Hi everyone..Just got back from an incredible trip..Kerala is beautiful...I already want to go back..The people are so friendly and laid back, and the scenery is gorgeous..Did the houseboat, it was amazing..
Flew from Trivandrum, India to Male and then took a scenic sea plane to the Veligandu Beach Resort. It was beautiful..Our bungalow was just a few steps from the beautiful blue ocean..The island was so small, with white sand everywhere..In the restaurant, bar, everywhere.....Nobody wears shoes...A beautiful spa...The buffets were delicious..The snorkelling amazing..I highly recommend a visit here to anyone considering the Maldives...

And Dubai, well it is great..There is so much to see and do..Tons of shopping,from malls to souks..you just can't go wrong stopping here for a few days or longer...We had a great night out at the Al Hadheerah Desert Restaurant, complete with belly dancers, shisha, henna painting, camel rides, arabic buffet..It was superb, i highly recommend it..The trip was awesome and i am already planning to go back!! I'll post some pictures in a few days!!

glad to hear you had a good time....will you be giving us a full report with lots of details??? please...

I thought that was a full report!! My poor travel diary suffers greatly, as i have good intentions writing down things, but in the end i store everything in my head.

But for a more detailed report...We flew from Canada via London on Emirates to Dubai, and 36 hours later, arrived in Cochin!! (Emirates was very impressive)but we arrived, and our luggage did not..I was quite upset, as i always feared of this happening...So there we were...In India, with no luggage..Thank goodness we brought our toiletry bags along with us..We were booked on an Imaginative Traveller tour, but arrived a few days early...So lucky thing we contacted the Rep. and he came down to give us a hand...Emirates offered us 4000 rupees to go buy something to wear until our luggage arrived (we were still in our winter gear)..So after 36 hours of flying, a little on the grouchy side,jetlagged to the max, here we are in downtown Cochin, shopping for new clothes, in an Indian clothing store..No western women clothing to be found!! I wanted western clothing incase the worse scenario that our luggage would never arrive..After a couple of drewling hours, we were fully clothed and then we had to go looking for flip flops!! Well hello India, what a great welcome!! It turned out to be a fun experience in the end....
So we arrived at our hotel called the Bolghatty Palace, on a little island, just a short ferry ride from the centre of town. Only with what we wore on our back!! All i could think of is what i would do with no clothing for 3 weeks..I planned my packing for 3 months prior!! Anyhow, the hotel was lovely, we were happy with our room..We had a great India soup and garlic naan, and went to bed for 12 hours!! When we woke up, we were advised that our luggage had been found..So we had to go all the way back to the airport to get it!It was over an hour away..So we thought we would make the best of it..Got in the taxi, and enjoyed our ride in the taxi, stopped for some Indian bidi's and sat back and watched the amazing Indian street life as we headed back to the airport listening to a bollywood soundtrack!! After the normal hassel, we got our luggage, and the rest is history...
WE met up with our Imaginative Traveller tour guide and began the small adventure tour with 10 others..The tour guide was great right off the bat..He was full of humour and continuted to be for the entire trip..
The tour was for 10 days and we started in Cochin a very intersting city..Went on to the houseboat in Alleppey..It was just amazing to sit back and watch the most beautiful landcapes of Kerala on a kuttuvallam houseboat..There was a cook on board along with other staff and it was totally enjoyable..I found the Kerala people to be so warm and friendly..
Our next stop was Thekkady..If i remember it was about a 9 hour drive through some most amazing scenery in the mountains full of coffee ane tea plantations and local village life..WE had a mix up on our hotel and ended up at a hotel within the Periyar National Park..We stayed a couple of nights and did the nature stuff, took a boat trip on Periyar Lake, took the tuk tuk into town and shopped..Just fascinating..
Next, after another long day of driving we arrived in the pouring rain to the most beaufiful resort called Aquaserene..It was a 10 acre resort with individual cottages with outdoor bathrooms and beautifully landscaped with canals and bridges and hammocks on Lake Paravur (i think)..Stayed 2 nights and enjoyed a canoe ride on the scenic lake..It was gorgeous..Sat up one night with some of the other people on the tour watching a thunderstorm and having a few beer on the balcony of one of the cottages...We then went on to Kovalam and spent a few days there at the Travencore Heritage..Also lovely cottages standing high on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea..We were upgraded to a beautiful cottage with our own plunge pool...It was absolutely out of this world..We also enjoyed time at the beach in Kovalam and i just loved it..A few of us went out one night with the tour leader to a bar and had some drinks..It was alot of fun...I just loved Kerala and would love to return and see more..Totally different than Rajasthan that we had previously visited..It is still India, but a quieter more laid back version..Okay, now that is detailed for me....

So next we flew Indian Airlines to the Maldives..We are now not on the tour anymore..But again the tour was great..We had most of the days to ourselves to do what we choose and it really was alot of fun..It was a short flight to Male (under 1 hour)..Which from there we boarded a seaplane and a short 20 minute ride to Veligandu Island Beach Resort..It was everything i had imagined and more...I couldn't believe that we were there, as it was somewhere i have wanted to go for a long time, but thought it was too far!! The world became alot smaller after this trip..For 3 nights we enjoyed a beachfront cottage, with 3 buffets per day at this lovely resort..Swimming, snorkelling, suntanning, watching the sunsets..Having facials and massages...It was paradise i must say..I will go back there too!!

For our last 4 nights, we flew Emirates from Male to Dubai..We stayed at the Riviera Hotel, which was smack in the middle of Deira..It was a nice 3 starish hotel, very good service, they went out of their way to make us feel welcome..We had a nice view of the creek as well..In Dubai, we just played it by ear..We did the Arabic Dinner thing that i already mentioned one evening, shopped around the hotel other evenings..Visited the Souk Madinat Jumeirah, vieweed the Bur Al Arab, shopped at the souks. We got around by the Big Bus Company (a hop on hop off idea)..Very good way to see Dubai..Shopped at several Malls..including the Mall of Emirates where they have that new indoor ski resort...Shopped, shopped and shopped
great place to visit..There are sky scrapers coming up all over the place.It is a very intersting city with a mix of old and new..Really enjoyed our stay and will probably go back there to if we have the chance.
Wow, that is alot of typing for me..We started our long journey home on Emirates connecting to Air Canada in London where that flight was delayed 3 hours as we sat on the aircraft waiting for them to repair something wrong in the engine (yes, how fun was that)..So we missed our connection in Toronto and ended up staying the night in Toronto compliments of Air Canada..Flew home yesterday to Edmonton with all of the great memories and wanting to go back already!!

now that is a report!!!...thanks very much...

could you just elaborate about your shopping....what did you buy and how much did things cost, especially in dubai...

how comfortable were the seats on emerites?? some people have complained...

thanks so much

In Dubai i bought silver jewelry and watches (very nice)..Very inexpensive..But not as cheap as India..Shoes, clothes (from the Mall)..Way cheaper than in Canada. The malls are gorgeous in Dubai..I am not really a mall shopper, but really enjoyed the ones in Dubai..The souks had some good deals and we bought a few gifts (caps, watches, etc)We were going to buy a shisha for a sovenir, but decided it was too heavy to carry, but i wish we would have now..They are very nice and inexpensive, and come in great boxes..I guess we can get one next time! NOthing to buy in the Maldives and India the usual sarongs, blouses, pillow cases, silver, lovely purses and skirts!! Bought some of each..Bought lots of spices in Kerala and cashew nuts (also available in Dubai)..Lots of beautiful everything in Dubai, but i was shopped out and after spending a small fortune on the trip, i avoided big purchases...But if you like shopping, Dubai is the place!!

I found Emirates to be better than Cathay Pacific and slightly better than Singapore..But that is my opinion..The service was excellent and the aircrafts very nice..Seats were comfortable..Would use them again..

Bob, on Emirates in Coach it depends on the plane, although the Airbus A 330/340's have a normal 2 x 4 x 2 seating arrangement which is 'standard' for those aircraft on the 777's they put in 10 seats across (!!)( 3x4x3 ) which is one more than nearly everyone else has ( it's 9 across I think on 'all' other airlines ), that's what they put acorss a 747 but the 777 is narrower, that makes the Coach seats on the 777's really narrow!!
All aircraft have seatback TVs and the food is pretty good.
From the States they have non stops from NYC to Dubai and onwards they have a 'huge' number of flights, like 3 a 'day' into Bangkok alone, 3 a day from Dubai to Auckland(!), they are 'huge' in this part of the world.

From East Coast they present good options over Dubai into Asia. Plus Dubai makes an interesting stopover point. Only down side is they are not a member of any alliance so you can't do RTW's with them.

TracyB, did you see that Etihad ( of Abu Dhabi ) are about to start flights from Toronto! They too fly down to India/S.E.Asia via Abu Dhabi ( but it's a stop in Brussels on the way to Abu Dhabi )

James, i will check that out..I am already wanting to go back..The less connections the better..From where i live, there is nothing direct..Have to connect many times making it a long long flight to almost anywhere we go!!

tracy---what is a shisha??

It's a water pipe that you smoke flavoured tobacco's out of..It is very popular in the Middle East..We smoked one with apple tobacco..They are for sale everywhere and are available for smoking all over in Dubai..

I used to have a shisha all the time accompanied with steaming hot mint tea, great!!
Now we have to tempt you for Thailand next!!

Tracy, that Etihad routes YYZ-BRU-Abu Dhabi and then continue thru to Bangkok, they are a 'class' airline with all new planes and very good service.From Abu Dhabi they are up to twice daily to Bangkok, also to Mumbai and Colombo. 1 905 361 2796

The othe way round I guess is over Vancouver or Seattle, I guess a lot depends how cheap you can get to Toronto as opposed to Vancouver or Seatac

James, I have been to Thailand twice before, the first time to BKK, Pattaya and Hua Hin (1994) and the second time in 2001 to Phuket and Chiang Mai...However, BKK is my next city on the list as it has been so long that we have been there that the skytram was not even built yet..
Vancouver is only a hour flight from Edmonton (where i live) so it is way cheaper and better to connect there..I have never heard of that airline, but when i am planning another trip, i will check them out..
I still would like to go back to India at least 1 more time..I love that country..But i love Thailand too.

And as for the Shisha..I don't make a habit of smoking it at home, but when we travel to anywhere where it is available, we always give it a try..And i love mint tea...Actually, while just in Dubai..I had this interesting drink..It was a lemon and mint cold drink in a large glass with ice..It was very interesting..I loved it..

Tracy
I'm trying to get details of the fares from Trivandrum to Male but Indian Airlines dont provide it on-line. Do you remember what you paid? Thanks.

This may be a little late, but i paid 100.00 U.S. one way from Trivandrum to Male..

Did you use a tour operator for Maldives? Do you have their name if so? thans

I used Crown Tours out of the Maldives to book my rooms and inter-island flights..Had no problems what so ever

http://www.crowntoursmaldives.com/

I know it's been awhile since your trip but I really enjoyed reading your report, Tracy! I've always wanted to go to the Maldives and Dubai, hopefully I'll get there one day.

I'm also from Edmonton, by the way. Small world, huh?

I'm also quite curious about the Maldives. I'm debating about going either there or back to the South Pacific for our 10th anniversary next year. The south Pacific is much closer and is also a bit cheaper, so I'm leaning that way, unless someone can tell me that the Maldives are better and worth the journey!

Amanda..I always wanted to go to the Maldives as well as Dubai also!!!! Be sure to go..the Maldive's is a dream!! Especially if you are visiting S.India..It is so easy to visit Dubai, the Maldives and South India as Emirates flies to all 3...And it is a small world Amanda..How do you like our 30C weather today?? I am tanning up a storm lol.

Tracy-Yeah this weather is amazing! If only I weren't cooped up in an office building all day....

How long was your trip in total? Do you mind me asking how much it cost? I always assumed destinations like this were excessively expensive given that Edmonton isn't a really convenient departure point and often leaving this country involves connecting through Vancouver or Toronto.

Well Amanda, i type this as i am watching the Oiler's Hockey Game!! Anyhow, the trip wasn't cheap that is for sure..But we were gone for 3 weeks and had a trip of a lifetime around $10,000.00..but it could have been done cheaper..But you are looking around $2000.00 each just for the airfare, so that is what puts the price so high..However, i know people that take their family to Mexico for 1 week and spend the same..Anyhow...any more questions, feel free to ask...