Alleppey Backwaters

How can one visit Kerala and not visit the famous backwaters. It was the last day of our trip. Our flight was late at night so we had the full day for a trip to the backwaters. Alleppey is just an hour and a half from Kochi so we took our time and set-off with Suhail who had taken us to Munnar the previous day. All bags packed, we would head to the airport on the go.

We reached Alleppey and spotted a number of Shikara boats parked on the waters. We would be taking one of them. We spoke to one Mt Sudarshanan (Contact: 99610 58804) and he gave us a deal for a two-hour cruise for Rs 2000. That was exactly what we wanted so without wasting much time we set-off. Suhail also joined us and much to our delight we were the only ones in the cruise. The Shikara boat had a number of comfortable seats, colored in bright yellow and at the apex a wonderful diwan type structure where one can lie down and enjoy the views.

The landscape changed soon after and we were treated to the beautiful sights of several houseboats parked all around the banks. Some of them were even moving. Unlike the houseboats in Srinagar, which remain stationary, the houseboats here go on a cruise around the waters.

We cruised along and got to see many more views like these floating plants. The waters were surrounded by villages and the only mode of transport was by boat. We could view some green paddy fields in the villages. Also these were lined up with restaurants. We would be taking our lunch in one of these restaurants

It was now time for our much needed lunch break. From a distance we spotted a prominent one named “Paddy Field Restaurant” and surely enough Sudarshanan took the boat in that direction and parked. As soon as we got down the restaurant owner showed us his ‘catch of the day’ i.e. the fish that he would fry for us. We opted for one fish and one chicken dish. There was more delight waiting for us in the form of the paddy field behind the restaurant. I have not seen anything more green in my life. It was almost as is someone applied a fluorescent highlighter on nature’s landscape. Google Maps told us that we were at Mullakkal.

After watching this great sight as we walked towards the lunch area, while I was filming for the vlog, I suddenly felt something on my shoulder. To my horror, I saw a giant eagle. The eagle was spotted earlier on the restaurant owner’s shoulder but little did I realize that it would change shoulders and land on mine. With the camera and tripod stand I had to balance the situation while Asmi and Suhail were busy taking photos of this spectacle. Thankfully it was all good while it lasted.

Now it was time for lunch. Was on similar lines to the one which we had at the Rainforest at Athirapalli Falls a couple of days ago though on a smaller scale. The banana leaf was spread out and in came the fish and the chicken.

Post lunch we enjoyed the view for a while, viewed a number of houseboats pass by and soon we were on the boat again. We enjoyed the changing landscape. The roads lining up the villages, the odd island and of course the houseboats.

Our last catch of the day was a total surprise. We have all heard of the annual boat race held at the Alleppey backwaters. It was to be held two weeks later on August 12th and the teams were practicing that day. All of a sudden we heard a huge chorus and then the roar. Each of the rowers letting out a roar to push their team mates and row in sync with each other in order to get the maximum speed. Within seconds the boat whizzed past us.

That was it from the backwaters as we came to the end of our cruise. We now headed to the Alleppey beach which was not very far away. Suhail drove us there. The approach to the beach was a bit disappointing as a flyover construction was going on. The beach was pristine, clean, white sand and quite a long one. It was not much of a touristy attraction (In Alleppey, the backwaters take away all the tourists) as I noticed there were few shacks. However, it was quite lively with many families enjoying their evening. We walked around dipped our feet and got hit by the aggressive waves on multiple occasions.

We drove back to Kochi at around sunset time and the final act of our trip was a visit to the Lulu Mall, one of the largest malls in India. There we had one last amazing meal at the iconic Paragon Restaurant. We finally boarded our flight back at 1:50 in the morning.