I travelled through Kerala some years ago. Leaving Mysor by bus, we travelled through Teak and rubber tree forests to Calicut (then called Kozhikode), A Portuguese city then something of an industrial, timber exporting, fishing city; few concessions to tourism. From there up through rainforest to Ootacamund (Otty) a charming little outpost of British colonial times. Beautiful formal gardens, a lake and a famous horse racing track. Took the tiny narrow gauge rack and pinion train down through the Blue Hills to Cohin (now Kotchi), another industrial city with a busy harbour with the well-known Chinese fishing nets. Some good Portuguese buildings and a famous Jewish quarter. From Cochin we travelled on local narrow boat bus services through the network of waterways and canals that run down along the coast. One of the most beautiful and tranquil ways to travel to Alleppey and then on to Kottayam. From there to Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) and Kovalam beach, where we lived in a fisherman’s hut right on the beach where he and his family worked a beach net fishing system, swimming out and then hauling back the net filled with fish. After two months we moved on to India’s “landsend” at Kanyakumari. Well worth an extended visit if you can. A very calm, friendly and extremely safe state in a sometimes overwhelming country. We had absolutely no fear or trouble in a 4 month visit.