GOC Holidaymaker

A brochure- online or print?

Every summer we have the same conversation about whether or not to produce a printed brochure. More and more of our customers use the internet to book their holidays and do everything online. This suits us better than having to cope with the delays of the post etc., but there are still some clients who prefer to have a printed brochure to look at as they compare trips and prices.

I must admit to being one of the latter. I can take out all the information and not only compare offerings, but gloat over the one I have chosen when I am not in reach of my computer. A phone doesn't cut it with me!

Making the combination of text and images on the page is a real pleasure, getting over the richness and beauty of the places we visit is a challenge when deciding which of our thousands of photographs to use, whether on the page or on the web.

Of course, we want the best of all worlds which is why we have decided this year to provide our page-turning brochure in a way in which clients can print the pages they are interested in quickly and effectively. You can still download the whole document, and, of course, we will send a print version if you need one. but we are pleased at the amount of paper we can save doing it this way too!

The Nehru Snake-Boat Race

"Onam falls, on the 12th day of the waxing moon in the Hindu month of Bhadon (around August September)" . There is a build-up and a period of celebration around the date. Like Easter, the festival moves within the calendar. Sometimes it coincides with the Nehru Boat Race in Alleppy, where the 100+ oarsmen of the snake boats compete on a backwater course.
It is possible to see the race from some waterside hotels, and others provide boats for spectators. This is probably preferable to the anarchy of the stands, which are bursting with enthusiastic spectators and similar to a football crowd!
Whilst cruising on the backwaters it is often possible to see these enormous dug-out boats by the side of the water, and to stop and be shown their unusual construction by a villager. Competition is fierce between the villages, and there are women crews as well as men.
This year the race is on 25th August and hopefully it will stop raining for the event.
The family occasion is still very important, and similar to Christmas in the way that food and family gatherings form the centre of the holiday.
Although much of Kerala is "asleep" there are processions in some of the larger towns.
http://www.onamfestival.org/ gives information on the festival, recipes and traditions.

Discovering Chettinad

Discovering Chettinad

Once again we visited Visalam, CGH Earth's hotel in Kanadukaithan, near Karaikuddi in Chettinad. This is fast becoming my favourite hotel in the whole of India, not only because of the huge, sparkling rooms, large pool, frie

ndly service and passion for good food, but because the management of Mr Jonny is truly inspirational. If you want something, they will do their best to provide it, and even arrange a surprise. One of the nights we stayed was my birthday and I was presented with a cake, complete with a candle, and a  rendition of "Happy Birthday" by staff who looked as though they were performing in the West End in terms of their seriousness and desire to get it all right. The extra surprise came when Mr Jonny called and sang Happy Birthday to me over the telephone, all co-ordinated by Ramu, the under-manager. This was not a put-up job. The reception staff had seen my date of birth in my passport and it was all done without giving my partner any clue.

A bicycle ride around the village reminded us that this is indeed a land of rare treasures.
Ramu took us to see his family home and we were awed by the richness of the carving, all the pillars round the atrium being carved Burmese teak. There are over 30,000 palaces remaining in Chettinad, most of them in dire need of renovation and preservation. A similar building in another village is being converted into another CGH Hotel, with the usual care and attention to detail. The famous egg-white plaster will take 18 months to complete. 
Chettinad is only beginning to reveal itself as a fascinating and beautiful area. The landscape is flat, and  what looked barren last April was now under water as the rains begin.
The most beguiling part of the journey was the discovery of a very old temple at the end of a long avenue of terracotta figures, put there by worshippers for the protection of their village. Anywhere else and this would have been a major tourist attraction. Here it was simply part of the village, and it was the villagers who showed us round, a small child appearing at the right moment to translate for us. We barely had enough small change to give everyone their share! The journey to the temple was through a traditional village where the ancient buildings, chicken coops and granaries begged for us to stop and find out how it all worked. Alas, we had to move on. We are sure that we will be sharing this experience with customers very soon as Chettinad develops.

Cochin Airport- Update

The International Terminal  at Cochin Airport has reincarnated itself into a modern facility a far cry from the
old area, with its upholstered chairs, one coffee stall and a meagre duty-free section. Some of the tatty chairs remain, but the new, expanded terminal with its increased number of gates, is clean and bright and the plastic chairs are actually comfortable. The duty-free and gift shop are now adequate, and there are a number of places to buy a drink or snack. There are still no restaurant facilities, but a least it is possible to survive flight
delays without hunger pangs!
The toilets have not undergone the same upgrade, the gents being still unpleasant and wet, but the ladies is
spotless.
After only four years the exterior of the building is beginning to degrade and Cochin still has the feel of a
very small local airport rather than an international terminal. There are still few direct flights, most international flights originating from the gulf states, but given the overstaffed and paper-based nature of security it is generally a pain-free experience.

Small Hotels and Homestays

The Government of Kerala has made the decision to encourage the development of small home stays and local places to stay rather than allowing the larger chains a free hand. The previously quiet and undeveloped area of Marari Beach is going to be developed and there are plans for some larger resorts along the coast there. This will change the area enormously, but there is little danger at present of a concrete wall going up all along the beach. The Tsunami made people very cautious about beach-front development, and most of the buildings will be well back behind the small palms which front the sand.
During peak times accommodation in the better-known hotels is very difficult   to find, and indeed, for most of the year there is a dearth of rooms in larger hotels.
Travellers often prefer the thought of small, more intimate places to stay, and in these Kerala abounds. Some are famous across the world: PhillipKutty's Farm on the backwaters, Malabar Escapes and Serenity, and others which have only three or four rooms but offer the standards of luxury of a five-star hotel.
We are sometimes asked to book homestays, and where we can we will, but we, as agents, have problems with the smaller businesses which have mushroomed in places like Periyar and the backwaters.
We need to be absolutely sure that bookings don't get lost, that we can make email contact and that payments are acknowledged. Unfortunately, some of the newer business people are not as efficient as we need them to be and "Home Stays" don't live up to expectation.
There are a number of very small places which we can use with confidence, and we do book these for customers who want a getaway, or to get closer to the way in which people live in Kerala. This number is growing all the time and the home stay experience is just one which makes Kerala really special.

Another testimonial

We seem to have got several of these recently!

"Just wanted to check in and let you know that we really enjoyed our holiday in Kerala! Everything went very smoothly: Mr. Kumar was most helpful, and all drivers were on time, as well as being very
courteous, polite and accommodating!

The house boat and both resorts were very comfortable -- and, again,the hospitality shown by the staff at all venues was superb. Beautiful locations on the beach and lake. Arches, too, was great -installed
a fridge in our room for beer!

And, we must add!!! EVERYONE, from the hotel receptions to the drivers,all had kind things to say about one W. James Busby!!! So you obviously have paved the way for all of your customers!!

Thanks for all your help, advice, patience, etc.!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

PS - Etihad Airlines are VERY good. Bit of a long transfer on the return leg but good food and friendly staff. Also got upgraded to business class from Cochin to Abu Dhabi (the Air India handling desk at Cochin were somehow unable to issue us with boarding passes through to London so that was a very pleasant compensation!!) "

India's Roads are Dangerous- it's official!

Recent road casualty figures have shown that India, with 130,000 deaths a year, has the highest fatality rate in the world. Article in Guardian, 11/10/08
There is no doubt that any road journey in India looks as though it is a suicide mission, but this is mostly because the style of driving is very different from the UK. Most casualties are pedestrians, who often seem oblivious to size, speed and the potential lethalness of road traffic, and motorcyclists, who rarely wear a helmet. Add to this family-sized groups of people taking long journeys on small motor cycles, the fact that riders are often unlicensed and unused to modern traffic, and the inevitability of it begins to bite.
Tourists do have accidents, but tourists have accidents everywhere if they don't take care and look after their own safety. A notoriously nervous passenger, I relax and leave the driving to a professional, and so far have enjoyed the spectacular drives through mesmerising countryside and towns without a qualm!