Cycle Kerala & Tropical India

Surprisingly beautiful, challenging and hospitable.

Our first cycling adventure with Exodus (after a great various activity tour to Vietnam last year) and this tour was just perfect for my husband and I as we love being active. However we still enjoyed the free days to explore and the sightseeing too. We had a great group and excellent guides. It was also our first trip to India and we felt as though we saw the real India, especially in the first week. The people were so friendly and they never stopped smiling and waving at us. The bikes were very good quality and suited to the mixed terrain. The hotels were generally of a good standard although a couple not so much but appreciate that it’s not always easy to find suitable accommodation in certain areas.

This trip is certainly an insight into real India, we definitely felt we were in at the deep-end! We've previously cycled in Vietnam and Sri Lanka with Exodus and this trip was very different. Our previous holidays included a lot of information about the abundant flora, fauna and history of the countries, this trip not so much. However, it is very interesting to cycle through the villages and towns to see how the people are living and the people were very friendly towards us. Don't under-estimate he climb up Ooty Hill, it's an unrelenting slog, but well worth the pain for the sense of pride at the top and the lovely stop at the Highland Cafe. Some people in the group had asked for electric bikes and 2 of them were small-wheeled and, in my opinion, looked quite poor and not up to the job. However, our non-electric bikes were absolutely fine. The roads are very busy and we had some sections cycling on the highway so I would say that this isn't cycling for the faint-hearted. However, our guide was excellent at keeping the group together through the 'dodgy' bits! The cycling for the first few days does include a fair few hills so don't expect it to be flat! Also, some of the road surfaces can be a bit rough, or even non-existent in some places, so don't forget your padded cycling shorts! Eating out is very cheap in the south and we had some delicious food. Also as far as I'm aware no-one in our group suffered with any tummy upsets. In the main, the hotels were good. We had a couple which were a bit basic, but our guide explained that this was because there wasn't anything else in the area, but other hotels were excellent so it's swings and roundabouts. All in all, a very good trip and we definitely feel like we've seen real, incredible, India.

India is an over-the-top experience for all the senses, bright colours, constant noise, strong flavours, heat and cold. The cycle routes provided a wonderful opportunity to explore a wide variety of landscapes and lifestyles -- farmland, plantations, villages and small cities. We experienced the busyness of the traffic and the quiet of the beaches. Shibu was a wonderful guide who answered all our questions and explained the economic activities of the backwaters of Kerala. The challenges of this route include the heat and humidity combined with the long distances in the coastal section of the trip, and the demands of intense traffic conditions and poor roads on some days. The climb up Ooti is challenging, but accounts for only 90 minutes of one day. I used an e-bike for the first time on this trip and it would have been helpful except that it was so poorly fitted.

I loved every minute of the trip it was exactly what I hoped for