BonnieN

Hi fodorites,
We always value the advice of fellow fodorites when planning our trips. This time we are going to south India for 17 days on the ground beginning in mumbai January 20th. We like meeting people, history, architecture, nature, don't need beach time, and really like to take photos. We fly out of chennai 18 days later.

I am intrigued by Hampi and wonder about going there by train or by new flight to Hubli.
This will be our only trip to the south, so we want to make it great.

I am not sure about the backwaters cruise. Is it interesting from a photographic view? Better to stay at really wonderful hotel on land and take small boat to smaller channels.

Any special hotels would be welcome and special experiences.

What would be your suggestion for our itinerary?

Thanks so much!

inquest

I'm not sure of your mode of transport,as distances are huge & time is critical.Here is a viable route you can plan.Get yourself a map of South India & a LP south india guide and track this down.This'll cover three Provinces.Karnataka,Kerala and Tamilnad.
Chennai,Bangalore,Hampi and back.Bangalore to Hassan (Belur & Halebid-temples)then to Mysore,the Palace and a few other places of interest.Then on to Wayanad(Kerala),a day or two there,Kochi next.Munnar a hill town near Kochi.Kochi itself is interesting.Then to the back-waters at Allepey(house-boat),can spend a day or two there.Move on to Thiruvananthapuram(Trivandrum).Varkala Beach,Thekkady wild life scantuary,Kovalam and to Kanyakumai the southern most tip of India.Make your way up Tamilnadu.Brace yourself for an onslaught of temples(each better than the other).The Chettinad district,the Tanjore temple town,Kanchipuram,Pondicherry then winding up in Chennai.
Look up the map.Do research on each of these places,based on what interests you,you can get down to the process of elimination (or addition)
There have been some great trip reports here.Do a search.Get back with more specific queries.We be glad to help.

inquest

Oops!Did'nt realise you are getting into Mumbai.In that case,fly into Bangalore straight away & start off (not Chennai as I mentioned by oversight)

rockyp44

Yes, the backwater trip is worthwhile. If you don't want to do an overnight trip (mosquitoes can be bad), then u can do the day trip. Cochin is worth a day or day and a half.

Chennai has very little to see in terms of sites (I lived there 3 yrs)--the gov't museum (Chola bronzes are outstanding) & Fort museum can be done in 3 hours. Plan this on your last day b4 u go to the airport. To splurge, check out the lunch/dinner buffets at the Deccan Plaza & Hotel Pride (often have regional buffets and less expensive) Marriot, Le Meridian & Radisson (both near the airport). Be sure you have Indian coffee in Chennai and for coffee lovers, it makes a great gift--most of it is grown in Karnataka. Also great organic green tea from Kodaikanal--that town and Ooty are hill stations and cooler and very quaint. Take a sweater.

Hampi, Hoysala, etc., is of great interest if you like ruins and temples (stone). There are not a lot of sites in Bangalore per se, so use it just as a transit point.

Tamil Nadu's temples are different--colorful and wild--go to Madurai and Kanchipuram. Mamallapuram is only 35 mins. south of Chennai and has UNESCO status for its stone temples. Rent a bicycle and see them all in about 4 hrs. Pondicherry (4.5 hrs. south of Chennai) has a quaint French section and the HQ of the founders of Auroville.

thursdaysd

I was not overly impressed by Hampi, which was a serious pain to get to - if there's a flight now that would help, but it won't improve the climate or the ruins. I'd go for the backwater cruise, Kochi, Mysore and the temples in Tamil Nadu first. But, if you do go to Hampi, consider taking in Badami as well. Click my name for my recent south India TR.

BonnieN

Thanks for quick replies.

In 17 days we could:
Fly to Hubli and drive to badami
Explore badami , parra Amal and aihole over 2 days
Drive to Hampi and spend afternoon and next morning there
Drive to chikmagalur and next day see Hassan,balur and halebid
Drive to Nagarhole for 1 1/2 days -- what is wildlife viewing like in late January?
Drive to Mysore for 1 1/2?days
Visit ranganath bird sanctuary and see Ranganathaswamy Temple on way to Bangalore
See city and fly to Cochin.
See Cochin in one day
Drive to alleppey and board houseboat for overnight --better to stay on land and take small boat into narrow channel?
Disembark and fly from Cochin to chennai
Day to mahabalipuram and kanchipuram
Free day in chennai and late flight to FRA

Or more standard ? Trip

Begin in Cochin
Tour city
Excursion to Athirapalli water fall -- worthwhile ? Photographic? Birds?
Drive to munar
Drive to Periyar -- afternoon tour
Backwater overnight/ bird sanctuary nearby
Drive to trivandrum
Drive to kanyakuumari
Drive to m

BonnieN

Sorry to continue second option:
Drive to Madurai for 2 nights with excursion to Raneshwaram
tanjore for 2 nights visiting Chambaram and excursion to Trichy
Drive to Pondicherry
Drive to kanchipuram/mahabipram/chennai over 2 days

We want to fly sectors where it makes sense.
We will have car/driver/guides with us.
This will be our trip to South India.

We love photography, meeting people, but I m worried about trip one with ambitious trip and monkeys at the temples.I am not worried about them in general just that in Asia near temples they know people have food (which I know not to do

Thanks so much for any further thoughts about our 17 day trip!

Bonnie
W

CaliNurse

re one of your questions, you will see the narrower canals by taking a "country boat" canoe through the backwaters of Kerala, than you will see on one of the larger, wider boats that are used on both overnight and long day trips (they have to be big as have kitchen facilities.
So yes, i think you are better on land , and have a narrower, smaller boat pick you up.
As Rocky p said, those overnight stay on water can be bad with msosquitores, and get mixed reviews.

One place i stayed and loved in Kerala was Philipkuttys Farm.

Below is a link to some great photos of the South, on the right hand side.Photos of South India taken by the people from this tour planner agency, but if you specifically want to see the backwaters photos, scan down to "Kerala"

http://indianpanorama.in/photo_gallery.html

Incidentally, Faith who manages the above company,has planned two great trips for me. (Also see tripadvisor reviews if interested) If you decide on a tour planner to help you, there are others mentioned by Satisfied FF folks!

thursdaysd

Before you plan all that driving in Karnataka you might want to read my TR...

CaliNurse

Thursdaysd, thanks for your take on Hampi! I've always thought it looked like a pain to get to, and wondered if it was worth the time Thanks you for your honest assessment.

For interest in ruins, Belur and Halebid were much easier to get to, and we're glad we went before returning to Bangalore for flight home. Fi you go to the area Bonnie, there is nothing of interest IN the town of Hassan.

Bonnie, our trip,which was in December , looked like this if i recall right (sequence might be mixed up a bit)

Cochin-then nr Kumarokom on Vembanad Lake--Thrissur --Coonoor--Ooty--Mysore--Nagarhole--Coorg--Hassan (for Belur and Halebid)--BLR.

Def'lly doable in 17 full days.

BonnieN

THanks for everyone's replies!

CaliNurse, what were the highlights of your trip? What would you do differently now that you have been?

Thursdy, somehow I am having trouble finding your detalied trip report about Hampi/Badami area. Did you have trouble with the monkeys?

Bonnie

CaliNurse

Bonnie, good question. i would not where we did at Gramam Homestay(which was about 30 minutes ride outside Cochin) .Definitely should have stayed IN Fort Cochin. Live and learn..and share knowledge with others! One day/night enough in Fort Cochin, unless you have luxury of lots of time.

Would skip Thrissur on future trip. We went to see the elephants' home at Guruvayoor. Also near where we stayed at River Retreat, is the cultural center where Kathalkali Dance is taught. Unless you have big interest in that(dance or elephants_--skip it. YOu can see a Kathakali Dance performance in Cochin.

Rest of hte entire trip was filled with too many highlights to name!! It was all wonderful--seriously!! Three nights at Philipkutty's was bliss, and defitnely the area around Coonoor is wonderful!!! We stayed outside Coonoor at Kurumba Village Resort, which was wonderful, but not sure it is still open (there were problems with flooding in the valley)

thursdaysd

Bonnie - http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...an-sojourn.cfm and search. Also see wilhelmswords.com/asia2001 for Goa and Kerala.

angel1

Do keep Mysore palace on itinerary and read its history before you go there. Madurai, Padmanabhaswami and Subramaniamswami temples I think you must see.