Travel Junky Blog

  Kerala in the rains doesn't look like the postcards. Forget the December version with its clean blue backwaters and dry houseboat decks. This is wetter, greener, messier in a good way. The paddy fields go a shade of green you don't really see elsewhere, the air smells like wet cardamom and ferry diesel, and half the tourists who'd normally be crowding Alleppey have gone home. Most couples default to winter for Kerala. Fair enough, it's the safer bet. But June through September, when the southwest monsoon rolls in off the Arabian Sea, is when the state actually shows its character. Rates drop. Crowds vanish. Ayurvedic centers, oddly, treat this as their busiest season rather than their slow one. For two people who don't mind an umbrella and want fewer people around, a Kerala Monsoon Honeymoon is a genuinely smart move, not just a fallback. Travel Junky has been building Kerala itineraries for a while now, mostly centered on houseboats, hill estates, and coastal s...