Trying to plan an October trip and we are looking at both Southern India(Kerala) or Sri Lanka with a side trip to the Maldives. Which area is most intriguing? Which sights/cities/activities have you most enjoyed? Logistically which is easier to visit -- in Sri Lanka we were considering a hired car. Your insights into either country would be greatly appreciated.

Sri Lanka and Kerala both fit well. W.r.to Sri Lanka given the political turmoil the country is witnessing it may be better to finalize Southern India. In Kerala the www.cghearth.com group of hotels is an all time favourite - specifically I love their Kumarokam property. If a tree house stay appeals to you take a look at Green Magic Nature Resort. Not Kerala but Pondicherry is fascinating. Even in Southern India a hired car for Kerala makes sense. How many days were you thinking? Budget?

Not much to choose between the two...quite similar landscape, and reasonably similar cultures. In view of recent outbreak of hostilities in Sri Lanka,might be preferrable to give it a wide berth.

Last November 2005 we did Kerala...a tour with Imaginative Traveller..After that we flew to the Maldives from Trivandrum (1 hr flight)...stayed at
http://www.veliganduisland.com/..took a seaplane from Male to the resort, it was outstanding..

And Kerala was truly beautiful, i loved it..We did the houseboat,Thekkady, a backwater village stay..and Kovalam..

If you want, check out my pic's at..
http://community.webshots.com/user/gbassett

Loved them both though it's a while since I was in Sri Lanka - there was the potential for trouble then as there is now - so sad - but then as now confined mainly to the far NE Tamil area of the country.

Not sure I agree about similar cultures - Sri Lanka is predominantly Buddhist (except for aforementioned NE) whereas S India is Hindu without the Muslim overlay you get in the North. I'm sure someone who really knows about this stuff will object to this thumbnail sketch - but there you go!

It really depends on what you want to do - Sri Lanka has a huge variety of wonderful attractions in a small parcel. It has Kandy (and the possibility of travelling there by train); it has tea plantations, and glorious beaches; and wonderful historical sites like Polunnaruwaa (spelling?) where you can hire a bicycle and do your own thing; and Sigirya (didn't go - too hard basket); and Dambulla (never ever to be forgotten).

South India - well, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are very different. I adored Cochin and the backwaters in the former and the easy vibes. In the latter the 'temple towns' of Madurai, and Trichy and Tanjore. Madras too, and Mahaballipuram. TN is in some ways more 'Indian' than Kerala but it's hard to put into words quickly why I think that. Simplistically, Kerala is very green!!

There are of course opportunities for seeing wildlife in TN at Periyar, and there are hill stations too (Ooty).

IMHO Southern India is not somewhere you go for beaches.

Both intriguing. Both easy to travel around. Sri Lanka possibly less of a culture shock if you have never been to Asia before.

Oh - and in either it is a bonus to know something about cricket ....