network of rivers, canals, and lakes.
Having a relaxing time in Alleppey, we took a local bus to Kochi, hardly took 2 hours to reach Kochi. There we stayed in the Fort area of Kochi. In the evening, we visited the live performance of Katta-Kali it was simply outstanding.
The next destination of ours was Munnar, yet another beautiful place in Kerala. Munnar hill station provided all the fun and thrill, which after a relaxing backwater stay. A round-around Tea plantation was so gorgeous and very refreshing too.
Our next planned destination was Madurai, where we visited the utmost famous Meenakshi temple. The Goddess Parvati, the soul mate of Lord Shiva, is the main deity of this magnificent temple. It is 52 meters high and built on 45 acres of land. Pandya King made it in the 7th century. After spending such a great time in Madurai, we proceed towards our next destination to Mysore. We landed at Banglore airport and from there by road to the beautiful city of Mysore. There we went to the great grand palace of Mysore, and there what I saw just brought cold to my spine. Those unique works of art, 3D paintings, the beauty of architecture and grandeur of Mysore Palace, and various artifacts in Mysore Palace. After having a joyful time roaming the street market of Mysore. I was surprised by the sheer difference from the Northern Part of India. We headed towards Hampi with a memorable overnight train journey.
Hampi is the capital of the Vijay Nagar Empire, is strewn over an enormous terrain, and is a World Heritage Site on the banks of the Tungabhadra river. In Hampi, we also went to some traditional destinations, which took me deep into South Indian tradition. I’m so thankful to Adventure Delight to cover Traditional destinations too in my tour. We had a visit to the temples of Virupaksha Temple, famous for blessings from the elephant. Badavalinga Temple, for floating Shiva Linga, Underground Siva Temple for dig up remains Kodabikalu Temple for mammoth Ganesh figure. The very next day, we went for a market tour in Hampi itself. After that, in the late evening, we boarded a bus which took us to Goa-the the last destination of my South India tour. I was already missing the previously visited cities of South India. The arrangements like accommodation, transport, guide, services of tour manager and included activities arranged by Adventure Delight made South India tour more rewarding. The following day we reached Goa. We had a day of rest, and that evening we went on to the tour of churches and beaches and had a fantastic night stay in the beach hut at Goa. And here we came at the end of the trip. Now, After enjoying all the fantastic destinations of South India, I came back to my home town Toronto in Canada.
I thank Adventure Delight for organizing such a memorable trip for me. It was a brilliant and unforgettable experience, and I will undoubtedly recommend Adventure Delight to my family and friends. I am looking forward to having some more India trips and that too organized by Adventure Delight.