DAY 2: “BACKWATERS CALLING”
A visit to Kerala can never be
complete without visiting its backwaters.
We had already asked Jose to
arrange for a Shikara Ride on the backwaters in the morning for four hours.
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| Alleppey Backwaters |
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| View from the Room Balcony |
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| Houseboat on Alleppey Backwaters |
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| Shikara Ride on Alleppey Backwaters |
The shikara is a small boat
with its roof covered. All the other sides of the boat are open and there are
luxurious reclining chairs, cushions, pillows etc. The Shikara takes you
leisurely through the backwaters and again back to the boarding point.
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| Colourful Buildings near Backwaters |
Once the Shikara starts, it
slowly moves through the backwaters channels. The surrounding is lush green and
lined with numerous coconut trees.
Houses are made on the banks of the backwaters and you can witness
people going through their daily work. You see women washing clothes, people
taking a dip in the back waters, fisherman on boats trying to sell their wares…
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| People at work on backwaters |
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| People at work - That's me cyling next to Backwaters :) |
Since the boat goes through
waterways, the air is cool and the breeze is relaxing.
Backwaters have always been there
in Alleppey; families have settled on its banks and have used the water for
every purpose – be it washing clothes, washing utensils, brushing teeth or
taking a bath. Every family has its own small boat, there are many big ferry
boats which serve the purpose of public transport. There are huge flat platform
boats which are used to transport trucks from one end to another end of the
backwaters and houseboats ferry tourists on the calm waters.
In Alleppey, we did not have
much to cover. We were here for back waters and Kerala massage. Since we were
heading to Lakshadweep, we were not very keen on Alleppey Beaches. So after our
beautiful stint with the backwaters and two massages in two days, we had half a
day to chillax.
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| Keraleeyam Massage Center |
We took an auto to Mullackal Road where we had our lunch at Kream Korner Art Cafe. After a fulfilling lunch we decided to stroll the market and do some shopping. The first thing we shopped for was “Lungi” ;) Post that Preeti and I bought some beautiful and very economically priced sarees. I don’t wear sarees but I could not resist the beautiful sarees. We also went to a beautiful temple which is located in the main market. There are few shops where you can buy souvenirs.
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| Temple at Alleppey |
After our shopping we headed to
Indian Coffee House to sip coffee. We decided to get few masala dosas packed
for our dinner.
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| Water Transportation - Interesting Sight |
It had started drizzling by now
and had become dark. We again took an auto rickshaw (some language problem
here) and headed to our resort. We had bought a torch which came in handy to
reach our resort.
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| It's Raining !!! |
Points
to remember:
- Alleppey is all about backwaters. Do go for a ride on the backwaters depending on your budget.
- If you can splurge then rent a house boat (Kettuvallam) on the backwaters for 22 hours. It’s an experience that you will cherish.
- Mullackal Road is the main shopping area in Alleppey. If you are not doing shopping in Kochi then Mullackal Road is the place to shop. You can buy famous kerela and silk sarees and souvenirs from here.
- Expense Details of the day:
Expense Particulars
|
Amount for 4 people
|
Amount per head
|
Shikara Ride at the backwaters for 4 hours
|
1,400
|
350
|
Breakfast enroute backwaters ride
|
325
|
81
|
Lunch at Kream Korner Art Café
|
850
|
213
|
Auto ride - To & Fro
|
120
|
30
|
Dinner at Indian Coffee House
|
290
|
73
|
Stay at Malayalam Lake Resort
|
2,400
|
600
|
Misc expense at Malayalam Lake Resort
|
200
|
50
|
TOTAL
|
5,585
|
1,396
|
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