Kerala Hills to Coast — Munnar, Thekkady, the Backwaters & Kovalam

East out of Kochi and steadily upward — coconut and paddy give way to rubber, then to cardamom, then to tea past Adimali, which is about as clear a cross-section of Kerala as a road can offer. Four hours or so, with the Cheeyappara falls on the climb when there is water behind them. Munnar sits at around 1,600 m and the evening is cold enough to want a layer. Nothing is scheduled beyond arriving. · Kochi to Munnar · overnight Munnar · Private car

Eravikulam at opening, entry by the timed shuttle from Rajamala, where the Nilgiri tahr come close to the path — the park closes for calving for around two months in late winter and the dates are confirmed rather than assumed. Then the estate roads: Mattupetty, the Kundala valley, and Top Station on the Tamil Nadu border where the land drops away into the plain. The Nallathanni tea museum in the afternoon, with the original rolling machinery still in place. · Munnar · Private car

A shorter drive south along the ridge, around four hours through cardamom country with the estates changing crop as the altitude drops. Thekkady in the early afternoon leaves time for a working plantation walk — cardamom under shade, pepper on the trunks, and clove, nutmeg and vanilla in among them, which is the point of the region rather than a demonstration for visitors. The evening has the Kathakali and kalaripayattu performances in town, bought at the door. · Munnar to Thekkady · overnight Thekkady · Private car

Early at Periyar, where the reservoir was created in 1895 and the dead trunks still stand out of the water — elephant, gaur and sambar come to drink and the boat is the way to see it. Tickets are released by the reserve on its own system and are booked directly in advance rather than through the package. Then west and down to Alleppey to board in the early afternoon. The boat moves through the narrow canals and out onto the open Vembanad water, moors before dark, and all meals are cooked and served aboard. · Thekkady to Alleppey · overnight Houseboat · Private car and houseboat

Off the boat after breakfast, and south down the coast road — around four hours to the Kovalam headland below Trivandrum. The afternoon is the beach: three crescent coves under a laterite headland, with the 1972 lighthouse on the point and a walk up it for the view along the coast toward Vizhinjam. Ayurvedic treatment centres line the road behind the beach and a first consultation can be arranged for the following morning if you want one. · Alleppey to Kovalam · overnight Kovalam · Houseboat and private car

The morning stays on the coast. Depending on your flight there is time for the Padmanabhaswamy temple in Trivandrum, which has a strict dress code and admits Hindu worshippers only to the inner sanctum, or for the Napier Museum and the Kuthiramalika palace beside it. Trivandrum airport is around twenty minutes from Kovalam, which makes even a mid-morning departure comfortable. · Kovalam to Trivandrum · overnight — · Private car