A cruise through Alappuzha Backwaters

I had visited most of the places in my home state Kerala, but had missed out the Alappuzha boat ride. So me and my wife decided to spend a day in Alappuzha. We started our journey at around 9 AM from Kochi after a heavy break fast.  With my old favorite Malayalam songs, the car drive was enjoyable. After a 60 minute drive we reached Alappuzha at around 10 AM. Being tired, I decided to have a refreshing cup of tea from Hotel Araam ( KTDC restaurant) .

Then we went to the District Promotion Tourism Council Office at Alappuzha.  There we were informed about the various types of house-boats and shikara packages that they have. Both motor boats and Shikara boats are available but motor boat seems to be more safe.  So we selected a Rs.400 per hour plan for 3 hours. By that time our guide, Mr.Rajendran (we called him Rajendran Chettan), who was also the driver of the motorboat, was also ready .

When we reached the place, we could see hundreds of boats lined up.



Shikara boats

Beautiful house boat

We also saw a snake boat (local name  "Chundan Vallam") parked near the bank. The boats are more than 100 feet long and  this one was oared by 100 people during the famous Kerala boat race held every year. He also showed us the starting and finishing point of Nehru trophy boat race which is held in August every year.

Snake Boat or Chundan Vallam used for Nehru trophy boat race

Rajendran Chettan asked us to sit atop  the boat. I kept clicking away my camera throughout the journey. In between Rajendran Chetten took my camera and clicked our photos too. 



The boat went through the waterways, the air was cool and the breeze was too relaxing. It was an amazing sight to see Kuttanad especially the paddy fields, fish farms, coconut trees, water birds, temples, Church, School ,houses on either side of the waterway and life of the people.

paddy fields - Kuttanad



After about  an hour of  the ride we reached the Vembanad Lake, the longest lake in India. One side of the lake directs to Kollam, another to Kumarakom and another to Kochi.

 Like bus stand, these are boat stands.

fish farm

One  interesting view was an election campaign using a  boat which we usually see in jeeps or cars on land. 

Election campaign through lake

We got to see the village life from the boat ... women washing clothes, men fishing. Villager's use small boats as their private vehicle .

They  also use their private boat for transporting goods like coconuts etc etc.

We saw many house boats and we were updated  with interesting bits of information like number of boats, places to visit nearby etc etc.  

Pathira-manal an island which is also a bird sanctuary was also spotted during the ride. 

Overall it  was an amazing experience to travel through Alappuzha backwaters.

What else you can do in Alappuzha: 

1) You can roam around the city of Alappuzha by hiring an Auto Rickshaw, Taxi cab, two wheelers and bikes.

2) Ayurvedic Massage centers are available

3) Shopping around Alappuzha

4) There are some churches and temples around the resort, which you can reach by waterway or by walk. Some of the most beautiful options are Chettikulangara Devi Temple, Chakkulathukavu Temple, Amabalapuzha Sreekrishna Swami temple, Mannarashala temple, Haripad Subramanya Swami temple, Mullakkal Bhagavathi Temple, Alappuzha CSI Christ Church, St Xavier’s Chapel Church near Alappuzha Beach, and Edathua Church Alappuzha, and Jain Temple Alappuzha. Most of the places can be accessed by a private vehicle or local transport.

 

How to reach Alappuzha :

The popular routes are railways and airways.

- From the nearest Cochin International Airport (COK), the distance of Alappuzha town is around 83 km.
- The distance of Alappuzha town from Alappuzha Railway station is around 4 Km.
- K.S.R.T.C Bus stand is located near to DTPC office.

For House Boat/Shikara booking you can contact:

The Secretary,DTPC

Boat Jetty Road,
Near K.S.R.T.C Bus Stand,Alappuzha
Ph: 2251796,2253308

www.dtpcalappuzha.com