Allepey..

Dec 2009

Trying to describe Allepey is like waking up from a lovely dream.. The more you try to describe it , the more it slips away and in the end you are just left with this incredible feeling..

We have to be honest , when we first decided that we would do the House Boat ride around Allepey we did not expect it to be soooo good. We had heard accounts from friends and family and we thought why not..
It was nothing short of spectacular. Allepey is a town in the Allapuzha district of Kerala. It's often called the Venice of the East..
Though both cities are built on water, we visited Venice later and found the two to be vastly different.
We had the opportunity to see Allepey from the water on our House Boat, whereas we discovered Venice on Foot..

Our Journey started at the 'Finishing Point' in Allpey. Here's where the boats are docked so that passengers can embark.
Our Boatman for the ride was Joby. We also had a cook traveling with us who would serve some yummy local fare from his full fledged kitchen onboard the house.

Finishing Point - Allepey

We were soon afloat and it was almost magical watching the city from the confines of our house boat. Ours was a two bedroom house boat with two stories. Since we only took one room , all they did was lock the other one up and we had the entire boat to ourselves!!!!... So we spent most of the time sitting out on top and watching the boat go past the lovely waters of picturesque Allepey.

Cruising along one of the many Cannals in Allepey

We sailed past other boats like ours, some two bedroom ed , some much larger with as many as four bedrooms ..
It was fantastic to watch life on the banks..
There were fisherman going about their daily chores..

Local Fishermen - Allepey

Sitting on top of the boat gave us the chance to capture some great shots ..

The view from the Terrace of our House Boat - Allepey

School Children hurrying to and from school..

Local School Children - Allepey

A lovely church just by the waters.. And the drama of everyday life coming alive with a boat delivering cooking gas cylinders to those on the banks

A Church sitting pretty by the waters - Allepey

Lunch was soon served. Fish is a delicacy around this place . No surprises there Kerala being blessed with water and a beautiful coast. The abundance of Coconuts found its way into our food , making its presence felt in every dish served. :)

Lunch is Served! - Allepey

We sailed past lush green fields , Green and more green and more green as far as the eye can see..
Green is truly what green does!

Paddy Fields along the banks - Allepey

The Able Boatmen - Allepey

Paddy Fields - Allepey

The Husband got to haggle with a local Fisherman for some Prawn..
And thats the catch..!!
Some shots of how the house boat looks from the inside...

Corridor inside our Boat - Allepey

The Rooms were spacious and comfortable and had an attached Bath.. The rooms were air-conditioned too.
All house boats normally stop for the night. So we sat out on our little terrace(Thats what i choose to call it) and sipped on wine.. A word of caution, the mosquitoes really are monstrous so its good to carry anti repellents. They really did save us.
The next morning we set sail back to the place where we started.. We were served breakfast.
All the food on the Boat was great (lunch and dinner the previous day) .. We had the chance to sample some local Keralite delicasies like the fried Banana (Nendram Pazham , a local variety of Banana) Bajji (Was Yummmmmmy!!)

Breakfast!! - Allepey

It was lovely watching all the boats queue up on the way back..

Boats queuing up on our way back to Finishing Point - Allepey

Got more shots on the way.. Of people standing at what looked like bus stops waiting for local boats to pick them up

Boat Stop :) - Allepey

When we got off from the boat we knew we had been part of an experience that was incredibly special. From sailing through the aters of the Vembenadu lake to watching the sun set and rise the next day, Every part of the ride was incredibly Romantic and soooo beautiful.
Kerala - truly is God's own country.

Luv
Meena
In case you guys are planning to go , We booked our ride through Aries Travels (04712330417).

The prices during the off peak season is around Rs 6500 for a room on the boat. The good thing is they rarely ever put strangers on the same boat. So even if you don't take both rooms all they do is lock up the other one. The boats are ideal for families as the prices go up only marginally when you take an extra room. A two bed roomed boat should cost you around Rs8500.