Most Inspirational Moment
Meenakshi Temple in Madurai. Kathakali dancing. Walking in the Western Ghats. Cows with painted horns in Tamil Nadu. And just the life on the streets as we drove through towns and villages - good humoured, colourful, traditional and modern at once.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Santosh was a great group leader and a good companion. Intelligent, enthusiastic, organised and fun. He is an asset to his country and to the organisations he works with.
Advice for Potential Travellers
The grading is fair at grade 3 as the hiking challenges are not sustained. Be prepared for walking uphill in the heat and downhill on rough paths that were hard on some folks' knees. Camping is not my thing so I didn't expect to enjoy that aspect. However, I do think the camping could be made more comfortable: >Squatting is difficult in trousers and toilet tents in the dark are a nightmare I will avoid in future (remember to bring a head torch) - is there a better solution? >The tents were old fashioned, didn't close properly, were too cosy for two and had no cover sheet on the veranda for bags and shoes. Better tents would help. >Instead of providing a basin of water to hunker over in your tiny shared tent, it should be possible to set up some ad hoc showers on one or two nights. >You need a 4 season sleeping bag in January. It dropped to -2c on one night and few of us slept.