Kerala Vacations

Our new website!

As we have grown to include our partners in Europe and North India, we needed to consolidate our web site, as trying to keep so many sites and languages updated was proving to be too time-consuming. We would rather be providing our customers with a better service and expanding the locations we can offer. Er have now launched our new website at

http://www.KVLTC.com

which will make it easier for our customers to find the holidays they want and to book online, and  caters for our European customers who need information in their own language.

Our expertise, attention to detail and high levels of service remain the same!
KVLTC will grow in scope and content, but both websites will remain for some time, so you will be able to find what you need from our websites.
Check out the brochure for descriptions of tours and brief information on all the places we visit.

Visalam

Visalam is at the top of our favourite hotels in South India. It is owned and run by CGH Earth. The building is a 1930s Art Deco palace in the fascinating village of Kannadukaithan, close to Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu, about 3 hours drive from Madurai.

The website tells the story of this Chettiar mansion, a gem amongst the many derelict palaces which make up the village. The history of the Chettiar merchants who built Kannadukaithan and the 73 other villages which make up the Chettinad area is a sad and romantic one. Hundreds of years ago, after suffering a tsunami, the merchants moved from the coast inland and built 94 villages on the dry plains. The community thrived, becoming rich through trade with the East and through careful speculation. After the last war their finances collapsed and now most of the community lives abroad and their palaces lie abandoned, or the home of just one or two remaining family members. The mansions and palaces are wonderful examples of every architectural style, littering a beautiful but abandoned landscape.

Visalam has been retored using the highest quality materials and craftsmanship, reviving the ancient technique of egg white plaster for the walls. There are 15 rooms round a central atrium, all huge, with high ceilings, vast bathrooms and many with a balcony overlooking the garden. If there are only a few visitors, meals are taken round a large table in the traditional kitchen where the chef is happy to discuss the food and what he is currently doing. The food is fiery traditional Chettiar dishes, althoug less spicy options and some western dishes are available.

The swimming pool is large, has good furniture and there is a small refreshment cafe to one end. All of the staff display the usual CGH Earth qualities of attentiveness, a genuine desire to please and a cheerful smile. A committment to the environment and the surrounding community makes this a splendid base to explore the lost land of the Chettiars.

 

Picking up the pieces!

We are getting enquiries from clients whose tours booked with other companies are being cancelled, sometimes at short notice, with increasing frequency. In a difficult market during difficult times this is not surprising, but sometimes we find disturbing indications that some tour operators are not as experienced in arranging trips to India as we would hope.
I think it was Mark Twain who said the "a tourist is someone who sees everything and looks at nothing", and with some of the itineraries we have looked at, it would not be possible to look at anything! A recent enquiry came from a potential client whose holiday with an adventure travel company had been cancelled after the flights were booked, as they no longer offered that tour. I suspect that if they had tried it, they would not have offered it in the first place! In 17 days the poor customer covered many miles, most days involving hours of driving with brief stops at some of the most important sites across South India. The highlight was the night spent at Hampi, as after an 8 hour drive from Bangalore, the customer was whisked off the next day for another 8 hour drive to Goa. Presumably the visit to the World Heritage Site took place at night. The tour finished on the beach at Goa, where the exhausted traveller could finally get some sleep! 'Adventure' travel is a specific market, and these trips do often involve some discomfort and long journeys, but this tour was, in our opinion, not viable.
It makes us angry on behalf of the customer who books the trip in good faith and is then put at risk or has a perfectly miserable time, often unprepared for the heat and condition of the roads. We try to offer equivalent alternatives, but having been promised an itinerary customers are often reluctant to believe that it is not advisable to try it. In those cases, we lose the customer, but we would rather do that than torture them and our drivers.

Boat safety

A recent tragic accident on a wildlife reserve lake did not make the national press in England, but it will have repercussions for all travelling to Kerala. A boat, run by the government, overturned with the loss of about 50 people, most of whom were on the lower deck. It is not clear what caused the accident, and the true story will be hard to come by, but we do know that health and safety precautions are not taken as seriously as they could be where large numbers of people are concerned. We wait to see what extra measures will be put into place to prevent an accident like this happening again, but it is not the first time that a tourist boat has sunk.

Over the last year safety measures on the houseboats have been tightened considerably, but there is no requirement for the crew to be trained for emergencies. This is partly why we run our own boat. In general the safety record of houseboats has been good, but passengers have been lost, usually drunk and falling overboard at night. We make sure that our boat is fully equipped for emrgencies and well maintained and are happy that it is as safe as any boat which spends its time with passengers on board overnight as well as during the day can be. Water can be dangerous, and it is also up to our clients to make sure that they take care of themselves and especially their children. Any concerns should be reported immediately for the well-being of everyone.