Another 80 mile/4 hour taxi ride took us from high in the Western Ghats back to sea level, with yet more spectacular scenery and not-so-spectacular driving. We made 2 stops – the first for a coffee at a viewpoint restaurant and the second at a Kerala State Beverages outlet. Given the challenges of getting a beer in Kerala, we thought it better to be safe than sorry and our driver insisted that a case of 12 large Kingfishers offered the best value. So much for discreetly taking a couple of drinks into our accommodation!

Kumarakom

Dinner was available too – a communal feast served at 19.30 for all 14 guests, prepared by Divya and her husband for the price of Rs 600 (less than £6) each. A choice of chicken, fish or veg accompanied by a veg curry, several vegetable dishes, breads, rice, dhal – delicious and topped up as required – and with reasonably priced cold beer available for those who wanted it.

After an Indian breakfast of fruit, chana masala and appam (rice flour and yeast) bread, we embarked by boat on an award-winning tour of the local area developed by the villagers to preserve & showcase their traditional way of life. Debbie made a rope from coconut fibres, Steve partly climbed a coconut tree and drove the boat for a while, both were dressed in traditional outfits, we tasted toddy, witnessed self-sufficiency (paddy fields, variety of home grown produce, chillis/coconut husks/shrimps drying in the sun), visited a village house and watched a lady weaving roof tiles from banana leaves and making intricate mats. The latter take 2.5 days to make, and sell to the yoga studios of Northern India for just Rs 600 (less than £6) – humbling and something to remember when haggling to save a couple of quid on something you’d pay many times more for at home.

Alleppey Houseboat

The tale of the houseboat started some weeks earlier when Debbie was lying on a sunbed in Goa trying to plan the Kerala leg of our trip. She initially thought about getting a local travel agent to organise an itinerary & arrangements for ease, but quickly dismissed the idea when she didn’t like the options or prices they were coming back with. So that left 2 options for the not-to-be-missed Kerala Backwaters Houseboat experience: (1) spend a day in Alleppey investigating what was available for the following day, inspecting the boats, haggling to agree a price, or (2) find something online, inevitably pay more and hope for the best. Not wanting to waste a day in Alleppey she chose option 2, and then had numerous email and WhatsApp exchanges with a variety of providers, finally settling on a boat that she liked very much at a price that seemed OK – we saved £60 by agreeing not to have the aircon running during the day which was fine as we’d be on deck anyway. The chosen provider was www.alleppey-houseboat.com who had decent reviews and a good online presence (active Insta in addition to website & Facebook), and after initial contact through the website all communication was via WhatsApp. When she was asked to make a transfer for the full amount (almost £300) through the Wise* app to the personal bank account of the General Manager – Houseboats Division, Debbie understandably got very nervous but finally agreed to pay just 50% deposit with the balance on arrival. Super-paranoid, she used a credit card just in case, and this cost a bloody fortune as the bank treated it as a cash advance (so we probably wouldn’t have been covered anyway) and the Wise* fees were far higher. Convinced it was a scam, she was not reassured when the booking confirmation came through on WhatsApp not email, and she was also a bit concerned (understatement) that the guy asked for the mobile number of the taxi driver taking us to the boat to be sent the day before arrival. Why? Was he going to ask the driver to take us to somewhere random and rob us? The worry was needless – it wasn’t a scam, the boat actually did exist and was exactly as per the pictures, the taxi driver number was required to make contact with the boat itself (to ensure we could find where it was docked and to check our food requirements), and the logistics worked perfectly. It seems that WhatsApp is just the preferred way of doing things in India and that Wise* transactions are commonplace.

Our boat was beautiful and we think brand new – one bedroom and ensuite, dining room with panoramic windows, kitchen and crew (captain and cook) quarters, and the best bit was an upper deck with covered seating and front/rear cushioned sunbathing platforms. A bit extravagant so we funded it from our ‘indulgences budget’ – Christmas/birthdays/other gifts from families that we have ringfenced to spend on treats that we couldn’t normally justify from our trip budget. Houseboats come in different grades and this was ‘Premium’ which is towards the top end of what’s available, but it’s only with this grade on a 1 bedroom boat that you are guaranteed an upper deck. We paid about £140/night for the boat and 3 meals/day, but lower grades of boat were available for less than £100/night online and probably less if bartering on the spot the day before departure.

There are apparently around 2,000 houseboats available for hire on the Kerala Backwaters – the embarkation point reminiscent of an Egyptian diving liveaboard jetty (but 10x bigger) – and a lot of them set off daily at 12.00 for a 1-night cruise. So we were in a convoy of boats departing at the same time on the same route, somewhat like Debbie’s experience of a Nile Cruise many moons ago. The boats spread out a bit as we made our way across Vembanad Lake and into a series of wide palm-fringed canals that make up the top part of the backwaters. A stop for a huge home-cooked lunch served on a banana leaf was followed by more cruising – watching the world go by, passing the villages on the banks and the birds going about their business – before afternoon tea and banana fritters and mooring up for the evening and another huge meal and a couple of cold beers on deck (see, that crate of Kingfisher came in handy!). We’d opted for a 2 night cruise and that turned out to be a great decision, if a bit expensive, as it meant on the 2nd day we broke free from the convoy of boats on 1 night trips and had the waterways almost to ourselves. After a leisurely breakfast of omelette & coconut pancakes we set off at 10.00 and made our way to a fish market on the banks where we purchased 1Kg of huge fresh jumbo prawns – half for lunch and half for dinner – which the lady cleaned and shelled for just Rs50 (50p) extra. They were another indulgence but a bargain compared to UK prices, or indeed those of the restaurants in Goa, and were absolutely delicious prepared in Indian spices. A more relaxed day of cruising, sunbathing and eating followed where we got a deeper insight into the backwater life – villages, churches, ferries, shops, fishing, washing clothes in the water – until around 1630 when we encountered a convoy of day trip boats returning to base. After another great meal (our jumbo prawns, chicken curry, veg dishes), and an early breakfast of idli & veg curry the following morning, we arrived back in Alleppey around 0845 and our taxi driver was waiting for us (having already been in contact with the boat).

Overall, a lovely couple of days on a luxurious boat (we saw some absolute wrecks) with excellent service and an abundance of freshly prepared food – highly recommended.

Kerala Backwaters Conclusions

On every tourist itinerary, and rightly so. We think that we got the balance of shore-based time and houseboat just right, and were glad we experienced both – the benefit of having the luxury of time. If there’s time and budget – 2 days on a houseboat gives a much better experience. Although crowded, Alleppey is a better houseboat destination than Kumarakom due to the expanse of waterways – most cruising in Kumarakom is apparently done on the lake. If time is VERY limited, a land-based stay at Kumarakom, with an excursion on a small boat, will give a good flavour of the backwaters.

* Wise – a revolutionary app for instantly transferring money to overseas bank accounts when cards aren’t accepted for payment, avoiding the extortionate overseas transfers that UK banks often charge. A bit of effort to set up initially, including ID checks, but then easy to transfer money in a variety of currencies to the recipient’s bank account within seconds. Exchange is at the prevailing inter-bank rate and fees depend on how you fund the transaction – less than 1% for a direct bank transfer, 1-2% for debit card or Apple Pay, more like 4% if using credit card. We’ve used it 3 times now – for the boat and accommodation – and it works brilliantly to avoid withdrawing and carrying large amounts of cash to pay for accommodation.