Monica and I had a wonderful trip to south India and appreciated all your efforts with our itinerary.   

• We both really loved India and I think the timing was good as at the end we were ready to leave.  That being said I think it was like the Torch Relay I kept telling Monica, a different hotel almost every night, so for me two weeks moving as we did was enough and given my three weeks in Delhi I was ready to go home.  Monica had also been to Rajastan and Kashmir 20 years previously and loved it.
• For me the people were so happy and really helped make our trip.  Everywhere we went people were nice to us.  I've heard said many times how joyful Indians are and now I truly believe it.
• Another highlight was the food, how could you not enjoy it....and our driver took us to some great places en-route and Monica and I even ventured into a market in Aurangabad, that foreigners don't usually visit, and had a wonderful meal watching them cook it practically in front of us....and we won't tell you about the five waiters who fell all over us, making sure we had everything we needed....
• The houseboat was terrific and definitely something we'd recommend.  The Chef, John, made some great meals for us, some of the best of our trip.  The other two staff were also very professional and made our trip a success.  We wished we had stayed two nights on the house boat.
• Our drivers were very professional and excellent at what they were doing - driving safely!!  We had Babu the longest and he was great.  He was even giving us additional information on the temples we saw en-route and information generally about life in India.  We really enjoyed his company.
• The guides were generally pretty good and experienced and like any profession some were better than others.  Our guides in Pondicherry, Trichy (a woman who was wonderful) and Aurangabad were the best, very knowledgeable and you could tell enjoyed their job.
• The tour had a good mix of temples (well okay we had our fill at the end, but I especially loved the Shore Temple), backwaters (definitely a highlight), caves (absolutely loved Ajanta and Elora - thank you Monica who knew about them and wanted to visit) and we were glad we skipped the beaches (we saw a beach in Allepy and it wasn't very inviting....and who knew but Indians don't swim!!), palaces and a hill station (although I think we ran out of time to really explore it).  
• Other than those few itinerary changes everything else was as planned, people picked us up on time, guides met us when they were supposed to, our driver was always early when he picked us up, we ate at some really great places and the weather for the most part hot and dry...the coolest places were Ooty, Mysore and Bangalore...

Hello
Im writing to you in regards of the tour i just completed through Kumuka it started on the 16th of September and our tour guide was Edward!!

I cannot say enough great things about Edward, from the very start he made everyone feel completely comfortable and interacted with us perfectly. I happened to be sick on the tour and he helped me so much, and was always checking to see that I was fine.

He had so much knowledge and made the trip the most amazing experience. I am wondering If we can request the same tour guide and bus driver?? If so, I will definately be doing another Kumuka tour next year!!

Also we learnt on this tour that Edward and our bus driver, Peter, had only ever worked together that time. Peter was a fantastic driver, helping out with everything from our bags to knowledge he has attained through touring. He was always trying to make the experience better for us all. Downloading funny songs to play on the bus the next day. He trully made so many memories for us all.

I would suggest that Edward and Peter always work together, they were a perfect match. Very funny and made the experience what it was. We had alot of laughs and great memories thanks to the two of them.

Thank you so much for the greatest experience

Eleonora