Vishal Koshi , general manager of our supplier Kalypso Adventures:
“Don’t forget a good pair of binoculars.”

Rajat Kumar, Managing Director of our supplier ExplorIndya:
“Bring dark coloured cotton clothing to use during Ayurveda massage and therapy sessions. Given the oils and the fact that they get on clothes, dark colours for these situations are ideal.”

Rajat Kumar, Managing Director of our supplier ExplorIndya: "I would ask that people do not tip excessively. There is nothing wrong in sharing the wealth, but money has a different value here and when you give excessively people start expecting things unreasonably. They start to believe that they deserve more than they are due, and this becomes a perverse culture in hospitality. So, people should be cognisant of the fact that just because the converted value of the service or product is far less than what it might be in your country, doesn’t mean that it isn’t in keeping with the standard of living here. So, just because a beer costs a tiny amount, doesn’t mean you should have to pay four times amount just because you like the face of the person serving it. It creates a perverse culture in a tourist driven economy, with people becoming greedy, as the level of expectation gets raised across the board. We give our guests very detailed tipping guides, to help them tip responsibly”

Diana Syrett, Managing Director of one of our top suppliers, Kerala Connections: “My husband and I are both vegetarian and it is one of the reasons we love south India so much, as the food it is the easiest place on the planet to be vegetarian. You can get meat, and because they have about 25% Christians and 25% Muslims, there is a lot of fish eaten and also, interestingly, beef is eaten in Kerala, and is only one of two states in India that is licensed to eat it."