My Houseboat Cruise Through the Great Backwaters of Alleppey!

There are places where you go not to trek mountains, visit monuments or spend nights partying; you just lay back soaking in tranquility, away from the busy routines of day-to-day life. These places help you detoxify from the venoms of modernity. These places let you enjoy the silence, the stillness of nature and some serene time.

Alleppey, or its new name, Alappuzha, is one such place. Much like our avian visitors, tourists from across the globe flock here to spend winters in its beautiful backwaters. After much discussion, we decided to visit Alleppey for our first group trip of the year.

After landing at Cochin International Airport, we boarded a KSRTC bus to Vyttila bus stop and from there to Alleppey, a journey that took about 2.5 hours. On reaching Alleppey, we called our tour operator who guided us to our houseboat – The Southern Panorama. It was a beautiful houseboat with a wooden finish and excellent crewmembers.

On arriving, we had orange juice after which we freshened up and assembled at the lobby. The captain pulled the levers and the boat started to move, first through a narrow channel and then into the vast expanse. The boat made its way through the milky waters and around the same time, hundreds of other houseboats had begun their journeys.

We came across houseboats of all shapes and sizes, rivaling each other in terms of aesthetics. The hundreds of coconut trees on the banks, backgrounded by stunning paddy fields, looked exactly like the postcards representing the lovely state of Kerala. Adding to the already charming setting, flocks of attractive migratory birds and seagulls flew around the boats, some even perching themselves on the mast.

After some time, the captain anchored the boat and the chef beckoned us for lunch. Leaving the seagulls to fight for their meals, we sat around a dining table. The cook introduced his range of exotic Keralite dishes as he lifted the lids one by one and every time he lifted a lid, there was an enticing aroma.

I pierced a fried Karimeen fish with the fork, cut out a slice and sucked on it. The taste was outstanding – less oil and a perfect blend of spices, just as I like it. It is not without a reason that they call Kerala as the land of spices.

Apart from the fish and the usual rice and sambar, there were a few more Keralite dishes but the names are hard to remember and recall. We finished our lunch and waited for the crew to finish theirs after which we started sailing again, this time through even more gorgeous scenes.

After some time, we halted again. There is an option to take a one-hour canoe ride through the narrow water channels that pass through the interiors of the villages and offers an experience of the lifestyle of people living on the banks. We saw villagers going about their daily chores and a few of them waved at us as we sailed through their backyards.

The rower plucked raw mangoes for us; it was quite unusual to find mangoes in January. Canoes and boats are an integral part of life at the backwaters.

Police officers patrol on boats, kids go to schools on boats, and there are ice cream sellers, fruit sellers and anglers, every one running businesses on boats. Alleppey truly deserves the nickname – “Venice of the East“.

After the canoe ride, we returned to our houseboat and sailed further. On request, the captain allowed me to steer the houseboat for some time. Although it was in the open waters and I just had to rotate the steering enough to keep the boat left bound, I can still genuinely brag about sailing a massive houseboat through the great backwaters.

As the dusk settled, the crimson sun in the horizon said goodbye to the still waters of the lagoon and the boat anchored for the night. Amidst all this, an egret leapt at a small fish who valiantly schemed into the seaweeds to see another day. We retired to our small rooms to rest and reflected on the stunning sights and the lives of people who lived there.

We rested for some time in our old-fashioned rooms and then reassembled in the dining area for dinner. If lunch was a treat, the dinner was even better. In dinner, we had superb dishes cooked in the Keralite style.

After a sumptuous dinner, we returned to our rooms for the night. Next morning, the houseboat sailed for another hour during which we were served breakfast onboard. The captain anchored the boat for the final time and we checked out with sweet memories of the backwaters.