Hi again,
Sorry for the late-ish reply, I haven't been in here for a while...
We did lots of stuff with the kids, including the backwaters which was a great success. The kids loved to spend an entire day cruising and then go to sleep on the boat, on one of the stops we made they found a coconut that they made the staff open for them so they could try and drink from it, and when we docked for the night we were taken out into the smaller channels in canoes for the sunset. The area is so beautiful and lots of nice things to see along the way.
We also went to visit an elephant camp, went on a short ride and spent some time with the elephants afterwards. We visited a national park and were lucky enough to see a big herd of wild elephants along with some other wildlife there. We visited a tea factory, a spice garden, and went to shows to see martial arts and traditional dancing. The martial art especially was a big success, fighting and flames and lots of action, and we took lots of photos afterwards where the kids were allowed to hold the weapons etc. In one town there was a festival at a hindu temple one day with music, dancing and a parade with an elephant. In my experience, the kids mostly enjoy doing these more "adult" activities, they love to learn how things are made, to see how the spices they know from home are grown and made etc. We spent the last days of our trip in New Delhi and visited all the sights, the bazaars etc. And of course Taj Mahal, that was a highlight as we had read about that before we went so the kids knew the history behind it. And a story about a king and a dead queen is always a hit, even more so when we could actually go and see their tombs!
Of course we also had a few days at different beaches and by the poolside when we had that available. But this was only for around three-four days of our three week trip. In my experience it is no problem to bring the kids along on the activities we enjoy, as long as we make it interesting for them. Our oldest is a little professor-to-be, he wants to know about absolutely everything and loves learning new stuff, so he enjoys this just as much as a playground or whatever. But of course, kids are different, you know best what suites your family. Whatever you decide, I'm sure you wil have a good time:-)
Edited by: LadyLuna