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Experiences

Beyond the houseboat

A houseboat is one way to see the backwaters. These are four others, each one part of a journey or a morning on its own.

On the water

Four ways onto the backwaters

An hour in a shikara, a village canoe at first light, a paddle before breakfast, and the ferry that everyone here takes and almost no visitor does.

A thatched shikara on the Alappuzha backwaters at sunset, with village and palms behind

01

The shikara

An hour or two on the water, in a boat small enough for the canals.

A shikara is a small covered boat, with a few seats under a canopy and an engine at the back. It reaches the places a kettuvallam cannot: the narrow canals behind Alappuzha, the paddy bunds of Kuttanad, and the shallow edges of Vembanad where the fishing is done.

It is hired by the hour, usually for two or three. The best time is the last hour before dark, when the light turns gold and fades fast, and the working boats head home.

Where
Alappuzha and Kumarakom
How long
One to three hours
Best time
Late afternoon, into dusk
Suits
Anyone. No effort needed
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The bow of a country canoe on still water at sunrise, Munroe Island

02

The country canoe

First light, a narrow canoe, and a boatman poling from the stern.

If you choose only one, choose this. A country canoe sits only a few inches deep, so it goes where a shikara is too wide: the small canals between houses, where the front step is the water and the bus is a boat.

Munroe Thuruthu, where the Kallada river meets Ashtamudi lake, is the place for it, and the Kuttanad villages behind Alappuzha are the other. Go at first light, when the water is still and the village is only just waking.

Where
Munroe Thuruthu, and Kuttanad
How long
Two to three hours
Best time
Sunrise. It matters here
Suits
Anyone happy to sit still
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A two-person kayak on open water, seen from above

03

Kayaking

Your own paddle, at sunrise, on water that is still empty.

Unlike the canoe, here you do the work yourself. Two hours before breakfast, through the Punnamada canals and out onto the open lake, with tea waiting when you get back.

It suits people who would rather earn the view than be shown it. No experience is needed on flat water, but the monsoon months are not the time: between June and September the current in the canals is strong.

Where
Punnamada and Vembanad, at Alappuzha
How long
Two hours, or half a day
Season
November to May
Suits
Anyone reasonably fit
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A State Water Transport ferry on the backwaters with passengers aboard

04

The public ferry

Not a tour at all. Simply how people here cross the water.

The state ferries ran these routes long before the backwaters became a holiday. Alappuzha to Kottayam takes about two and a half hours through canals and open lake, and in Kochi the boats cross the harbour between Fort Kochi, Vypin and Ernakulam all day.

A ticket costs about as much as a cup of tea, and you travel with people going to work, to school and to market. It is by far the cheapest thing on this page, and a good number of our guests tell us it was the best.

Where
Alappuzha to Kottayam, and Kochi harbour
How long
Twenty minutes to two and a half hours
Timetable
Run by the state, and it changes
Suits
Travellers more than sightseers
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Since 1997

Our team has been in tourism since 1997. Scenic Escapes India Private Limited is a private company registered in Kerala and based in Karunagappally, Kollam. Its registration details are published for anyone to check.

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