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Sunday 22 FebruaryI
We meet at London’s Heathrow airport at 18:00 to check in for our Jet Airways flight departing at 21:05 to…
Monday 23 February
...Bombay arriving at 11:35. We transfer to the domestic terminal and catch our onward flight to Cochin, on the Malabar coast in Kerala, arriving at 15:25. Cochin is a major international port built on five islands, and has strong Portuguese connections. Fishing is one of the main occupations, with Chinese fishing nets lined up on the beach, accompanied by fish merchants and small restaurants keen to cook for you the seafood you’ve just bought.
Included: Flight, meals on flight, transfer and accommodation. Not included: Local transport, other meals.
Tuesday 24 February
Our bus takes us down the coast 35 miles to Alleppey, where we board a boat for the world-famous ‘backwaters trip’ across Vembanad Lake and through the wide and narrow palm-fringed canals to Kottayam. After a break for lunch and a pause in the town centre, the coach takes us back to Cochin for the night.
Included: Breakfast, coach transfers, boat trip, lunch, accommodation. Not included: other meals, incidentals
Wednesday 25 February
In the morning, there’s the opportunity to visit Mattancherry Palace, now an art gallery and museum or the Jewish quarter with Pardesi Synagogue or take a wander through the fascinating antique emporia and furniture shops. After lunch, we take the short coach ride to Ernakulam Station to catch the Kerala Express at 15:30 for the four and a half hour journey to Coimbatore, following which we have a coach trip to our hotel at Mettupalaiyam at the foot of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, with dinner.
Included: breakfast, rail travel, coach transfers, dinner, accommodation. Not included: other meals.
Thursday 26 February
The early risers can nip down to the station to see the service train depart at 0710. Our steam-hauled charter train will leave Mettupalaiyam at about 0930. After a visit to the locomotive shed at Coonoor, we continue on the final stretch up to Ooty itself. A coach then takes us to our hotel for the next two nights, the Taj Savoy, reputedly the best hotel in Ooty.
Included: breakfast, rail travel, accommodation. Not included: other meals.
Friday 27 February
A free day. You can explore Ooty, laze in the hotel gardens, or take the train back down to Coonoor to see the locomotive shed again. There’s plenty to do in Ooty, the Botanical Gardens are justly famous, St Stephen’s church is the oldest in the area, there’s horse riding, or you can take a rowing boat out on Ooty Lake.
Included: breakfast, accommodation. Not included: other meals, local transport, admission charges.
Saturday 28 February
A busy day! After breakfast, our coach takes us down the mountain and through the forests and tea estates from Ooty. After a brief stop for lunch at a roadside ‘dhaba’, we pass through the Mudamalai Wild Life Reserve (watch for elephants and spotted deer) to Mysore, where we stay at Sandesh the Prince Hotel – the doorman wears a top hat eighteen inches high! We have time for a visit to the small but interesting railway museum, containing several steam engines and two royal carriages.
Included: breakfast, coach travel, museum visit, accommodation. Not included: other meals, other admission fees.
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