This time again Alleppey–Kochi trip for a long weekend but I had Kiddu-Jiji and Sonel-Vishal for a very good company for the next 3 days.
We all met at Majestic and as our train was on time 6-50 PM straight to Alleppy out next stop :)
Well this time the train straight on time but the boat guy who was supposed to pick us up was disappearing...hmmm we waited for him, till then got freshed up on railway platform {details cannot be shared} and had a great breakfast in IRCTC canteen{for a subsidized rates by Indian railways} Finally he turned up after couple of hours.
We took an auto{Its again prepaid here controlled by Kerala police} and headed towards finishing point, Finishing point is the start and end of our house boat journey. BTW its called finishing point coz thats where the spectacular snake-boat races held on the second Saturday of August, every year @ Punnamada Lake in Alleppy Ends.
And here our own Kettuvallam was waiting for us.
Kettuvallam is a house boat widely used in Kerala. Each houseboat is constructed using the ancient principles and techniques of boat building by the local carpenters using 'Anjili' wood. coir ropes are used for tying the wooden boards together. Hiring a houseboat which may cost around 7000 INR to about 35000 INR......yes and its worth it for a 24 Hr ride for 10 people......u get 2-3 bed room house boat .....some boats with first floor having a balcony and some with TFT screen n Dish TV in it. Almost all these house boats have kitchen as they take u 2 a 24 Hr ride they provide u with full time meals n snacks. And the best of all house boat what v saw was a big floating conference room....u get it with all the facilities even AC fitted in 2 a boat....
We had a 2 BHK with AC and a first floor balcony ...to be frank the boat which we hired was way bigger than my Bangalore 1 BHK apartment :)
Alleppy has large network of inland canals earning it the sobriquet "Venice of the east".
These large network of canals provide Alleppy its lifeline.
Our boat started off from Vembanad lake towards Chambakulam.......Its the Kuttanad area......The boat can b stopped anywhere u wish, so our first stop was to shop maggie packets and come cold drinks and ya not to forget we got some DVD of selected FLOP movies :)
On board we had regular food and drinks. We had a Rummikub championship on board I had taken it with me and off course a maggie party{prepared my Sonel and kiddu} at the end of it. Then it was time for some back to back flop movie session :) but the best part is ur having fun while ur floating in those beautiful backwaters of Kerala...it was a awesome experience when u have u best pals with u. I had a great time. Breakfast lunch snacks and dinner all on board.
Best place to stay in Kochi is MG Road. And we had booked a room near MG Road so all went fine. Now it was time to explore Kochi...so after lunch headed straight to Marine drive and took a boat safari....but let me tell u this was my 3rd visit to kochi and a lot has changed from past couple of years but everything on a positive side of development. The high court Jetty has a new look it took use a long long and very long walk to find it out....but things have changed for good....we had taken a boat cruise that took us to all the important places of kochi rite from Mattancherry Island to its Jew Town and Jewish synagogue. Then to Fort Kochi to its St. Francis Church an 18th Century Church and in and around you will find lot of French styled villas. Walk towards Chinese fish net area. And from the cruise you can see the beautiful Arabian sea and a lot of other commercial ships and Naval ships. Kochi is one of the main ports for Oil import to our country. So there is always room for some new ship yard to come up.
One restaurant that I wanted to take my crew for this trip was Gokul on MG Road and it took me an hour to find it out :) but finally everyone enjoyed the bestest of the best Kerala cuisine here. Yes Kochi has changed a lot, it has become more beautiful clean and modernized now. Every alternate building here is a Silk Saree showroom or a Jewelery shop. Not to mention some Jewelery shops are bigger than some IT parks in Bangalore.
Well these 3 days was truly a great experience in Venice of the east though it was my fourth visit to Gods Own Country .
Special thanks to Rasna for booking house boat for us, Jiju for booking hotel in kochi,Titto for getting train tickets for us and Sonel for photographs.
