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Published: November 12th 2013
Glimpses of Kerala – 3: Kumarkom Backwaters Kerala is known for Kovalam beaches, backwaters of Alleppy and Kumarkom, wildlife sanctuary of Periyar and Thekkady and tea gardens of hill station Munnar. But the feast to the eyes start with the moment your taxi starts on the curvaceous roads sending your compass needle crazy.
The roads in most parts of the Kerala where we travelled were in excellent condition (except around Munnar) - in spite of almost daily rain showers. Gujarat boasts of good roads but they turn in to pot holes with just 10 inches of rain. And still the distances have to be measured in hours and not in kilometers because of high density of population and hilly terrain. In more than 1000 kms of travelling that we did in Kerala we did not find a single patch of more than 500 meters of straight road or one can never be sure when one village or town or city ended and the other started – except around Munnar where perhaps there were no houses for as long as two to three kilometers in some parts. This considerably slows down the speed of the vehicles. Another noteworthy feature was
that the traffic was more disciplined, vehicles were not jumping traffic signals. Police were present at almost every major junction and actually they were helping in regulating traffic.
We were told that Kumarakom backwaters are more picturesque than Alleppy. So we had decided to go to Kumarakom. Kovalam to Kumarakom took us about 4.5 hours. Kumarakom is famous for its backwaters and houseboats. It is set in the backdrop of the Vembanad Lake which is the largest freshwater lake in the state of Kerala.
Our houseboat was named Indraprastha. We entered a little late than planned, at around 1:30pm and were served welcome fruit drink. The houseboat had 3 luxury chairs - sofas, glass top dining table for 6 persons, wall mounted TV with surround sound, two air conditioned rooms with attached bathroom with continuous water supply and a kitchen. Enjoying all this in a boat, floating in back waters is a nice experience. After moving for about half an hour, we stopped for typical Keralian lunch of mainly rice, 3 vegetables, mix salad and rasam. Preparations were good. Then again the boat moved
through the lake passing by various small villages (or group of houses- not sure if they were different villages). On way we saw Chinese fishing net hung for fishing especially during night time.
We stopped at around 5:30pm near the land and boatman put the anchor for the night. We relaxed and in the quiet of the evening could hear insects chirping. We had dinner in dim light not to attract more insects. We went to bed early as there was not much to do or see around. Air Conditioned boat should be preferred over non-AC so that insects do not bother you at night. Mosquito repellents are also recommended although we did not have much problem. It is also advisable to inform the boat operator to serve vegetarian food else, non-veg food is the standard food served on boats.
Next morning we woke up to see lotuses bloomed in the water. We were served breakfast of idli, chutney and sambhar and freshly cut pineapple.
The views were very nice and when our trip in houseboat ended at 8:45, it was leaving with great memories.
This is a must take experience. I highly recommend
to all tourists visiting Kerala to take an overnight stay in a houseboat at Kumarakom.
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Rajdeep
non-member comment
Gods own place!!!!KERELA!!!
Kathakali is a highly stylised classical Keralan play- in-dance form, well known for the attractive make-up of its characters, elaborate costumes, intricate gesturing and hypnotic percussions. It originated during the 17th century and has developed over the years with improvisations in the looks of characters, refining of gestures and added themes.