For many travellers, Kerala is South India’s most serenely beautiful state. A slender coastal strip is shaped by its layered landscape: almost 600km of glorious Arabian Sea coast and beaches; a languid network of glistening backwaters; and the spice- and tea-covered hills of the Western Ghats. Just setting foot on this swath of soul-quenching, palm-shaded green will slow your sub continental stride to a blissed-out amble. Kerala is a world away from the frenzy of elsewhere as if India had passed through the Looking Glass and become an altogether more laid-back place.