ALLEPPEY IN A DAY

These day trips, have suddenly caught my fancy. No more planning journeys in advance, looking for accommodation in each place and then worrying about your budget. I found that it is better to drive on to a new place and touch back base by night. We decided to do Alleppey this time. Since Alleppey was just 70 kms from kochi, we took it easy and didnt start very early. We had a lazy breakfast on a holiday and hit the road by11am. Reached Chertala in under half and hour and from Chertala the toll road starts. This is an excellent drive and with the median in place, you could zip through without worrying about the vehicles coming from the opposite direction (this is one of the most dangerous aspects of driving in Kerala)

Reached Alleppey in one hour flat. And then headed straight to the jetty road. We took the first left turn as we reached the jetty and were soon mobbed by the private boat operators, each one claiming that all the boats were booked and that he just happened to have one spare and if we were interested. We spoke to a couple of these agents and being the peak tourist season, the rates were as high as 1200 for an hour whereas the normal rates would be in the range of 350 to 700 ( I am not talking about the house boats which are more expensive). You can see the houseboats lined up waiting for the next ride.

We found the rates extremely high, but having come all this way, didnt want to go back without experiencing the famed back waters ride. While we were haggling, we saw a group of people boarding a boat on the other side of the canal and on enquiring found out that it was the government boats which operated from the other side. We then turned around, crossed the bridge and landed on the other side of the jetty. You can see the government ferry and the jetty in the pic below.

I had a very useful chat with the boat operators who were relaxing in their cabins. They advised us to take the government ferries that follow the same route as the private boats and you could soak in the same sights at a miniscule price. And since we were not honeymooning, we were not very particular about our privacy. And so, though a bit skeptical, we decided to give it a try.

There are two routes. You could take a boat going towards Kottayam and see the Vembanad Lake or take a boat going towards Chambakulam and see the Kuttanad region. We homed on to the latter for the simple reason that there was a boat waiting to leave in that route. We boarded the boat and bought tickets to a place called Nedumudi( Rs.4 per head).

The boat stops at every jetty and picks up passengers on the way. You can see the passengers waiting to board the boat as it is approaching the jetty.

This was a minor irritant but nothing compared to the elation when we saw the 1200 rupee boat chugging along with us.(and us alongside in a 4 rupee boat).

The ride to Nedumudi takes around one and half hours. We motored along enjoying the beautiful countryside and the canals. No wonder this place is known as the Venice of the East. But having had visited Venice earlier, I found Alleppey much more beautiful than Venice.

We passed the small branch lanes spanned by concrete bridges, a traffic bylane in the maze of waterways.

After spending around an hour in the boat, we saw another one coming in the opposite direction and heading towards Alleppey. We immeditely got down though we had not reached our destination and boarded the other boat. The channel was packed with house boats and it was almost like Rush Hour on the waterways.

We were now heading back to Alleppey. We reached Alleppey in the next one hour and at the end of it, had gone boatriding in the backwaters of Alleppey for two hours in 8 Rs which otherwise would have cost us 2400 Rs.

You can now take a similar boat in the other direction (towards Kottayam), hop and jump and return to Alleppey for a ridiculously low sum. We realised that this was the best way to see the sights of Alleppey. Ofcourse if the intention is to stay on a houseboat and enjoy a vacation, then it is a different story. We saw a lot of houseboats parked randomly and the guests enjoying their afternoon lunch sitting on the deck.

The entrance to the Alleppey jetty is filled with weeds and though in a wierd way it looks beautiful, i hope that somebody puts in the effort to clean it up to avoid choking up the waterways.

I have a couple of phone numbers if anyone is interested in booking the houseboats in advance. We had spoken to these people, and they had admitted that due to the tourist rush, the prices have been hiked and we could hire the same boats at half the price after the rush season. It is better to speak to these people and find out the rates before reaching there to avoid being hardpressed to decide.

AKG House Boats - 09249738840

Love Shore Cruises - 09847743183, 09388050054

The latter one we found was more reasonable and was being marketed by the local headloaders union, who have their office very close to the Tourist Information Office on the Government jetty road.


So, I would strongly recommend the day trippers who are on a tight budget and not on their honeymoon, to make use of the government ferries for enjoying a couple of hours of boat ride through the waterways. You could also have a feel of the daily life of the people staying here fully dependent on the boat for their small errands. You can hop off at any point of your choice, explore the region hop on to the next boat back sweeping Alleppey in a day!