Kerala Houseboats

Cruising along thebackwaters of Keralais an unforgettable experience. If you have not experienced it, here is a golden opportunity to do it at a fraction of its original cost. You could get in any House Boat of your liking, saunter down the cool placid waters of our world-famous backwaters, have a merry time and get back home either the same day or after spending a night as well out floating around.
House Boatsare huge, slow moving, exotic barges designed for sheer leisure trips. Formerly, House Boat were used to ship rice and spices and other goods between Kuttanad and the Cochin port. It was a three-day affair those days. A standard House Boat, which could be about 100 feet long, can hold up to 30 tons, and that is as much as three big lorries can.

A House Boat(which is made of hundreds of fine but heavy-duty planks of jack-wood) is held together absolutely by coir knots (not a single nail is used).KETTUmeans knot. This framework is then coated with a caustic black resin extracted from boiled cashew kernels. And it lasts for generations. Alleppeyis the citadel of House Boats: There are some 120 of them, well maintained and perfected as luxury liners here. The crew cook on board, and most often, their meals included delicious peralspot fish caught straight from the water. A portion of the House Boat had bamboo roofing, and that was where the crew would rest.

The tradition continues: You will be enjoying the finest Kuttanadan delicacies when you saunter down the backwaters. You will be lounging in the best-furnished cabins with a view you cannot find anywhere else in the world, and the entire milieu is ecological. Fresh food, cooked in inimitable Kuttanadan style is the rage of the international tourists. A ride in aHouse Boatis the most stunning experience you could ever float into, or get floated into. And, nothing like it, if it rains while you are cozy inside the luxurious House Boat. It will be the most magical moment of your life. You could watch millions of drops of water splashing and pounding on the rhythm of the falling rain like you never had in all your life.

Athirapallyis the land of rivers

Athirapallyis the land of rivers and forests and great waterfalls!The destination houses thelargest waterfall in Kerala, theAthirapallywaterfall,a major tourist attraction. This patch in Sholayar ranges so beautifully intertwined with lush green forest cover and sizzling silver cascades and located central to Cochin and River Nila(Bharathapuzha),is a treat for the eyes during the monsoon.Swollen Chalakkudy river, Charpa, Vazhachal andAthirapallyare ideal places where the monsoon is to be enjoyed.

Local communities along the Chalakudy river banded together to stop the construction of a hydroelectric dam upstream fromAthirapallyWaterfall. The proposed dam would have submerged More.. than 140 hectares of forest, dried up extensive riparian areas downstream and destroyedAthirapallyWaterfall, one of several scenic waterfalls important to the local tourism industry.The dam also would have destroyed the critical habitat of many important species, including the rare Cochin Forest Cane Turtle, the endangered Great Indian Hornbill, the Lion-Tailed Macaque and the Nilgiri Langur.

Athirappilly Map

Athirapally