Alleppey

When we think of Kerala, images of beautiful lagoons and beaches bordered with tall coconut palms, is what comes to mind. Alappuzha formerly known as Allepey with its vast network of lakes, lagoons and fresh water rivers, presents this enchanting picture and promises a delightful experience of the Kerala backwaters.
Exuding a Venetian look, Allepey offers stay in thatched houseboats, backwater boat cruises and the famous snake boat races. Alappuzha is also the access point for the annual Nehru Trophy Boat Race, held on the Punnamada Lake. Besides these, Alappuzha Beach, Ambalappuzha Sri Krishna Temple, Edathua Church, Champakulam Valia Palli, lighthouse and Krishnapuram Palace are also tourist attractions.
Best time to visit: August to February
Languages spoken: Malayalam, English, Tamil
Climate: Hot and humid summers, a long monsoon with heavy rainfall and cool and pleasant winters
Natures Bounty: Alappuzha Beach, Backwaters and lagoons
Places to visit: Ambalappuzha Sri Krishna Temple, Edathua Church, Champakulam Valia Palli, Krishnapuram Palace, lighthouse

Kerala – A Trip to the God’s Own Country

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This was the best experience of all as we were on the houseboat for the first time. The person driving the boat was amazing. Thought of being on water for 22 hrs was amazing. The boat went through several lakes and canals. We saw several villages where the only means of transportation was boat.

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Kerala’s Green Treasures-Part Three

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Alleppey beach beckoned us and we reached there in the scorching mid-day sun at 1 pm. We didn’t spend much time at the beach because of the extreme heat. We started looking around for a nice restaurant for lunch and the local suggestions led us to Hassan Restaurant, just half a km from the beach, on the way towards the town centre.

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Alleppey Backwaters

Visit to God’s own country – Kerala

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Cochin is about 50 kms from Alleppey. After visiting Maritime Navy Museum, we headed for Fort Cochin area. Fort Cochin area consists of Churches, Dutch Palace and Jewish Synagogue. For history enthusiasts its a place for going back in the past and know about Jews, Portuguese and dutch reign in Cochin.

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Kerala – A Tourist State

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The emphasis is on the ‘paying’ tourist and not on the spot. Well some of us definitely enjoy this ‘tourism’ but some of us want to run away from it. Having access to mineral water on a hill top is good, but more important is access to written material about the place, the history, the geography.

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Life in the backwaters of Kerala

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Indeed a lot of people like to call Alleppey (official name Alappuzha) as the Venice of India. I was in Alleppey last month and was fortunate enough to experience the unique life that people in the area lead.  As there is water ways everywhere of all sizes, people have adapted to the same just like fish to water. We took a few houseboats as well as small boat rides in the backwater and the experience was an eye-opener. Nowhere in India are people so much adapted to a life of using canals and boats in their day to day life as in backwaters of Kerala, which is also the home of famous snake boat race.

Just like you and I will have a bike or a car, almost every house hold in the area will have a small canoe or boat that is used for all day to day activities. Our day started on a small boat and we went to some villages situated on both side of the internal canals. It was a very interesting experience to watch the day to day life in the backwaters of Kerala. Most of the internal canals are not very wide and only small boats can go into them, leaving the bigger houseboats only on the main water ways. As it is difficult to reach these small villages quickly by road transport, people use boats to carry their produce to the main canals, from where trucks come and carry the rice to the wholesaler. This is not only cost effective but also quicker.

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