ALLEPPY - OR AS IT IS CALLED ALLAPHUZHA
Taking off from the wedding hall we rushed to the small bus centre to catch the express to Alleppy. I prefer to call Alleppy, the journey was for about 5 hrs reached there by evening and at the main market centre where express buses stopped. Getting off we were hounded by the local guides for the various lodge/hotels. Since we had to move the next morning to North - Mangalore we decided to stay in the beautiful house boats.
The local guide asked us that how long would we like to hire, we said that through the night so as to avoid staying in the hotel. The price Rs 25,000/- (US $ 510 ) inclusive of night meals / breakfast/ lunch. Veg , non veg everything , a 5 star hotel in Mumbai would charge about the same for 2 double 2 single occupancy . Jaws dropped we decided it was not worth that whopping amount to spend the night. So a few glare here and there and pop came the word bungalow one room availabe for Rs 600/- (US$ 15) neat clean , near the beach ,Air conditioned .
We immediaetly took it, it was a nice cosy little bungalow, a family already on the ground floor, and a couple on the first floor opposite our room, the average sized room all four of us.
We freshened up and went to the beach. It was clean but crowded, nice cool breeze, walking along the way were centuries old houses, fishermens inn built by the British, and lovely little cottages converted to hotels.
About a couple of hours on the beach we decisded to go to the bungalow ordering a takeaway on the way from a local hotel and had a quite dinner. Morning all of us got up ealry as we needed to spend as much time as possible on the boat in the back waters . The local guide helped us get one at a very cheap rate early in the morning at 8 am, and we hopped in and took our place . This a small boat, with a roof where four chairs were put up and little shade over the head. Moving through the little pathway was much like Venice (this is why Alleppy is called the Venice of India). Unfortunately the entire strech of the waterway is filled with weeds which have not been cleaned up.
The sad part is that with so much of tourisim in this part of India so little is done to make this wonderful land/sea/waterway worth a decent clean look.
The small bridges over the waterway just like the European style, so beautiful. There is so much to this place that as we travelled along the narrow backwaters we stopped at a local house and got off the boat , we had freshly caught king prawns, clams, shrimps, mackerel. The lady quickly fried some of it a little went into the curry, and some were just roasted on the wood fire outside the house. Having the local toddy, eating the very tasty curry which is made in earthenware is something no foodie should miss.
Back on the boat we went right into the sea and took the return trip back to the market where we started. This four hours of backwater was something one has to enjoy with sipping huge tender cocounut water, the food, and the stillness and calm of the sea meeting the water inlets.
So Alleppy is good neat clean houses mostly French style, white all around, beautiful clean beach the boat houses, small boats for smaller budgets, the fish and curry & rice at the local backwater houses freshly cooked, banana chips, huge tender coconut with sweet water.
The waterway sadly full of weeds, if the lcoals did their bit this place could generate a Billion Tourism Dollars for the country. I always felt with so much natural places, even if only the two states of Goa and Kerela were to be made the tourisim capital of India and all efforts to keep it clean and have fantastic infrastructure for travel/stay/food it could generate enough revenues to run the entire nation.
Looking at the revenues that tourisim brings to the country like Singapore / Malaysia / Thailand, it surprises why we don't make that kind of facilities made . Specially Malayasia and Singapore have man made jungles and forests and it is so wonderful that it just takes your breath away.
The Minister of Tourism might not do anything, but the lcoals can with the state ministeries help generate lot of money from tourisim.
Kerela Tour Cochin Alleppy Kerela Travel Boat Houses
Taking off from the wedding hall we rushed to the small bus centre to catch the express to Alleppy. I prefer to call Alleppy, the journey was for about 5 hrs reached there by evening and at the main market centre where express buses stopped. Getting off we were hounded by the local guides for the various lodge/hotels. Since we had to move the next morning to North - Mangalore we decided to stay in the beautiful house boats.
The local guide asked us that how long would we like to hire, we said that through the night so as to avoid staying in the hotel. The price Rs 25,000/- (US $ 510 ) inclusive of night meals / breakfast/ lunch. Veg , non veg everything , a 5 star hotel in Mumbai would charge about the same for 2 double 2 single occupancy . Jaws dropped we decided it was not worth that whopping amount to spend the night. So a few glare here and there and pop came the word bungalow one room availabe for Rs 600/- (US$ 15) neat clean , near the beach ,Air conditioned .
We immediaetly took it, it was a nice cosy little bungalow, a family already on the ground floor, and a couple on the first floor opposite our room, the average sized room all four of us.
We freshened up and went to the beach. It was clean but crowded, nice cool breeze, walking along the way were centuries old houses, fishermens inn built by the British, and lovely little cottages converted to hotels.
About a couple of hours on the beach we decisded to go to the bungalow ordering a takeaway on the way from a local hotel and had a quite dinner. Morning all of us got up ealry as we needed to spend as much time as possible on the boat in the back waters . The local guide helped us get one at a very cheap rate early in the morning at 8 am, and we hopped in and took our place . This a small boat, with a roof where four chairs were put up and little shade over the head. Moving through the little pathway was much like Venice (this is why Alleppy is called the Venice of India). Unfortunately the entire strech of the waterway is filled with weeds which have not been cleaned up.
The sad part is that with so much of tourisim in this part of India so little is done to make this wonderful land/sea/waterway worth a decent clean look.
The small bridges over the waterway just like the European style, so beautiful. There is so much to this place that as we travelled along the narrow backwaters we stopped at a local house and got off the boat , we had freshly caught king prawns, clams, shrimps, mackerel. The lady quickly fried some of it a little went into the curry, and some were just roasted on the wood fire outside the house. Having the local toddy, eating the very tasty curry which is made in earthenware is something no foodie should miss.
Back on the boat we went right into the sea and took the return trip back to the market where we started. This four hours of backwater was something one has to enjoy with sipping huge tender cocounut water, the food, and the stillness and calm of the sea meeting the water inlets.
So Alleppy is good neat clean houses mostly French style, white all around, beautiful clean beach the boat houses, small boats for smaller budgets, the fish and curry & rice at the local backwater houses freshly cooked, banana chips, huge tender coconut with sweet water.
The waterway sadly full of weeds, if the lcoals did their bit this place could generate a Billion Tourism Dollars for the country. I always felt with so much natural places, even if only the two states of Goa and Kerela were to be made the tourisim capital of India and all efforts to keep it clean and have fantastic infrastructure for travel/stay/food it could generate enough revenues to run the entire nation.
Looking at the revenues that tourisim brings to the country like Singapore / Malaysia / Thailand, it surprises why we don't make that kind of facilities made . Specially Malayasia and Singapore have man made jungles and forests and it is so wonderful that it just takes your breath away.
The Minister of Tourism might not do anything, but the lcoals can with the state ministeries help generate lot of money from tourisim.
Kerela Tour Cochin Alleppy Kerela Travel Boat Houses
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