Visit KochiNow

This blog compliments the new initiative KochiNow. We look forward to more activities.

Pedalers Pub & Grille (PP&G) the active travel company inaugurates 12 day trip in India on Bike Pedals including the trading seaport of Cochin

GAINESVILLE, Florida, June 30, 2008 - The active travel company with the funny name, Pedalers Pub & Grille (PP&G), inaugurates “India - A Royal Odyssey” with its first-ever foray into this diverse and exotic land. Departing on Nov. 24, 2008, the 12-day trip pedals across the southern tip of India to explore the temple complexes and villages of Tamil Nadu before moving to the wildlife and tea/spice plantations of Munnar Hills, the waterways of western Kerala and the trading seaport of Cochin.

The active cycling adventure will be repeated on Nov. 23, 2009. Except for international air, the program is all-inclusive at $3,450 (double) with a single supplement of $690. The tour begins in Madras and ends in Trivandrum.

The rate includes accommodations in luxury hotels, guesthouses and resorts, all meals, bilingual guides, full van support, daily route directions and maps, sightseeing and cultural activities, plus airport transfers. Personal departures may be scheduled year round for private groups and bike clubs with the most popular season running from November to March when the days are typically sunny and warm.

Over the course of the trip, which is rated moderate in level of difficulty, cyclists will roll inn to inn covering 439 miles (712 km), averaging 44 miles (71 km) per day.

Highlights include lunching with tea pluckers; a night at Cochin’s Bolgatty Palace, the one-time residence of the British Governor in the early 1900s; dolphin-spotting from Kerala’s palm-fringed beaches and visiting India’s Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary that is home to elephants, tigers (Periyar is part of Project Tiger), wild dogs, macaque monkeys, sambar deer and a variety of birds. More details can be found online at:
www.pedalerspubandgrille.com/bike_tours/india/Royal_Odyssey.htm

"We chose this route and region due to its incredible scenery and cultural diversity,” says Tom Sheehan, founder and general manager. “This is not your typical, mass market tour of India. We take time to visit unusual sites and witness local life and ancient traditions mostly overlooked by larger, packaged tours.”

Annually, PP&G offers multiple set departures and custom trips to 18 exotic destinations in Asia, the South Pacific and Alaska. The company has been conducting cycling tours of these regions since the 1980’s and is known for creating spontaneous, up close and personal cultural encounters along its well-researched cycling routes.

Asia's most seasoned bicycle tour operator, Pedalers Pub & Grille specializes in sag wagon supported road bike tours. They organize rides that are geared toward cycling enthusiasts, featuring longer daily rides designed to fill the day with adventure, while still allowing sufficient time for "off the bike" exploration at fascinating stops along the route. Accommodations are carefully chosen to provide modern western amenities, a comfortable night's rest and an immersion in the local culture and lifestyle. Meals are a celebration of local beverages and cuisine. Trips are led by either a bi-lingual international guide living in the area or a native born guide fluent in English, complimented by an English speaking support crew from that country. All levels of riders are welcome, from energetic beginners to elite cyclists.
Travel Video .TV

Cochin(Kochi) gets ready to host stopover of Volvo race

Kochi, Jun 16 (PTI) The 'Queen of Arabian Sea' and home to one of the most ancient natural ports in the world, Kochi is gearing up to host the India stopover of the prestigious Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09, the world's premier offshore yachting event.
The nine-month Volvo Ocean Race is the most spectacular round of the World Marathon Ocean Yacht Racing competition and is seen as the ultimate in extreme adventure sporting, N Ramachandran, Chairman, Cochin Port Trust, said.

This is the first time in its 35-year history that the race would be stopping over in India, he said. On its third leg, the race would stop here in December this year.

The race will commence its round-the-world marathon sailing in October and cover over 39,000 nautical miles, visiting 11 ports across the globe.

Starting from Alicante in Spain, it would stopover at Cape Town, Cochin, Singapore, Qingdao (China), Rio de Janeiro, Boston, Galway (Ireland), Gotebord and Stockholm, before reaching the finishing line at St Petersburg in July 2009.

Cochin Port was chosen for the stopover after extensive evaluations by the race officials and negotiations that went on for over an year, Ramachandran said.

The teams have to deal with face dangers like storms, icebergs, ocean debris and whales as they race day and night for more than 20 days at a stretch in some of the legs, he said. PTI
Press Trust of India

COCHIN(Kochi) to host Miss Kerala pageant

Rohini Mariam Idicula KOCHI: Young, charming women armed with the gift of the gab and are modern, yet uphold traditional Kerala values, can try their luck at this year’s Miss Kerala pageant.

The pageant will be held on July 11, in Kochi.
The event was announced by the reigning Miss Kerala, Rohini Mariam Idicula, and Ram Menon, director of Impresario event managers, by unveiling its logo.

“Those who mirror the image of the modern Kerala woman — assertive and ambitious, but who uphold traditional values, stand the best chance to win the title and the sub-titles,” Mr Menon said.

This year, the International Education Council would give a Rs 2-lakh scholarship to the winner of the pageant that has been sponsored by the ITC-owned Vivel brand. Young women aged 16 to 24, with a minimum height of 5.2” can apply, before June 25. A profile, with a recent photograph must be sent to misskerala@misskerala.net.

Ms Idicula, a law graduate, spoke of how the grooming sessions and the title changed her life.

“It was not very easy though — ‘for uneasy lies the head that wears the crown’. It helped me learn more about nourishing inner and outer beauty, apart from conducting myself better in society. The urge to address problems of children and youth grew in me. I took the lead in organising five camps aimed at boosting the self-confidence of youth,” she said.

The Hindu

Kerala tourism remains the last hope for the tourism industry..Monsoon tourism: A ray of hope for Indian tourism

ONE OF the biggest industries of India – tourism industry – has been badly affected by the ongoing chaos in the desert state of Rajasthan and north-eastern hilly district of Darjeeling. Usually in the summer months of May and June tourists from India and foreign countries visit the hill stations Himachal Pradesh and Darjeeling to get a welcome break from scorching heat of the plains. Situated thousands of feet above the sea level the hill stations of Himachal and Darjeeling take visitors close to mother nature. But, this year a major drop has been recorded in the number of tourists visiting Shimla, Kullu, Manali and Dharamsala. According to reports over 20 per cent of hotels and travel agencies in Himachal Pradesh are reeling under losses.


Despite the restlessness in Rajasthan and Darjeeling here is a good news for Indian tourism industry as monsoon season is calling the tourist from across the globe. In fact, people in many regions of the country have experienced the rainfall well in advance and got some relief from scorching heat of summer. Though the monsoon brings excessive rains and badly hit the normal life, but it has special significance for Indian tourism industry. Each year tourists from various parts of the world throng some special regions of India. God’s own country – Kerala – is one such place, which beckons tourists in the monsoon season for a wonderful vacation.


Backwaters, beaches, hills, wildlife etc are some of the popular attractions of Kerala. Here in Kerala tourists can refresh themselves in the invigorating and intoxicating monsoon reason. Besides, the houseboat trip across the tranquil backwaters add more to the experience of the tourists.


If you want to experience monsoon at its best, then combine the Ayurveda treatment in your itinerary. Also called the ‘Oushada mausam’ or medicinal season, monsoon is the time when people visit Kerala for their rejuvenation treatments. Kerala’s pleasant climate, abundance of forests especially herbal and medicinal plants makes it an ideal destination for Ayurveda treatment. Ayurveda in the monsoon is the finest way to refresh and rejuvenate your body and soul. In fact, Ayurveda practitioners say that monsoon season is the best time to undertake Ayurveda treatment as the body become most receptive to the therapeutic and restorative powers of herbs and oils.
Kerala is only place in the world where Ayurveda, the thousands year-old healthcare system is practiced with much dedication.


Ayurveda centres and resorts in Kerala offer the ayurveda treatment under the guidance of the expert doctors. Two types of Ayurvedic programmes are offered by Ayurveda centres namely rejuvenative and therapeutic. After a methodical evaluation, the doctors suggest individual programmes for each person.


During monsoon season tours operating in Kerala offer the especially customised ‘Monsoon Holiday Packages’ that cover all important destinations of the state. Most of the monsoon packages are customised keeping in mind the requirement of both the domestic and foreign tourists. If you want to experience the real charm of monsoon season then head towards god’s own country – Kerala. Surely you will find a rare chance of experiencing nature closely and return home with some lifelong memories.


For last few years ‘monsoon tourism’ has emerged as a new theme of tourism in India and it draws large number of tourists from across the globe. Monsoon has already knocked the door in Kerala and other parts of the country as well, which is good signal from the tourism point of view. Hopefully like previous years, this year too monsoon will attract global trotters to India. Besides, Indian tourism industry may also make up the loss due to chaos in north and north-eastern parts of the country.
Merinews.com

Earthrace re-fuelling and heading for Cochin, in India to check Singapore repairs

Earthrace to check Singapore repairs
Earthrace crew, their support staff and sponsors who came to their rescue have found their "miracle" in Singapore, and now hope to resume their attempt on a round-the-world record, says operations manager, Adrian Erangy.

They still hope to beat the existing record of nearly 75 days by returning to Spain to complete their circumnavigation, he told the powerboat-world.com website.

"The entire team have pulled together a miracle in Singapore," Mr Erangy said.

Staff at a salvage shipyard, Posh Semco, helped lift Earthrace - weighing 19 tonnes - from the water at the weekend to repair a shattered propeller, and driveshaft, and cracked bearings and brackets.

The boat took a week to limp to Singapore on one engine after hitting a submerged object, possibly a log, 4000km to the east in Micronesia, at Palau.

"We have completed our repairs and now hope to have 14 days left at sea to get the record," Erangy said. A new propeller shaft had to be machined by engineers.

The boat and support crews worked round the clock over the weekend to finish the repairs 12 hours earlier than expected.

They were due to test the boat's engines early today, then conduct a short sea-trial before re-fuelling and heading for Cochin, in India, if the repairs are seaworthy.

The boat has up to 35 days to get back to Sagunto, north of Valencia, to beat the 1998 Cable & Wireless World record of 74 days, 23 hours 53 minutes, but skipper Pete Bethune, of Auckland has said he wants to "smash" the record rather than just beat it.

- NZPA

The New Zealand Herald

Singapore to Cochin,Kerala,India next leg of Earthraces(78 foot, biodiesel fuelled trimaran ) World Record Attempt

Earthrace on track for India and World Record
'Posh Semco put Earthrace back in the water Singapore June 2008'
Day 42- Earthrace, the 78 foot, biodiesel fuelled trimaran is back in the water repaired and is currently being refuelled in preparation for the next leg of her 24,000 nautical mile round the world record attempt, the 2,000 mile passage to Cochin, India.
Earthrace arrived in Singapore last Friday morning local time, having motored 2,200 miles from Palau in Micronesia on one engine after hitting an unknown object, smashing her port propellor and cracking her port drive shaft.

Despite the delays for repairs, the boat is still 1,556 miles ahead of the world record pace, set by the British Cable and Wireless team in 1998.

'We’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity we’ve received in Singapore,' says New Zealand skipper Pete Bethune. 'After the accident in Palau we began to doubt whether we still had a shot at the world record, but now the boat is back in top shape and weather conditions for the leg to Cochin are great.

'I’m constantly amazed by all the fantastic support individuals and companies across the globe have shown to Earthrace. Each one of their efforts counts in helping us smash this record and showing the world the potential for sustainable fuels.

Earthrace was lifted back into the water this afternoon local time and sped back to the One Degree 15 marina, where she is currently taking on her full load of Spanish bio-fuel. She was back at full pace on that short leg, showing that the repairs had been successful.

'Once we reach Cochin we’ve only got three refuelling stops to go. If we can maintain this pace up the Suez Canal and through the Mediterranean we could be back in Sagunto 17 days ahead of the world record.'

The crew has relied on the generosity of a number of companies that stepped forward to offer Earthrace support for speedy repair upon arrival to Singapore, particularly POSH SEMCO, an offshore marine service contractor, Assetton asset management, and J B Global, project sponsor.

Repair work was successfully carried out in three days, after the ground crew spent the whole of last week sourcing components and shipyard space.

'Assetton wanted to help Earthrace’s world record attempt because we believe it is a great reminder of the race against time to protect our planet,' said Mohan Nainan of Earthrace sponsor Assetton.

POSH Semco director, Peter Lee, said 'we were happy to help Earthrace in her hour of need. As marine salvage specialist, we want to support this worthwhile project, and we were the only company who could act quickly to help save the race.'

Justin Beeton of J B Global is already a Presenting Sponsor of Earthrace since January. He said 'when I heard about the critical repairs required, I immediately wanted to lend further support. I am delighted to confirm my sponsorship for the Australian tour next year and as Sydney Tour Host Sponsor in January 2009.’ Justin will also be joining as Guest Crew on the final leg of the race, along with Paul Topley of Churches Fire Security.

Earthrace left Sagunto, north of Valencia in Spain on April 27th. She had to round the world, in less than 74 days, 23 hours and 53 minutes to break the
record.



by Rob Kothe - 10:54 AM Mon 9 Jun 2008 GMT

Power Boat World.com