Mamallapuram Tours in Winter

This was full on trip to visit major sights in S India. Expect a lot of travelling as there is a lot to see. Our tour leader Jojan was excellent. He was very knowledgeable, enthusiastic, well-organised with a good sense of humour and keen to showcase his country. Highlights included the Mamallapuram Shore Temples, the Meenakshi temple at Madurai, Kochi, the wildlife drive at Bandipur where we were lucky to see a tiger and Mysore Palace. A great trip with wonderful food.

An excellent tour led by our outstanding tour leader, Jojan. We got to see many amazing places and were lucky to be able to catch special events in temples and to see a wild tiger in Bandipur. The accommodation was better than I anticipated, all very comfortable. The food was consistently superlative. The only change I would recommend is to go to Mamallapuram after Chennai on the way to Pondicherry.

The trip itinerary certainly gave a wide range view of different areas of Southern India and their way of life. Busy bustling Chennai, then to the coastal resort of Pondicherry with a French flavour, followed by the temples and palace of Madurai. Then on to the hills hitting the tea plantations, spices and backwaters of Kerela for a sail along the river. Kochi, a busy town, with lots to see - Palace, museums, churches, synagogue and chinese fishing nets to name a few. A highlight was the toy train to Ooty. Lots to see in bustling Mysore from the Palace, statues, temples, markets and everything on the road together buses, cars, TukTuks, motorbikes, cows, sheep and goats and people! Fun to watch. Another variety of travel is the overnight train back to Chennai, ending with a leisurely day at Mamallapram. A bit of everything - recommended.

I loved this trip! We did travel a lot of miles but it was worth it! We saw many temples from the painted Hindu temples to ones carved out of solid granite that had only recently been uncovered! We travelled on a toy train to Ooty and an overnight train to get us back to Chennai, we had an overnight stay on a houseboat in Kerala. We saw both the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea! And the food was varied and delicious…..🥳

Long journeys a lot of which were through large cities. Itinerary sounded really interesting but some only took 1-2 hours which left a lot of the day unplanned. Our lovely guide did his best to add unplanned activities.

The reason why I wouldn't recommend the tour is I never recommend any tour I do, it's not because I didn't enjoy it. Tour guide - Jojan is one of the best tour guides I have had & I have travelled thru 62 countries. He went beyond his tour responsibilities to make sure we all enjoyed ourselves. Itinerary - itinerary was good but I would have loved a few different activities include.- incorporating kayaking in the Backwaters of Kerala on the small canals with our overnight experience on the barge. Doing a Tuk Tuk tour around Fort Kochi. Doing a cycle ride & hike somewhere in the itinerary where suitable. For me the trip was good but didn't have the wow factor! This was my second trip to India, the previous trip was in the Rajasthan area & that particular trip had the wow factor! Itinerary 9/10 Guide 10/10 Transport 10/10 Acco.modation 10/10