Seven day WHISTLE-STOP TOUR OF KERALA

A desire to check out whether the God's own country hype which attracted 15 million tourists last year is warranted, prompted a short investigative tour of the better northern half of the state

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Within a continent-sized nation which despite its rich heritage of ancient cultural monuments and natural attractions draws a mere 7.24 million foreign tourists annually (cf. China 30 million), the southern littoral state of Kerala — heavily promoted as ‘God’s own country’ — is a rare success story. Last year this modestly populated (34 million) state attracted a massive inflow of 15 million tourists including 4.47 lakh from abroad to savour its unique combination of beaches, backwaters, game sanctuaries, ayurveda, meditation and yoga.

Though overseas, Kerala has projected itself as an exotic holiday destination offering sun, sand and ayurveda, in India the state has a dubious reputation as a bastion of communism, a thousand trade unions and nit-picking bureaucrats who have driven out the best human resources and capital from the state, creating an industrial wasteland. The desire to check out if the God’s own country hype — ironic for a state which has been ruled by communist governments for decades — is warranted, prompted an investigative, short holiday tour of north Kerala, reportedly the better half of the state.

In the high-pressure scribe’s profession in which deadlines are omnipresent, lengthy holidays are impossible. Therefore I planned a tightly-packed six nights-seven day tour package (entirely self-financed) which would combine sight-seeing (to get a feel of the much-hyped Kerala experience) with rest and recreation.

December 1 (Bengaluru-Cochin)