Experiences
Kerala, unhurried
Nothing is scheduled until you want it to be. Then everything is.
Experiences
Nothing is scheduled until you want it to be. Then everything is.
The best of Kerala isn't behind a ticket counter — it's ten minutes from the garden gate, with people we've known for years: Mohanan at his tea house, Renju up the toddy palms, the boatman who knows every bend of the river. Tell your Guest Care Manager what you're curious about, and we'll weave it into your days.
On the water & in the village · half day
We call up the boatman to canoe you across the Muvattupuzha River, then walk through the rubber and tapioca fields to our favourite tea house. Mohanan and his family have run it for years — freshly poured tea, hot pazham pori (banana fritters), tapioca chips and parippu vada, eaten under the ripening bananas with locals and travelling salesmen.
Complimentary for guests staying two nights or more.
Sacred Kerala · morning or evening
At sunset, take an autorickshaw to the 4th-generation Ayurveda and temple store, then walk fifteen minutes along the river to the temple that sits where three rivers meet — the Puzhakkarakkavu Devi Temple. We'll arrange a Pushpanjali, a blessing for you and your family for a safe onward journey.
Early risers can instead be ferried across the river at 6am to Sree Rackad Karanattu Kavu, a hidden Devi temple immersed in nature.
At the house · an evening
In the evening, join Chef for a hands-on session preparing Kerala dishes — then take the recipes home to try yourself. Add a morning market tour first: a fourth-generation Ayurveda store, a traditional coconut press, the fruit and vegetable market, the utensils shop and the Khadi cotton store.
Beyond the gate · a few hours
Step back in time for a tour around town in our 1958 Black Ambassador, with morning or afternoon tea out at one of the local traditional cafés or tea stands. The town centre is only a fifteen-minute walk — or borrow one of the house bicycles — but the old car is half the fun.
Add to your stayMore ways to spend a day
A day here can be as full or as empty as you like. Here's more of what we can arrange, all with people we know and trust.
At the house
Daily yoga on the veranda with our yogi, for all levels. Or make free use of the Life Fitness gym, with rollers and equipment.
One or two private classes in the grounds — enough to impress everyone back home. We suggest two shorter sessions across your stay.
Have henna applied in the afternoon to be admired the length of your India journey — the bridal art, now popular with the boys too.
Kerala's famous seafood, Aussie-style, beside “the best swimming pool in Kerala” — then a night swim under the stars and fireflies.
Classical Ayurvedic therapies with Geethanjanaa AyurSpa, in the calm of the house. See the spa →
On the river & in the village
An hour's pole-canoe from where the three rivers join, gliding past kingfishers into pure quiet. Add a coffee-and-cake stop, or a packed snack.
Before 8am, join the rickshaw drivers' shared table at a tiny café: cappi or chai, then parotta, appam or idly with egg roast, beef fry and mung beans.
At 7am or 4pm, watch Renju scale the palms to collect toddy from pots high in the crown. Drink it fresh, or let it ferment. Mornings are best — cool, no mosquitoes.With Renju, our toddy tapper
Temples & heritage
At 6am, the boatman ferries you across the Muvattupuzha to Sree Rackad Karanattu Kavu — a sacred Devi temple immersed in nature, far from the city's noise.
A heritage home in Mini's extended family since the 1800s. Neelakanta Theerthapada, a philosopher born around 1870 and famed for healing snakebites, lived and worked here; his artefacts and scriptures can be viewed by arrangement.
A temple set in the middle of a small forest — a lovely short trip and walk, paired with a nearby historical home and a ginger-lime soda at the gate.
Half & full-day trips
Kerala hosts 150+ migratory birds from October to April. A guided 5am start, forty-five minutes away, with tea and snacks laid on. Subject to guide availability.
A three-hour loom workshop: warping, weave structures and finishing, taking home your own woven piece. In historic Fort Kochi, about ninety minutes away.
Make a natural indigo vat from dates and jaggery, then dye your own cloth, guided step by step. All levels, ages 7 and up.With Md Hizqeel, natural dyer
Muvattupuzha is a fifteen-minute walk — Khadi cotton, jewellery, bakeries and brass. For Kochi, Thodupuzha or Fort Kochi, we'll prepare a list tailored to what you love.
Most experiences carry a small additional charge, and some depend on guide or team availability. Just ask your Guest Care Manager to tell you more and book you in.