A Taste of Southern India - Temples and Tea Plantations

The temples and tea plantations tour on the whole was excellent and very enjoyable but some days were very long with little or no downtime. The tour leader tried hard to make the experiences match the itinerary but this did mean packing in a lot and sometimes a bit more detail of what might actually be involved would have been helpful e.g thinking we were going gor a short walk that turned in 90 minutes in heat withoutwater etc. Overall it was an excellent experience though.

Amazing country and a great tour thanks to an amazing tour leader. Unfortunately the experience with Explore could have been much better. The itinerary was misleading and outdated. Luckily we had a very motivated and knowledgeable leader who more than made up for the company's shortcomings.

Food experience was good. Got on evening of cooking lesson that was excellent. Tea plantation visit was poor, over crowded with a difficult to understand guide focused on trying to sell mediocre tea. Home stay and boat house stay was excellent. More wild life and a visit to a wild life reserve would have been good.

We booked this expecting a food tour, but unfortunately, it didn’t feel like one at all. While our guide, Jojan, was absolutely fantastic—knowledgeable, engaging, and passionate about food—the overall experience didn’t deliver what was promised. For a tour advertised as a food experience, there was surprisingly little focus on the food itself. The sadhya lunch came with no explanation of its cultural significance. The so-called dosa-making experience was watching someone cook a dosa in a restaurant from the outside, with no hands-on participation or meaningful insights. While Jojan did his best to provide explanations, the structure of the tour didn’t allow for a deeper dive into the region’s culinary traditions. Logistics were another issue. Be aware that the bus was not included on the first day, and we walked excessively in the heat. The itinerary also included toddy tapping, which is no longer a common practice in Kerala, making it feel like an unnecessary addition rather than an authentic experience. The one true highlight of the tour was the cooking class, which was genuinely enjoyable. . And, of course, our guide Jojan was excellent—his passion and knowledge stood out, and he made every effort to provide explanations and context, especially about food. While we deeply appreciated our guide’s efforts and enjoyed the cooking class, this tour simply wasn’t what we signed up for. If you’re looking for a true food tour, I’d recommend booking elsewhere.

This was my first trip as a single person and I had a fabulous time. The group of 12 (four couples and four singles) really gelled and were very friendly, supportive and fun. The itinerary was very good, with at least one specific thing to do, see or visit each day. The high points were the tea plantation, the spice farm, the cookery evening, the wonderful scenery and the houseboat . The accommodation was generally very good, but the homestay was too basic to be an enjoyable experience. It didn't feel as though we were guests in someone's home, it felt more like a commercial exercise (eg the host talked of building a hotel next year to accommodate more guests). The food was excellent in most places with some well-chosen restaurants/snack bars, and plenty of choice for vegetarians, but I was a little disappointment at the street food experience, which was just selecting one cold, precooked snack (such as samosa, vada or fritter.) I was anticipating some freshly cooked food (while we looked on) such as rice and dahl or pani puri. Also, I thought that the purpose of visiting the market was to select spices and vegetables to use later in our cookery evening, but there wasn't an obvious link. Our guide, Sree, was flexible, knowledgeable and very accommodating of all our needs. Overall a really great experience with a great group of people. Will definitely use Explore again for another adventurous trip.