Most Inspirational Moment
All of them! The Munnar tea plantation morning walk was stunning, a slow and steady amble winding into the tea plantations and learning about the workers daily routine and the process of tea making was great, I could have spent all day roaming the area. The early morning city walk in Madurai turned my first impressions of the city around for me, our local Guide Rishi was amazing and as the city woke up we engaged with people starting their day and tried a few local drinks and snacks to keep us going before breakfast. This tour will be different every time you do it as depends on who/what you come across as you walk around but well worth the 5:15am alarm! Lastly, pootling along on the Shikara boats through the Keralan backwaters was a great wind-down from a busy trip, a birdwatchers paradise and fun to watch the locals going about their daily chores on the banks of the river.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Biju is one of the best Leaders I've ever had. He was so informative and gave amazing insight and cultural anecdotes daily. The long journeys never felt long as Biju would fill the time going through a different life event in his culture and how it was celebrated/marked and was ever patient with all our questions. Biju was so conscientious and made it his mission to ensure everyone had a great time and any issues that cropped up he dealt with immediately.
Advice for Potential Travellers
For the two 1-night stops (homestay & houseboat) it's worth just packing a smaller overnight bag to take to your room as the homestay is a typical Indian family home so no porters etc (and most rooms are upstairs with no elevator). The houseboat rooms are small cabins so easier not to have a bulky bag to maneuver around. Munnar and Periyar/Thekkady can be a bit chilly (compared with the Kerala coast) so worth having a lightweight fleece/jumper for evenings and early mornings.