So, I had a bit of a brainwave while studying my options -- if it's hot down on the plains, why not head up to the highlands at Ooty? Take the Nilgiri Mountain Railway up, and fly out to Singapore direct from nearby Coimbatore on SilkAir. So my one week/ten days would look something like this:
Chennai-Mahabalipuram-Madurai-Ooty-Coimbatore
And leave Kerala for another trip. Any opinions? @:-)