Kerala Trip: The backwaters of Allepey

We took a bus back to Cochin so that we could transfer to a bus to Allepey arriving pretty late.

We stayed at this guest house that was recommended by my friends, Sandy & Art. It had large rooms, was clean and convenient. We just stayed there overnight so that we could rent the houseboat the next day. Sandy & Art really enjoyed the authentic Keralan breakfast they served there, but we discovered too late that you have to ask for this the night before. It's a very informal meal that the cook makes for the hotel staff, so it's not really intended for the guests. But if you go there, I suggest you make a special request because I regretted not getting it.

KTC Guest House
West of KSRTC Bus Station (only 200m away)
Allepey (also known as Alappuzha)
Phone: 0477-2254275
Mobile: 0-9846315553
www.ktchouseboat.com
ktchouse@yahoo.co.in
300Rs/room/night was the deal we got.
They arranged a houseboat for us - they originally wanted 5000Rs for it, but we bargained them down to 4100Rs. Sandy and Art got it for 3000Rs but it may have been during a slower season. The 4100Rs included everything except the beer (i.e. mineral water, food, staff, etc). And we gave a tip at the end because the boat guys were so good.

The only thing to see in Allepey is the backwaters of Kerala which are well worth it. You can take a day trip on a small boat like a canoe but with a canopy and someone to paddle you around or you can rent a houseboat.

This is an example of the common "canoes" that the locals who live in the backwaters use to get around. We saw a few vendors of fruits and vegetables going from house to house on these canoes.

This is the one-bedroom houseboat that we rented for 22 hours. It came with a staff of three - one man at the front of the boat to pole the boat along and another at the back, as well as an excellent cook. The boat had a small kitchen in the back, a bathroom with running water (well at least until the water runs out) and a small dining area.

This was our view from little dining table that we sat at. The whole backwaters experience was amazingly beautiful and calm. The air was actually clean (which is the first time I've experienced that in India) and there were no car horns! (Although right after I said that on the trip, we heard one boat horn from one of the monster-sized boats - but it was only once!)

Here's me trying to pole the boat along. It's harder than it looks and that pole is a lot longer than it looks! It's buoyant too, so if you're not careful, it can jump right up out of your hands.

Here's our dining table where we served delicious Keralan meals, full of fragrant coconut curries and coconut rice! The Keralan food was a lot lighter and healthier than the North Indian food I'm accustomed to (which is what we have in Canada).

Since there was only one bedroom, then I volunteered to sleep out in the open under this mosquito net. Funnily enough, I didn't actually see any mosquitoes on the water, but we did have the mosquito coil going all the time and used bug spray. I'm not on anti-malarial pills, so I was extra careful.

Me!

The boat on the left is in the process of being built. The boats are made partly of bamboo and coir, which is fibre from coconut shells.

Here's one of the bigger houseboats. They can get up to 8 bedrooms, I hear, which sounds pretty monstrous! I definitely recommend staying on a small one. I also recommend getting one that is poled rather than one that has a yucky polluting noisy motor that majorly disturbs the peace and tranquility of the backwaters. Surprisingly, we saw one of these big boats with two men poling it with really long poles - looked difficult!

In the evening, the ship was tied to a coconut tree to dock us for the night. We got out of the boat and took a stroll along this path which is the only pathway connecting various homes along this stretch of land. We passed by people doing their daily activities, like hanging their laundry, tending to their garden, their chickens and goats, we even passed by little shops including one that provided long-distance phone services to all of India for one rupee!

We talked to one family who were very friendly.
Pamela: What do you do for a living?
The Keralan Man: Government Service.
Pamela and Brian: Oh, grammar studies! That sounds interesting!
Me whispering: Um... he said government service. He's a public servant.

Then the Keralan man introduced us to his mother, who was this old lady smaller than me who didn't have all her teeth, but was very smiley anyway!

Here's a cashew nut tree! Isn't that cool?