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Days: 12
Price from: £2695
Guaranteed Departures
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Your Price Includes:
- Scheduled flights, including all U.K. and overseas airport taxes and applicable fuel surcharges
- Experienced English-speaking guides, exclusive to Bales clients, for all included sightseeing
- Transportation Private air-conditioned vehicles, exclusive to Bales passengers and air-conditioned houseboat
- Sightseeing As detailed, including entrance fees
- Accommodation and meals First class hotels throughout and air-conditioned houseboat.
- 10 breakfasts, 1 lunch and 1 dinner
- Minimum participation 2 passengers
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Day 1
Depart London Heathrow this morning, flying Emirates, via Dubai to Cochin.
Meals:
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Day 2
On arrival this morning transfer to the Brunton Boatyard Hotel. The rest of the
day is free - your hotel is ideally situated for exploring the streets of Old Cochin.
Meals:
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Day 3
Known as the ‘Queen of the Arabian Sea’, Cochin is a city founded on trade
and its streets still harbour a rich mix of cultural influences and styles. A morning
sightseeing tour of Cochin today takes in Fort Cochin, the oldest European settlement in India, as well as the Church of St. Francis, where Vasco de Gama was buried for a short while. In the Portuguese built Mattancherry Palace you will find some of the finest murals in India, and returning to the hotel via the cantilevered Chinese Fishing Nets the rest of the afternoon is free to enjoy at your leisure.
Meals: B
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Day 4
Travel by road to Periyar today, where you stay at the Spice Village. This
afternoon there will be a boat ride on Lake Periyar to enjoy something of the rich
birdlife in the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, one of the most picturesque in the entire
region and one of the 16 Project Tiger Reserves in the country
Meals: B
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Day 5
A morning visit to a local spice plantation affords the opportunity to discover
crops such as cardamon, nutmeg, pepper, coffee and tamarind in their native
environment and learn about their varied uses. With a free afternoon we recommend the optional jungle walk. Renowned for its elephant population, Periyar is also home to sambar, langurs some 250 species of birds and, at the last count, around 40 tigers, although the chances of seeing these most elusive of animals is rare
Meals: B
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Day 6
Continuing by road, you head for Kumarakom today, for a stay at the Coconut
Lagoon Resort in the beautiful and tranquil Kerala backwaters
Meals: B
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Day 7
A free day to soak up the captivating ambience of this most serene of settings.
Occupying the alluvial plains that separate the Western Ghats from the Indian
Ocean, the backwaters are made up of a vast expanse of lagoons and canals that
crisscross the landscape for nearly 2,000 kilometres
Meals: B
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Day 8
After a leisurely morning you will board your private houseboat for an
unforgettable journey through the fascinating palm fringed landscapes of the
backwaters, where the locals and the river enjoy an almost symbiotic existence
and where life on the water continues as it has for generations. Overnight on the
houseboat in comfortable twin cabins with private en suite facilities.
Meals: B, L, D
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Day 9
Arrive in Alleppey and transfer to the Marari Beach Resort in Mararikulam.
Meals: B
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Day 10
At leisure on the shores of the Indian Ocean
Meals: B
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Day 11
As above
Meals: B
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Day 12
Transfer to Cochin for the morning Emirates flight to London via Dubai. Arrive
London Heathrow later this evening
Meals: B
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