Golden Triangle with Kerala

My wife had always wanted to visit India so this year, on our 25th anniversary, I surprised her with a trip to India and we took the Golden Triangle package with Kerala as everyone told us that we cannot miss going to that lovely state. They were right! Apart from enjoying all the sights that Delhi, Jaipur and Agra had to offer, we enjoyed Ayurvedic massages in Kerala and had a lovely trip. We also enjoyed different types of Indian cuisine that is present at all these different cities.

India has so much to offer that we don’t think that we did it justice with just one holiday. This is definitely a holiday that we will repeat in the future! And when we do, we will get in touch with Select India Holidays so that they can organize a marvelous holiday for us yet again!

Me and my friends, Tom and Harry always wanted to visit India and explore all the unexplored gems India had to offer. We finally did it this year. We contacted select India holidays operator Shreya, she made a specific itinerary for us arranging to let us explore all the local delights.

We landed in Delhi late at night. We directly went to our hotel Ashtan Sarovar. The next morning, we went to hauz khas market. The streets were full of swanky bars, cafes, lounges and designer shops. We explored the fort and clicked many of its pictures. The lake and park were refreshing and very beautiful. After lunch, we left for Jaipur with our driver Hari. He was a huge help the entire time we were in Rajasthan. On our way there, Hari insisted we check out Chand Baori, in Abhaneri. It is a 100 feet deep step well, which was constructed in the 8th century. It is the biggest step well in India. We reached Jaipur late at night and checked in our hotel, golden tulip. The next day we planned to visit all the forts in the pink city and we were not able to accomplish it. We could only cover Amer Fort, Nahargarh Fort, Hawa Mahal and Jal Mahal which was built right in the middle of Man Sagar Lake. We were spellbound by their architecture and the beautiful stories weaved around them. We love animals, so, we could not miss going to Jhalana Leopard Conservation Reserve. In the evening, we set off to Agra and reached our hotel, Crystal Sarovar.

The next day, we went to see Taj Mahal and were awestruck after knowing the story behind this huge gesture of love. After that, we saw Agra Fort and left for Delhi to catch our flight to Kochi, the beautiful city of Kerala. We reached our hotel Avenue Regent in Kochi early in the morning. Immediately after checking in, we left for Cherai beach to have a swim and get refreshed. After freshening up and some authentic breakfast, we went to fort Kochi. It was so big that we spent the entire afternoon in it exploring the palaces and churches inside it. We took tons of pictures and finally left for Munnar. We were staying at a hotel named Sienna Village. It was a beautiful hill station covered in tea plantations and water falls. We spent an entire day in them and went to an offbeat forest trail to hike the next day. I have never seen a more beautiful view in my entire life.

Our next destination was Thekkady and we stayed at cardamom country. We only had a day in Thekkady and wanted to make it count. We went to Thekkady Lake, which is tucked in the middle of the jungle. It is famous for its wide varieties in wildlife. We also took a boat ride in the reservoir. Jojy also took us to a great European café Grandma’s Café. We absolutely loved the food there and were sad to leave its tranquillity.

We left for Kumarakom the same day and checked in our hotel Lakesong resort. Kerala is famous for its backwaters and on our insistence, Jojy look us deep in the local villages where we caught our own food and cooked it right there on the backwaters. Seafood had never tasted better. Our last stop was Alleppey where Shreya arranged us to live in rainbow cruise. We lived on that houseboat for an entire day and have never experienced peace like that.

We went off to Kochi the next day to catch a flight back to London. The hospitality we received from Hari and Jojy Mathews was commendable and we got to taste the world famous Indian cuisine. In addition, a special mention for our tour organise Shreya, who make sure we had a once in a lifetime experience and get to see the real India and its culture.