Having been in the neighbouring state for almost 2 years and heard so much about Kerala, it was surprising it took us so long to get there.  But we did finally in May 2006.  We got a flight to Cochin and stayed at the wonderful Raintree Lodge in Fort Cochin itself.  Fort Cochin is a charming quiet little town and more like Europe than India and surprisingly doesn't seem too touristy.  Whilst here we heard that there was a big elephant festival at Thrissur about 2 hours north so on our 2nd day we headed there to witness this amazing event.  We've been back to Fort Cochin twice since and rather predictable have always stayed at Raintree Lodge which we can't recommend highly enough along with our varioous favourites, The Teapot Cafe, Kashi Art Gallery & Restaurant, Malabar House Restaurant.  We also have a friendly rickshaw driver there called Johnson who we use each time we visit.  Go back to the album page and look up our later visits to Cochin & the rest of Kerala.