Backwaters: Kerala’s backwaters and lagoons stretch over 1900 km.Kerala lives along these backwaters. They snake over the state physique, bestowing paddy fields with good harvests, and provide the whole village with drinking water and other facilities. The backwaters refer to the large inland lakes of Kerala. Today these backwaters act as vital water ways for the transport of people and produce. They are often the only link between remote, isolated villages and crowded town pockets. It’s an incredible experience to float on these soothing waters in a country craft to absorb this unusual representation of Kerala. Alumkadavu:Gliding along the calm and serene backwaters flanked by green leaves and palms, seeing a rural Kerala preserved through the ages and completely hidden from the road is an enchanting experience to any visitor, more so while sailing a slow-moving, spacious Kettuvallam.Alumkadavu, a quiet spot in the town of Karunagapally has become a hot point of building, with more than a hundred people involved.These huge, long and tapering barges were traditionally used to move tones of goods across kingdoms, with a portion covered with bamboo and coir serving as a rest room and kitchen for the crew. A familiar sight on the waters, these vessels are built entirely without using nails.Planks of jack wood are joined together with coir rope and coated with a caustic black resin made from boiled cashew kernels. With careful maintenance they last for generations.Today, widely and appropriately called houseboats, they carry furnished bedrooms, modern toilets, cozy living rooms, a kitchen and even a balcony for angling. Some are powered by a 40 HP engine. At Alumkadavu, you can even find a floating conference hall, designed to seat 35, with a dais and a sophisticated public address system. Calicut:Up north in Kerala, the meandering backwaters of Kozhikode waiting to be discovered. With a bewitching beauty of its own.North east of the city, offers an ideal jump-off base into the Canoly Canal – a name taken after its British builder and administrator. The canal links itself to the KallaiRiver which unhurriedly threads through the city and offers its shores to Calicut’s historic timber trade. The produce of which is believed to have even adorned the courts of King Solomon and Queen Sheba a few millennia ago.Further south Kadalundi with its charming bird sanctuary – haven to an amazing assortment of delightful water birds. Another river of the region – Korapuzha – is fast gaining popularity as the venue of the water sports festival – the Korapuzha Jalotsavam – staged every August. Kumarakom:Kumarakom, you could sail the backwaters in rented houseboats, which are poled by local oarsmen and are simply furnished with a living room, a bedroom and bath, together with a raised central platform creating a private sit-out for the passengers. Sections of the curved roof of wood or plaited palm open out to provide shade and allow uninterrupted views. Boat trains – formed by joining two or more houseboats together – make for a convenient mode of sightseeing when the company is large. You could even take a canoe out into the quiet lagoons and spend time angling. Make sure you sample Karimeen and fresh Toddy – the favorite fresh-water food and the local wine.This is an ideal place for backwater cruises. A beautiful backwater spot accessible from Kumarakom is Alleppey.On the shores of the enchanting Vembanad lake, 14 kilometers from Kottayam (travel time: 20 min), lies Kumarakom in its small-town hush. Redolent of restful ease.A boat ride into the countryside offers a close look into an engaging rustic life. Skiff-fishermen launching their cockleshell boats. Large flotillas of ducks waddling down to the water from thatched houses on the banks. Women, neck-deep in water, with their waist-length hair heaped in a crown, searching for fish with their feet.A 14 acre bird sanctuary is situated on the eastern banks of the Vembanad Lake. The sanctuary adds to the natural beauty of Kumarakom. Birds (waterfowl, water ducks, cuckoos, wild ducks etc.) nest and spend happy summers here. Birds like Siberian Storks migrate here every year. The sanctuary is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Alappuzha:The sweeping network of canals, honey-combing the town of Alleppey. Alappuzha has earned for the place its sobriquet – “The Venice of the East.” Small, low-slung country boats are the taxis of this waterland. It is a heart-warming sight to see them carry a motley assemblage of cycles, goats, fisherwomen with cane baskets, school children, toddy tappers with their knives and pots, duennas in white with gold earrings, Syrian Christian priests and a bare-chested boatman apiece. Do not miss out on a ride into Kuttanad through shimmering, green paddy fields and tail-wagging, head-bobbing groups of ducks. The coir-workers too present an interesting sight as they soak coconut fibre in pools, beat them out and weave the tough brown strands into long ropes on spindles stretched between endless coconut trees. Alleppey becomes the cynosure of the eyes of the world in August – September, every year, as it plays host to the celebrated Snake Boat Races – a water regatta unique to Kerala.Kochi , Queen of the Arabian Sea, believed to be the finest natural harbour in the world. With ferry rides commanding its breathtaking view. Cruise around man-made islands with lush green lawns sloping down to the water’s edge. Cochin is the oldest European settlement in India. Recording a history of visitors who came, saw and stayed for hundreds of years. Layered impressions – Chinese, Arab, Jewish, British, French and Portuguese, are contained within its environment. Giant Chinese fishing nets that billow from massive teak and bamboo poles dot the entrance to the harbour. Silhouetted against the setting sun, they present a magnificent sight at the waterfront. A narrow, palm-fringed island, easily accessible from the mainland is where the Bolghatty Palace is situated. The palace was built by the Dutch in 1744. Later, it became the seat of the British Resident of Cochin and today this has been converted into a hotel run by the KTDC. The palace has a golf course on its grounds.Quilon -[Kollam]-The charming old port city Kollam on the banks of the picturesque Ashtamudi Lake is now known more as the centre of cashew industry. Traces of a once prosperous trade with China are still seen in the form of Chinese fishing nets, huge Chinese water pots, blue and white porcelain and sampan-like boats. Quilon is an inviting gateway to backwaters. For an interesting backwater experience, take the regular ferry to Alleppey – a rigorous ride lasting more than 8 hours. As the old ferry putters from one village on the waterfront to another, you are treated to a full range of lives and activities and some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable. For the less intrepid, shorter cruises can be made in the larger comforts of the houseboats with idyllic villages such as Alumkadavu as your launch base. The nearest airport, Trivandrum, is 71 kms away. It takes fractionally over an hour to get to Quilon by road or rail from Trivandrum.Within hailing distance of the capital city Thiruvananthapuram is the Veli lagoon with a delightful waterfront park growing increasingly popular among the natives and tourists alike. Only a narrow sandbar separates the lagoon from the sea. You can opt for rides in motor-driven safari launches, power boats, pedal boats or row boats. Kayaks and hovercraft attract the brave-hearted. A floating bridge and a floating restaurant add to the overall excitement. The eastern end of the lake is flanked by two scenic hillocks coming through as a perfect hiking ground. 2 kilometers from Trivandrum Airport, The Veli Tourist Village on the outskirts of Trivandrum is a delightful waterfront park which has become extremely popular with Trivandrumites. It is a nice place for tourists with young children to spend an afternoon. There is lots for the kids to do, and they will meet many of their young Kerala counterparts, all of whom will be eager to make new friends and try out their English. The main attraction at Veli is water – a large inland lake, separated from the ocean by only a narrow sandbar. For a few rupees, rides can be had in motor-driven safari launches and power boats, or a family can drift about in a pedal-boat or a row boat. There are kayaks, and even hovercraft, for the more intrepid. While skimming over the lake, visitors will see the local fishermen readying their boats, working on their nets, or poling sand-laden barges.There is a floating bridge, and a floating restaurant too. Open every day; boat rides available at normal working hours, after which the lake reverts to the sole use of fishermen. For your tots, there is a tiny lake within the park, with sturdy, round “tub boats”, equipped with miniature paddles. A small cafeteria serves ice-cream, cold-drinks and snacks, and the grounds are dotted with interesting climbing sculptures designed by the well-known sculptor Kanai.There are pony rides, and an open air theatre. This serves as a center for cultural performances and, with the ocean as a backdrop, provides the setting for an annual arts festival. Check with the Government Tourist Office in Trivandrum for schedules of any special events. The park can be reached in a 15 minute taxi ride from Trivandrum. There are also special bus services to Veil from the city.Akkulam. Akkulam is one of the first picnic spots in the suburbs of Trivandrum. This place is only 10 kms away from the Central Railway Station. The spot is developed on the banks of Aakkulam Kayal (lake), which is an extension of the (lake). The calm and serene atmosphere and its unique natural beauty is fascinating for the tourist. The village consists of the Boat Club, Swimming Pool, Children’s Park, an Anthurium Project and a Snack Bar.The Backwaters Treatment Swaying coconut palms and meandering waterways create a magical charm to the land.Magic of the backwaters: a great and glistening web of rivers ,canals, lakes and estuaries where time flows at a measured pace and yesterday and tomorrow merge into an ever-lasting , jade-green, today. The bluish waterways and the green land mélange to create a mood that begger description. When you first encounter the backwaters they look unreal: slow flowing watery highways meandering between palm-hung banks. Clearly, the best way to encounter these water lands is to hire a houseboat. These long, broad-beamed, boats were once rice boats carrying mounds of grain from the Kuttanad , rice bowl of Kerala, to the great voracious cities. Then a complex of roads feathered out across the State and the rice boats lost business to the trucks. This is when the bright entrepreneurs of Kerala said: “Anything Kashmir can do, we can do better!” They bought rice boats from the out-of-work owners, made stately rooms, bathrooms, open-sided lounges, and kitchens, on board; employed the original owners as captains and crew on their own boats; brought in a chef and a guide, and were in business. You can, for instance, choose either to be part of the scene or, detachedly, away from it. Your houseboat, except when it ties up alongside in the firefly haunted night, is never so far away from the banks that you cannot share, vicariously, in the lives of the people of the backwaters. Yet, you are never really close enough to become intimately involved in their trials and tribulations. You can, with complete freedom, pick and choose your passing involvement as if you were plugged into a Virtual Reality experience. For the passengers, the backwaters’ houseboat experience is a step further on the rejuvenating trail. The environment of Kerala, the atmosphere of this green State, is therapeutic in itself. Just being in Kerala, as we’ve said, is a health-enhancing experience. But when you experience it in the peaceful drifting of a houseboat through the backwaters, you’re adding a deep dimension of serenity to your therapy. Squadrons of brown and white ducks paddle past, for little thatched-and-tiled settlements on the palm-shaded embankments. Women hang out bright pennants of washing while their husbands, with bare, bronzed, bodies, fish with rod and line, or flared filigrees of nets, or with bows and harpoon arrows, or even with spiked bamboo probes, extracting skulking crabs from water-lapped eaves of the levees. Everything here has a water-bias. The morning newspaper, an essential accompaniment to the first cup of tea, is delivered by skiff; water taxis convey spade-bearded Syrian Christian priests, school girls in blue skirts and white blouses, the fish-wives with plastic-lined baskets filled with mackerel; and a placid buffalo chewing the cud. All through the day, chug-chugging water-buses hoot and dock gently against coconut-trunk jetties; a multi-cared racing canoe flees in a flurry of spray; a fisherman in a circular straw hat bobs in his dugout, his lines stretched behind him in the late afternoon. The light softens and the sun is low and gold through the palms and you realise that you’ve drifted a whole day away: sipping coconut water, dining on fresh fish, crabs, steamed idlis and freshly roasted bananas with the taste and consistency of baked custard. A church bell peals the evening angelus and women, with scarves draped over their heads, hurry into a backwaters church. Lights begin to appear in the thatched and tiled houses of the backwaters, a dog barks, a cow moos asking to be milked, the sun sinks in a blaze of golden glory. Constellations twinkle bright over the palms, thrusting silver starlight into the dark water. Your houseboat nudges the bank and a boatman leaps ashore, carrying an electric lead. Soon lights and fans come alive in your floating home and crickets and frogs, disturbed by your boat, pluck up courage again and, tentatively at first, and then with increasing confidence, begin to sing their welcome to the approaching night. You fall asleep wrapped in tranquillity and to a little night music from the tiny, green choristers of the backwaters. Generally, a short session of backwaters serenity is enough to cure most of the ailments of urban “civilisation,” but if you have deeper disabilities of the mind, the heart, and the body you can walk further on Kerala’s rejuvenating path. You must seek out one of Kerala’s yoga, massage and Ayurvedic healing
May 2007
Sat 19 May 2007
Sat 19 May 2007
Here, on the vast backwater expanse of Kuttanad in Kerala, a rooster’s call often gets drowned in the incessant quacks of ducks, as the boatmen shepherd them over the backwaters in search of food. This is a usual practice in the region and the picture of the month is one such sight from the backwaters of Kuttanad.
If you are cherishing the idea of spending some good time, amidst the sights and sounds of the hydrosphere, then step into a country boat and wind through the labyrinth of canals in Alappuzha. While cruising through these canals, one would come across many interesting aspects of day-to-day life on the land as well as on water.
Here, at Alappuzha, one can easily find boats according to one’s requirement, starting from small country boats to luxury houseboats and small speedboats to big passenger motorboats. Small boats are preferred for cruise through the canals. Once you have the transport ready, pick one of the canal systems in and around Alappuzha for your cruise.
Let the canal network be at any part of the Vembanad Lake, the chances of one coming across some of the inspiring and interesting vistas on and along the canals are very high. This could come in the form of panoramic paddy fields; coconut lagoons; pied King Fishers hurtling down to catch fish etc. Among other common sights that one would come across during the cruise are isolated islands; men on country boats engaged in fishing and shepherding their ducks to new pastures, cargo being moved in huge boats called rice barges or Kettu Vallams and school children being ferried across the canal.
During the cruise, one would also be able to drop in at some villages to check out the techniques and procedure involved in coir making. Also, if interested, one may try any of the wayside eateries serving ethnic food, especially fish delicacies, and also toddy, the natural beverage produced from coconut trees.
So get set for a memorable cruise through the canals of Alappuzha. Because this could be just the beginning of your many cruises on the canals and backwaters of Kerala. Boats can be hired from the jetty, close to the KSRTC bus station.
Sat 19 May 2007
Kerala, a land sprung from the sea, shows an extraordinary relationship between land and water. It is named as the land of rivers and backwaters. Kerala has an intricate network of lakes, lagoons, canals and backwaters. Over 900 km of this labyrinthine water world is navigable and flashes up vivid contrasts of lush green and deep blues at the same instant. This is the peculiarity of Kerala backwaters. Kerala backwaters create a unique ecosystem. Freshwater from the rivers meet with seawater, and unique species of aquatic life including crabs, frogs, king fishers, darters and turtles live in and along side Kerala backwaters.
The largest backwater stretch here is the Vembanad Lake and it opens out into the sea at Kochi port. Ashtamudi, the second largest lake, covers the major part of Kollam district in the South, and is considered as the gateway to the backwaters. The singularity is not only in the nature of Kerala backwaters, it is present also in the exploration vehicle. The giant country crafts ‘Kettuvallams’ (houseboats) are adapted to make Kerala Travel through backwaters, an unforgettable experience. Kettuvallam travel will also give an opportunity to taste the unique Kerala cuisine. Kerala Travel is incomplete without a cruise through the Kerala backwaters in Kettuvallam.