Kerala is green, its mood festive. Lush plantations rise from the sea and sweep the entire state in verdant glory, swathing the countryside, the only relief being backwaters along which coconut palms stretch to the skies; the culmination is in the upward fling of the hills where tea and coffee plantations nurture the greens to a denser, monsoon washed, forest palette.
In this entrancing state, a mere strip of south-western India hugged by the coast on one side, by hills on another, a fascinating voyage of discovery awaits travelers. Splendid festivals with mysterious rituals, full of colour and open to participations; herds of elephants, leading processions, or in the wild; exotic handicrafts and seafood preparations fresh from the Arabian Sea; cosmopolitan cities where the past is always at hand, and small towns where time has stood still; all this and more makes Kerala the ideal holiday destination, far removed from the cares of the everyday world.