To Tour Or Not To Tour

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Geo: 10.012, 76.2251

The famous Kerala backwaters and Varkala Cliffs were all part of a one week G Adventures tour that we had got through Anna's work. We always travel independently so it was a different experience.
We arrived in to Kochi after taking an overnight bus from Mysore. In the evening we met our group. Surprisingly and luckily it was a small group of 8 including us. A few Brits, two Aussies, a South African and one from Sweden. Apparently it was meant to be a group of 15 but half had cancelled.

Our guide Preetvih was from Rajhastan and spoke French after doing the last two years guiding French people. Our trip took us from Kochi to Alleppy to Kollam to Varkala using all forms of Indian transport.
All of the transport and accommodation was included and certain meals throughout the day. We visited sights in Kochi, had a homestay in Alleppy, took a ferry down the backwaters to Kollam, chilled cliff side at Varkarla, tried yoga, hung out the door on the train ride back and watched a Kathikali performance.

It was a nice week and most days we were exhausted from going from one place to the other.
Having accommodation sorted,
Meeting people and a local to help and explain things was nice for a change. Would we go on a tour again? Probably not. We like having the freedom of doing what we want and when we want, especially as a couple.
Kerala was great! It has a different feel to it. That's probably why it's called Gods own country.

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