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Vijay Chadda Chief Operating Officer, BTI-Sita, India answers your queries...

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• I would like to travel to Kerala, but I’m not keen on a package tour. Please suggest an itinerary for a period of 8-10 days. I am interested in visiting offbeat places and would like to experience the art and culture of Kerala. How much would this cost?

  Rewa Siddiqui, Hyderabad

  Kerala has a lot to offer, ranging from wildlife to beaches, hill stations to backwaters. While places like Peppara, Neyyar and Shenduri are rich in flora and fauna, Kappad and Bekal offer great beaches. Devikulam, Ponmudi and Peermade are hill stations with vast expanses of tea plantations and open grasslands. Kollam, Alumkadavu and Thiruvallum offer calm and serene backwater cruises. A suggested itinerary for 10 days is Trivandrum/Kappad/ Alleppy/Kumarakom/Peppara/Munnar/Kochi. For a detailed costing contact biztrav.del@bti-sitaindia.com or any reputed travel company.

• I will be visiting Japan soon for one week and would like to know which are the must visit places, apart from Tokyo. Is rail or air the best mode of transport and how much will this cost? Is backpacking possible? Can I visit any websites to book online?

  Prashant Khanna, Delhi

  The must visit places in Japan besides Tokyo are Kyoto (famous for temples and gardens), Mount Fuji, Hiroshima, Osaka, and Sapporo. The best mode of transportation is rail. Japan rail passes are available for 7, 14 or 21 consecutive days. The cost of these passes is about 28,300 Yen, 45,100 Yen and 57,700 yen, respectively. These passes allow unlimited travel on almost all JR trains, including Bullet trains, limited express trains, local trains, some JR buses and the JR ferry to Miyajima.

  Backpacking is possible in Japan. Visit the Lonely Planet site for more information.

• I will be taking a two-week break to visit Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. Can you suggest a route? Would it be advisable to travel by rail or bus? What are the accommodation choices and which places can I visit en route?

  Swati Lakhotia, Mumbai

  Your route should be from Mumbai to Hyderabad, Chennai and then Bangalore. Travelling by rail is a better option. There are overnight trains that connect these cities. Alternately, if you travel by bus, you can break journey anywhere. For example en route Mumbai-Hyderabad are Pune and Solapur, en route Hyderabad-Chennai you can visit Vijaywada, Guntur and Nellore, whereas from Chennai to Banglaore you can visit Kanchipuram, Chittoor and Kolar.

  Some suggested accommodation choices are: Hotel Deccan Continental, Hotel Amrutha Castle or Hotel Residency (Hyderabad), Hotel Maurya International, Hotel Palm Grove or Hotel Savera (Chennai), Hotel Central Park, Hotel Ramanashree or Hotel Richmond (Bangalore). Check www.travelmasti.com, www. fullyhyderabad.com, and www. hotelschennai.com for more.

• I am interested in going to the Caribbean and will probably cover Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, Antigua, and St.Vincent. Please suggest whether to take a cruise liner or fly there along with the exact route.

  Morris Rodrigues, Bangalore

  Caribbean cruises are the best way to cover the above places. However, note that Jamaica is covered in the western Caribbean sector and the cruises are ex-Florida for a 5N/6D sailing. Barbados, Trinidad, Antigua, St.Vincent, St.Lucia are covered in the southern Caribbean cruises and the cruises are ex-Puerto Rico for a 7N/8D sailing.