Trip to India.
Contributed by Norman Harris.
I tested the “Kettuvalams”, besides the fact that it is a big tourist attraction in backwaters paradise “Venice of East” it is a perfect holiday destination.
It has a huge network of backwater canals. The backwaters in Kerala are 1500 kms of canals both manmade and natural, 38 rivers and 5 big lakes extending from one end of Kerala to the other.
The Houseboats are giant country crafts, measuring up to 80 feet in length, retrieved from being lost to the State altogether.
Kerala is the Southern State of India. It has an area of 1 percent of the total area of the country.
The state stretches 580 kilometres along the Malabar Coast on the southwestern side of the Indian peninsula.
Once these ketuvalams ruled the backwaters as the only mode of transportation – heavily loaded with rice, coconut and other commodities. But in the recent times, the kettuvalams or rice-barges have been replaced by more and modern modes of transport, relegating them to neglect and decay.
The region of Kerala stands unique among the Indian states with the highest Human Development Index in India, comparable with that of many developed countries, but with a lower per capita income. The state is the most literate in India. Kerala is also ranked as India’s cleanest state. Kerala has witnessed significant migration of its people, especially to the Persian Gulf countries during the Kerala Gulf boom and its economy has significant dependence on remittances from its large Malayali expatriate community.
Today, an innovative holiday idea has restored these majestic representatives of a unique culture and with them their makers. The Kerala houseboats / rice barges that cruise the emerald waterways today are an improvisation on these large country barges. Modified to meet a novel concept of holidaying, the houseboats are comfortably furnished with an open lounge, a living cum dining area, one or two bath attached bedrooms and a kitchenette and sometime also a raised sundeck. Newer boats even have hot water and electric lamps – powered by solar energy (see the solar cells on roof of the boat). Every houseboat is manned by a crew – usually a cook, guide and oarsman.
The boat is constructed by eco-friendly materials like bamboo mat, and coir. It takes great skill and meticulousness to construct these giant Houseboats by tying huge planks of jack wood together with coconut ropes, and painted with cashew nut oil inside and fish oil outside. Curiously enough, not a single nail is used in their making of a houseboat. There used to be an entire clan of artisans who were involved in kettuvalam construction.
A cruise in a Kettuvallam along the backwaters of Kerala is often the highlight of a holiday to this region. Most houseboat cruises are just a day or two – but we are pleased to introduce this specially created six night cruise, much of which takes a route very much off the ‘normal cruising channels.
House & Hotel magazine support local charities and invite users to do so too.
F&B:
Mystic Spice, Alappuzha, Kerala.
On the backwaters of Alappuzha, Vasundhara Premiere’s fine dining restaurant gives a whiff of Kerala’s traditional cuisine and beyond. A blend of tastes, flavour and ingredients from the fabled spice route and decor that’s a hard back to the flourishing trade from Kerala which introduced pepper and other spices to the word.
This restaurant is a complete adventure. Try the Kerala style fish, freid and wrapped in banana leaves to sadya.
Mystic Space features a wall of various spices.
Yummy, I like the incredible India.
http://www.karmakerala.com/houseboat-image-gallery/luxury-houseboats.html
Check in : House boats
