TWAontheGo

Another question:

A portion of our planned trip is to fly to Madurai. The next day drive to Munnar. Spend the following two days at the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. Next day board a houseboat at noon (the day after our stay at Periyar), spend the night on board, and leaving the houseboat the next morning.

The houseboat has AC from 8 pm to 6 am. We are going to be in Kerala from April 13 - 20. Is the weather -- heat, etc; going to make this too uncomfortable an experience?

If yes, any other recommendations in the same area?

More info:

Kaziranga National Park/Guwahati Mar 15-20
Varanasi-Khajuraho-Orchha Mar 21-26
Rhajasthan Mar 27 - Apr 12
Kerala Apr 13 - 20
Delhi/Agra till Apr 28

Thanks,

Tom

Cicerone

IMO the houseboat during the day without aircon is not an issue. You will be sitting all day watching the world go by, and the boats usually have covered sitting areas which provide shade. You are also moving (albeit slowly) which kicks up a little breeze as well. It is only at night that you might want the air con. I live in Hong Kong and have lived in Singapore where daytime summer temps (and more importantly humidity) are much the same and I never use air con in the house during the day, I only use it at night in the bedrooms.

My bigger issue would be trying to sightsee in north Indian in April, THAT would be tough IMO because you will be walking a lot and out in that relentless sun. Most of the sights require a good bit of walking and there is very little shade available and no air con other than your car. I have mentioned this on your other post. Delhi in April and it is usually over 90, many days over 100F . Really quite scorching. If you can, you might try to do north India in March and go south in April, where it will be hot but you will be nearer the coast and doing more relaxing activities. At least bring and umbrella as they provide great shade.

Cicerone

The air con on the boat may be powered by a generator, which could be noisy. Bring ear plugs.

citybell

It is better for you if you go to Thekkady(Periyar wildlife sanctuary) at first since it is nearer(about 3-3.5hrs by car from Madurai) than Munnar. After Thekkady, you may drive down 101kms distance to Munnar.
To enjoy a house boat-stay, you need to go to Alleppey or Kumarakom.There is no house boat either at Thekkady or at Munnar.

Heath

I am just back from a S India trip. We did Mudurai, then Munnar, then Periyar and then the houseboat in that order. It worked out well