Our trip was a great success; 3 nights in Fort Cochin, a ride through the famed backwaters and an overnight in Alleppey, 8 hours on a ferry down the inland coast to (our one ratty hotel in) Kollum, 2 nights in bamboo huts at Varkala beach, and the final 3 nights at a place with a pool(!) in Kovalam with a flight out of Thiruvananthapuram (luckily also known by its old name of just Trivandrum!).