Treasures of South India

Ancient spice ports, temples, and coastal Kerala and Cochin

ANCIENT SPICE PORTS, wild elephants, temple festivals, lavish maharajas' palaces, tea plantations, British hill stations—what a colorful world southern India is! We discover the south's distinctive flavors first in Tamil Nadu, where we find ourselves in an outdoor museum of magnificent temple architecture. Tamil Nadu is at its most picturesque in Thanjavur, capital of the Chola kingdom for four centuries, and in the ancient city of Madurai, where a grand Shiva temple bustles with pilgrims. In enchanting tropical Kerala, we travel by picturesque houseboat on tranquil waterways to watch the beautiful pageant of traditional rural, riverside life. We also roam the narrow lanes of Cochin, ancient port of entry for spice traders on the Malabar Coast, and enjoy some of Asia's best gameviewing in two of India's finest wildlife reserves.