The House Boat experience

A few snaps and a little description about a part of the stay we had in Kerala.
This time it was at Kumarakoum, the place is close to Alleppey (Alepuzha) and is surrounded by the Vembanad Kayal (river) The overnight stay was a welcome change when compared to the earlier stay at Thekaddy and many of us were of the opinion “lets stay here only and not move from here” May be they were taken in by the view of the lake right from their door way and it was peaceful and calm.

As soon as we landed there in the morning, the pre arranged house boat picked us up for our day trip.

The house boat is a thriving business now in the Alleppey backwaters and you will come across many in the lake. A four to six hour ride (with lunch in the boat) is what I would recommend.

The crew were friendly and they laid out some good dishes for our lunch. As you can see there was Fish fry, Sambhar, Sear Fish Curry, Cabbage Thoran, Brown rice, More Curry (made out of curd)  papaddam and Salad.  Of course if you are a group of pure vegetarians then they will take special care that only vegetarian food is cooked and served in the boat.

As if this was not enough, later they were good enough to anchor at a nearby local eating joint along the coast where we could get some Kappa (Tapioca) with mussels  

Cruising down we did see some local life and their daily routine, Their movements depended on these small boats.

After lunch practically all dozed off and were woken up by some nice hot tea/coffee with something to munch. There was self-entertainment too and all took turns entertaining others.

We made a U turn at the finish point of the Nehru boat race which takes place every year on the second Saturday of August. Saw one of those boats there, but that was not one of those which were traditionally made.

They say that the traditional boats that are used in the race are hand made, by tying planks together by rope. No nails or rivets are used. They are seasoned using natural products. There are no drawings of the design of these boats, but the design is handed down verbally through generations. No grease is used but the white of the egg is smeared at the bottom so that it skids on the water during the race. Many years ago (I think it was in 1968) I had the opportunity to actually see a race live and it is a real experience. As for these houseboats, long back these same boats (known as kettuvallams) were used to ferry grain from the fields to the mills and market. Waterways was the major mode of the transport in those days.
As more and more roads started coming up, and the cultivation of rice dwindled, these boats were lying idle and the tourist industry found it lucrative to convert them into house boats.

We were back at our cottage before sunset and lolling out in the hammock was something all preferred.

The next day we checked out at 10 am and proceeded to Philipkutty’s Farm

The complete arrangement of our stay at different locations in Kerala was made by Mr John.
One can contact him at his site  http://www.tikholidays.com/  or just dial  +919387827235

To see more pictures of the stay at Kumarakom and the house boat, I have made a video of the same which is below. I have used about 100+ pictures to make this video.
To enjoy it, allow it to buffer completely first and then replay it (with the volume turned slightly high)