December 9-10, 2009 – Day 349-350 – Alleppy, India

Spent the 9th hanging around town and home, not doing much. The 10th we took an awesome boat trip through Kerala’s famous backwaters.

On the river

It was a relaxing, lazy, and quiet day on the covered canoe. Our boat driver didn’t speak much English but always had a smile on his face and made to sure to check in with us every now and then, “Are you happy?”

Awesome umbrella hat

This was usually followed by a big grin and a thumbs up to indicate that if we were happy, he was happy. He was a skinny man with a big appetite at lunch and a rainbow colored umbrella hat that he was very proud of.

Our driver

In the backwaters

Small canal

We had perfect blue skies, gentle waters, and colorful surroundings. Small houses of all colors, tall palm trees, bright saris being washed in the early morning, and old men speeding noiselessly by in their tiny canoes.

Us!

It was a beautiful day and by 5:30pm when we got back, we were really ready for a nap!

Travel Tip: – Kerala’s Backwaters:

There are a few options for exploring Kerala’s backwaters. Alleppy is a popular spot to launch from but there are also tours from Kochi and a few other places throughout Kerala. Once you choose your launching point, you have some options for the actual boat trip. You can take a covered canoe with plenty of comfy cushions and shade to make you comfortable and relaxed for the day. It is one of the cheapest options. You will go with a boat driver and a guide who is supposed to paddle as well but will probably just chat with you more than paddle. Since the canoe is paddled, it will be a nice quiet ride compared to the loud motorized canoes. We shared our boat with one other person and we each paid Rs. 600. If we had not shared the boat, the two of us would have paid Rs. 750/pp. We went through our guest house, Daffodils Home Stay, and were very happy with the 8 hour ride. It sounds like a long time but you are busy enjoying the sights and lounging on the big cushions that the time goes by easily. We stopped once for tea, once for lunch, and once more to see an island house (not interesting, plus we had been seeing a few of these all day anyway).

House boat

Other options for boat trips are the giant house boats that you can overnight on. These run from anywhere between Rs. 2000-12, 000. Some of these are so nice that they include satellite TV, computers, and 2-story boats. If none of those options strike your fancy, you can always spend Rs. 12 and take the public ferry to one going toward Kollam (83 km from Alleppy) and hop off at one of the smaller villages along the way (ticket all the way to Kollam is probably more expensive given the distance). The ferry sticks to the larger main canals but if you are really pressed for time or money, you can at least get a small sense of what the backwaters are like. We had considered the option but decided to go with the covered canoe instead and we were really glad we did!