Kerala Tour Packages

In October 1999 The National Geographic Traveler showcased 50 of the world's top destinations, places that every curious traveler should visit in a lifetime.

These 50 places were in turn divided into five categories- urban spaces, monuments, paradise found, wilderness and open spaces. Each category in turn, contains ten places. Kerala has found a place, and deservedly so, under the category, 'paradise found', as one of the ten most beautiful places on earth for the visit of a lifetime. Bill McKibben of The National Geographic goes on to say, "Statistically Kerala stands out as the Mount Everest of social development; there’s truly no place like it.."

Kerala is a small state, on the South West coast of India, nestling between the mountains of the Western Ghats, in the East and the Arabian Sea, on the West. It is an exquisitely beautiful place, lovingly landscaped by the Divine Hand as 'Gods Own Country.' Health Tourism: Kerala is evolving into a top destination for Medicare tourism. We can find you the best institutions in Kerala that offer the most cost-effective health-care in the disciplines, listed alongside here. Ayurveda And Naturopathy Cosmetic/Plastic Surgery Cosmetic Orthodontistry Cosmetic Ophthalmology

The undulant hills and their valleys to the west of these mountains are covered with thick tropical forests, teaming with wild elephants and tigers, leopards and deer and flora and fauna of every kind and color- some of them very rare.

The plantations of rubber, vegetables and a variety of sweet smelling, palate-tickling spices further add to the mosaic of this enchanting region.

The land then slopes down to the rolling waters of the Arabian sea and the white sands of its warm beaches. Just lie back in the sun and enjoy every moment of it and get the tan of your dreams, as a bonus.

And as if these were not beauty enough, the sea creeps inland through a thousand inlets, forming a thousand and more islets of waving palms and swaying paddy fields. This sea invasion inland also gives rise to the beautiful, blue lagoons or backwaters, which are a unique characteristic of Kerala. A moonlit night in a houseboat on the lagoon - that is the stuff dreams are made of.

There are few places on earth that can match Kerala in its natural beauty. And there are even fewer places to match it in history, cuisine and Culture. Kerala had trading relations with the Phoenicians and other seafaring cultures from time immemorial. Ma He the famous Chinese eunuch Admiral who led a flotilla in 1404 which dwarfed Columbus's expedition a century later, was all praises for Kerala. Other travelers and explorers of yore like Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo also visited Kerala and stayed on for many an year. They were all praises for the thriving culture and trade of India.

From ancient times the civilized nations of the West lived around the Mediterranean. Trade between the West and the East was carried out mainly through the silk route on land and the sea route through the Mediterranean. However this meant negotiating the Bosphoros straits spanning the two sides of the present-day Istanbul – formerly Constantinople. In the middle ages the rivalry between the Ottomans and the Europeans reached its heights, and the former shut off all sea-lanes through the strait. Europe was cut off from the East and had to depend heavily on the Arab merchants for their requirements of goods from the Orient, especially of spices. In desperation, Europeans sought an alternate route to the East round the southern tip of Africa. However the treacherous seas round the Cape of Good Hope proved too formidable for the Europeans and their fragile ships – The Cape of Good Hope was formerly called the Cape of Storms (Cabo das Tormentas). Many navigators such as Bartolomeu Dias perished in their attempts to find a route to the East.

Columbus himself had the rich spice-trade with Kerala in mind when he set sail west from Spain. However, instead of rounding the Cape of Storms, he sailed West into the Atlantic. He reasoned that since the earth is round he would reach the East and Kerala even if he sailed west. After endless days despair and near Mutiny he found land, which he thought, was India. Consequently he called the natives he found there ‘Indians’ and the land (West) Indies. So in a way Kerala was the inspiration that led to the discovery of the Americas.

Six years later Vasco Da Gamma another intrepid explorer, set sail from Portugal, rounded the Cape of Good Hope/Storms and finally landed at Kappad in Calicut, Kerala. At the time Vasco Da Gamma was more of celebrity for landing in Kerala than Columbus was for discovering America.

This was the beginning of the European colonization of India and the other regions of the East. The Portuguese, The Spaniards, The Dutch, The French and finally The British - the most successful of them- set trading posts all over the Orient and paved the way for the prosperity and advancement of the Western society.

As for the cultural milieu of Kerala, it is the home of cultural forms like Kathakali, Koodiyattom, Ottamthullal and so on, which are of ancient vintage and unmatched anywhere else. Kalarippayattu is a martial art form, which is unique to Kerala. Some historians opine that Buddhist missionaries carried this martial art technique to the Far East where it evolved into modern Judo, Kung Fu and other martial art disciplines.

Bill McKibben of the National Geographic Traveler sums it all up when he waxes eloquent, " Statistically Kerala stands out as the Mount Everest of social development; there’s truly no place like it."