Geography lesson

With less than three days to go, I thought I'd check out exactly where in India I'm going. Having been asked a few times, I've made up the standard answer "Kerala, south of India". When I get follow-up questions like "So you are close to Sri Lanka, no?", or "How far away from Bombay are you?" I realise I have no idea.

Now that's resolved! Flying into Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala, which is located on the west side near the extreme south of the mainland. The resort is close to Kovalam, known to be "the paradise of the south". Sounds good enough to me.

And although Sri Lanka doesn't look too far away on the map I have a feeling it's a rather lengthy and challenging boat trip to make. Bombay is 1 543 km away, so that rules out any city tours or shopping trips. Good to know!