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So, let's start from the very beginning ... a very good place to start (as Maria sang in the famous "Do re mi" song in The Sound of Music. We are in India. In South India. But of course you already know that. Kerala is one of the Indian states. A small one. See on the map on the right, it's the thin green strip on the left side and near the tip of the peninsula, towards the Arabic sea.

 

If you look on the Kerala map here, you will see the major cities. Trivandrum and Kochi (erstwhile Cochin) are major airports. So if you are coming from abroad and want to visit other places before Elapully, it makes sense to choose one of But Elapully is much nearer Coimbatore, which is in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.

If you come by train (highly recommended and much cheaper), Elapully has the honour of being very near (30' in auto-rickshaw) a big railway hub, Palakkad (erstwhile Palghat), which is very well connected, with plenty of trains everyday to all parts of India. OR, if you're adventurous, you might want to risk an Indian bus - an unforgettable experience in itself. See below all the details! And if all of this seems daunting, consult us by e-mail, and we'll be happy to help in any way we can.

AIR:

Kerala has major international airports at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode that link the state with the rest of the nation and the world.
The nearest international airport is the Cochin (Kochi) International airport, 120km from Palakkad. If coming within India, you might find it convenient to land at Coimbatore airport instead, which is a major node and 50 km from Palakkad.

Here are major Indian airlines, state owned and private. Shop around for prices and remember to book early, especially if you want to come during the Christmas vacations!

Go Air flies to Cochi from Delhi or Mumbai
Jet Lite (previously Air Sahara) flies to Cochi from Delhi, Kolkatta or Bangalore
IndiGo flies to Coimbatore from Delhi and from Chennai, and to Kochi (Cochin) from Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkatta, Trivandrum. See their network here
Don't look for Indian Airlines anymore! Called "Indian", it officially merged into Air India on 27 February 2011, and now it's called Air India Regional. Destinations here, bookings at the Air India site
Air India Express is a low-cost airline subsidiary of Air India, operating mainly from Kerala. Currently (2011) Air India Express flies to 13 international destinations– Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Muscat, Salalah, Singapore, KualaLumpur, Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, Columbo and Dhaka from 12 Indian cities – Kozhikode, Kochi, Thiruvananthpuram, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Mangalore, Tiruchirapally etc. On the domestic front, they operate on Mumbai-Kochi, Mumbai-Kozhikode, Mumbai-Delhi, Mumbai-Chennai, Mumbai-Pune, Mumbai-Tiruchirapally, Chennai-Thiruchirapalli, Chennai-Thiruvananthpuram, Kozhikode-Kochi, Kozhikode-Mangalore and Kochi-Thiruvananthpuram sectors.
Kingfisher is a more upscale airline which also has international flights such as Colombo to Chennai,Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirapalli and Kochi
Spicejet has flights to Coimbatore and to Kochi
Jet Airways has national and international flights as well as flights from Indian cities (Delhi, Kolkatta, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore and others)leading to Coimbatore and to Kochi

Indian online booking sites:
yatra.com
make my trip

TRAIN:

Train is much much much cheaper than flying. And it's fun too, you get to meet people. The Indian Railways' Southern Railway line runs throughout the state, connecting all major towns and cities except the highland districts of Idukki and Wayanad.The major Railway stations in Kerala are Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Kozhikode, Shoranur and Palakkad. Palakkad is a railway junction well connected with all Indian cities, north and south. We can arrange to pick you up at the railway station.
Indian Railways. On this page you can find the available trains between important stations. Here you have the corresponding page of the Southern Railway.
These sites are wonderful for information on which train you want, when, where and how much, but they don't do online reservations. Instead, you should go to
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited. I've read somewhere that since the summer of 2011, to book a ticket, you need to have an Indian mobile phone number where they will send the account code - thus rendering the whole thing useless unless you have a friend in India. Contact us for help.
Otherwise, you can book through yatra.com, ixigo and cleartrip, private sites, which don't have this restriction.

BY ROAD

Palakkad is well connected by roads. Palakkad is on National Highway 47 from Salem to Kanyakumari via Coimbatore (50 km) and the Palakkad-Kozhikode National Highway 213 also passes through the district. Another important road is the Palakkad-Ponnani which connects NH 47 and NH 17.

Palakkad is accessible by regular bus services from Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore, as well as all Kerala and Tamilnadu cities. Very frequent buses from Coimbatore. The main bus stand has buses to and from Alleppy, Trivandrum, Kollam and Coimbatore.
We can arrange for someone to meet you at the bus station.
Kerala State Transport Bus Station is in the centre of Palakkad town .Tel. +91-491-2520098

So you've reached Kerala, you've reached Palakkad. On the right, you see the map of the city. What next? If you're up to three normal-sized people, without a great lot of luggage, the cheapest way to come to Elapully is by auto-rickshaw. It looks like this:

The car or auto-rickshaw ride from the Palakkad Junction station to Elapully takes hardly half an hour. See the satellite map on the right, and how it is very straightforward to reach Vaikam house. Don't worry if the driver's English is faulty: he will understand "Elapully, Vaikam house" and the price. If he doesn't know the house, he can always ask.
Alternatively, you can avoid all this and we'll pick you up in Palakkad (no extra charge) or in Coimbatore (at some extra cost).

See? It was easy! Now all you have to do is enjoy your stay!

Palakkad town map (click to enlarge)

Satellite map of Elapully and Vaikam house:
View Larger Map