Duration: 9 Nights / 10 Days

Destination covered: Cochin - Alleppey - Kumarakom - Trivandrum

Day 01 - Cochin

Arrive at Cochin. Transfer to a tropical island, check into a five-star hotel on the edge of the Arabian Sea. Watch the dolphins at play - and they are regular guests - as the sun sets around the glass panels of a restaurant shaped in the architectural form of a traditional Kerala riceboat. Taste the fruits of the Arabian sea at dinner Grilled Masala prawns or pearlspot, vegetables simmered in coconut milk.

At leisure with room service, scented Ayurvedic oil bath followed by Rejuvenation massage, swimming pool, privacy and the sound of silence.

By evening enjoy the traditional dance form of Kerala, Kathakali, a stage drama which has its origins in the 2nd century.

Travel by private car to Alleppey, the 'Venice of the East' and check into a Heritage Home overlooking the beach. Stroll along the eternal stretch of pure white sands, loll around the market area that has forty gold shops in one street. Choose some dazzling gold jewellery at really affordable prices. In the early evening get decorated with jasmine garlands and hoist yourself gently on to an elephant for the perfect photo before you go for a leisurely short trip on the back of the Great Tusker. Dinner in an open-air restaurant under a moonlit sky midst the fragrance of jasmine and bougainvillea in the Heritage home.

After a late morning, it's a taxi ride through the lush green landscape of God's Own Country to board a private houseboat, originally a rice boat or kettuvallom used to carry spices and even families from coast to coast. Here your own personal crew of three will serve you tender coconut water, sumptuous fresh fish and Kerala-style spicy curries. Sunbathe on deck and let the world punt past you. Watch typical Indian village life as you meander through the palm-fringed lakes and shady cashew nut groves. Talk about love under a traditional Kerala lantern as the waters relax you, mind, body and soul.

Disembark mid-morning and travel to an island resort where you will be marooned in coconut groves and accommodated in a tasteful re-creation of a traditional Kerala village. Get pampered with Ayurvedic hand and foot massage in your own private villa which has a separate sitting area and your very own private swimming pool. Even the bathroom is unique - as well as state-of-the-art facilities it has an open courtyard where you can shower and look up at the blue skies!

At leisure in your island retreat with more oil baths, Indian head massage and Rejuvenation massage.

Travel to Trivandrum and stay in a cliff top Heritage Hotel with private swimming pool if desired. Visit the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple and the Puthen Maliga, a 200 year old palace of the maharaja of Travancore which took 5000 workers four years to build. Dinner in a rooftop restaurant under the stars.

A comfy private taxi makes it way through scenic villages to the land's end of India, Cape Comorin where the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal converge with one of the most dramatic backdrops India has to offer. It can be a sunrise or a sunset, a moonrise or moon set but the tranquil beauty will stay in your memory forever. The waters here are sacred and it's must to dip your toes in them to get a blessing from the gods for your future. Return to Trivandrum.

Shopping in the busy capital city for your special mementoes - Indian silk, spices, rare gems, jasmine, orchids. A thali lunch, that's up to a dozen small Kerala dishes, at a famous vegetarian restaurant run by the Brahmins. Dinner at your hotel.

Transfer to airport.