South India Temple Tour 2

South India is a peninsula in the shape of a vast inverted triangle, bounded on the west by the Arabian Sea, on the east by the Bay of Bengal and on the north by the Vindhya and Satpura ranges. South India consists of the five southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. 

• Travel documents required to visit South India are – Adhar card/driving license/voter’s id, itinerary, flight ticket, hotel confirmation vouchers & now vaccination certificate. 
• It is advisable to reach 2 hrs prior to the departure time of the flight for smooth & easy check-in 
• Pls do not pack any valuables or currency in your check-in baggage.

• South India – Kerala / Karnataka / Tamil Nadu /Hyderabad / Andhra Pradesh – are well connected with airports and national highways, it can be reached by air, by train, by road. 
• Good quality vehicles from sedan car & SUV cars, Tempo travelers and Coaches are available for private taxis. 
• Local transports are available in entire south India. Local buses, taxis, auto rickshaw, bikes. 
• The transport vehicle will generally follow pre-approved itinerary by the agent.  So if you wish to have the car for yourself to places other than itinerary - Pre approval is required, it can be done at an additional costs.

Kerala

• Cochin (COK) 
• Thiruvananthapuram (TRV) 
• Kannur (CNN)
• Calicut / Kozhikode (CCJ)

Karnataka

• Banglore (BLR)
• Manglore (IXE)
• Belagavi (IXG)
• Hubbli (HBX)
• Mysuru (MYQ)
• Vidyanagar Jindal (VDY)

Tamil Nadu

• Chennai (MAA)
• Coimbatore (CBJ)
• Madurai (IXM)
• Salem (SXV)
• Puducherry (PNY)
• Hyderabad (Telangana)
• Hyderabad (HYD)
• Andhra Pradesh 
• Kumool Airport
• Vishakhapatnam (VTZ)

• Best time to visit South India is between Oct to March, though all the places have their own specific season. 
• North and South Kerala can also be visited during monsoons. 
• May – October : Ayurveda has played an important role in boosting tourism in the region. It’s considered to be most effective in the monsoons, which extends from May to October. In October/November, most South Indian states also celebrate Dussehra and Diwali which is considered to be the peak season. 
• Rains is possible in different months at different places, keep a check on weather chart. https://www.accuweather.com/
• If travelling during the winter season than pls carry light woolens for places like Munnar, Coorg, Chikmaglaur, Ooty, Kodai, Wayanand which are on hills.
• Advised to carry mosquito repellent in all seasons as lot of areas are covered under forest areas, greenery. 
• Karanataka, Tamil nadu and Kerala has many waterfalls, monsoon is one of the season to enjoy the same.

• Kerala has highest literacy ratio and majorily speaks and understands English and Hindi.
• Karnataka also understands English and Hindi.
• Tamil Nadu has a language problem of hindi and English, majority of the people speaks Tamil and Malayalam. Guide is advisable here. 
• Drivers will speak English in Kerala but other parts of South india the driver speaks hindi and in Chennai and Tamil nadu the driver majority speaks tamil. They don’t even understand or speak hindi/English.

• All kinds of drugs and narcotic substances, activities such as smuggling and prostitution are illegal in Karnataka and will attract prosecution. Trespassing restricted areas, operating drones without permission and violation of any local rules and restriction should be avoided at all times.
• Smoking is prohibited in public areas. Few facilities like airports may provide designated areas for smoking.
• Nudity is not permitted in any beaches, waterfalls, pools or other public/tourist areas. PDA is discouraged.

• Site seeing prices to be paid at entrance by self.
• Optional activities to be booked and paid directly. Eg. Safari in national park, rafting, boat ride. 
• Safari to be booked priorily online. 
• Safaris can be booked online at national parks like Nagarhole national park in Kabini, Madumalai national park in Tamil nadu, Bandipur national park near Ooty.
• Boat ride at Periyar Lake in Thekkady, Visit to Eravikulam national park in Munnar

• The Meals are generally in coconut oil, so you may find that unappealing. 
• Non Veg. & Veg. items are often on buffet table so please look for the Green dot or ask before picking doubtful things from menu.
• Majority dishes are south indian items like idli, dosa, appam, sambhar, chutney, lemon rice, Chettinad Cuisine,  fish curry and sea food.
• Vegetarian food outlets outside the hotel can be few and limited so if you are not in group please plan your meals in advance.
• Avoid drinking tap water, which has not been boiled, or ice cubes in drinks at all times, as most water sources in South India are untreated. One can easily get treated / boiled water at hotels. While on travel, advisable to use bottled drinking water.
• The people of this area are mostly Non Vegetarian. Most of the hotels, serves both Vegetarian & Non-Vegetarian food. 
• The Jain food served by the hotels will be basic & cannot be compared, to the ones available, at the hometown of the traveler. 

• Decent Dressing covering the full body (sleeveless & shorts to be avoided) required while visiting temples or worship places. South India has many temple sights, so it’s advisable to carry at least one set of ethnic clothes.

• People are generally good clean & service oriented. Hospitality is at is best in Kerala compared to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. 
• The places have all types of accommodations from guest house, home stay to high end luxury hotels.
• While staying in houseboats in Kerala, very basic food and limited cutlery and things gets available. It has a problem of bad smell of water, mosquito and insects. We recommend to take luxury houseboats which are fully covered with glass windows with 20 hrs AC. 
• Sea sickness is very common on these trips as majority of the places are near coastal areas in south. 
• Hotels have their in-house policy of providing heater on complimentary / chargeable basis. For hotels used in budget, hotels provide room heater on extra payment. This amount needs to be settled, directly by the guest, with the hotels, before check-out. 
• Majority of the hotels provides, Mattress & Roll Over / Fixed day-bed / Dewan as a supplement to Extra Bed for Adult / Child, sharing the room. This is irrespective of being mentioned as, adult with extra Bed / Child with Extra Bed.
• The Standard check in & Checkout time
• Check in time at Hotel: 1400 Hrs / Check out time: 1100 Hrs. 
• Tipping Its Advisable 
• Kerala is famous for Ayurveda’s