Alluring Allepey

Route :

Bangalore – Krishnagiri – Thoppur (turn right) – Mettur – Bhavani (NH47 from here) – Coimbatore – Palghat (Pallakad) – Thrissur – Chalakudi – Cochin – Alleppey – 650 kms

Alleppey – Cochin (NH 17 from here) – Calicut (Kozkikode) – turn right to NH 212 – Vythri – Kalpetta – Sultan Bathery – Gundlupet – Nanjangud – Mysore – Bangalore – 700 kms

Gowri Heritage Residence

Originally uploaded by Pallavi Barua.

An idyllic place to visit during this time of the year. This is the only place in

Kerela which does not have any forests around. Its purely backwaters and what better way to spend a holiday than glide across the canals and watch the daily life of the backwaters pass by in front of your eyes.

Its along drive from Bangalore. So you have to plan it well. I would suggest that you start very early in the morning or take a break somewhere in Palakkad. When you plan a trip from Bangalore, and you are driving down, make sure you have buffer time for napping. .  My first impression of this place was it was very much like Pondicherry with canals in the city and very quaint look and feel to it.

Breakfast time

Originally uploaded by Pallavi Barua.

Gowri Heritage Residence was a homestay which we had booked. It was an interesting place. The first impression was like coming to someone’s home. We waited a while till our rooms were vacated and spent sometime with some food which took ages to come. We were tired and hungry and really did not appreciate the delay but we tried to sit and just breathe in the scene.

Lots of people were milling around and I got the impression that this was a famous place.

We drove all night and though its nice to do that because you will not have public crossing roads and making a general nuisance, you will be pretty tired if you do not take a break.  We started at 8:00 in the evening and reached our place of stay at 11:00 AM.  Food took about 45 minutes in coming and as soon as we were done with it, we got our rooms too and checked in.

The homestay was located near a beautiful temple and I thought to myself that it would be nice to just sit there in the evening and breathe in the spirit of that place. A daily Kathakali show was on somewhere nearby but we decided to skip it.

Playfulness

Originally uploaded by Pallavi Barua.

The plan was to go find some local lunch which would entail some fish fry and beef or anything edible and then come back and nap. After that we would hit the beach which was some 1 Km from the homestay.

The group walked in search of a place and found Thaff a family restaurant. They had some awesome biryani and got me some fish biryani which was heaven. I was too tired to go walking for lunch and Rocks got me lunch.

They had some beef roast, chicken roast and biryani. Service was good enough and the group was replete with what they got. After a short nap we strode out to the beach.  It was about 4:30 and the beach was full of people. We loved the beach. The sea was very playful and soft and it seemed that the waves loved to touch the human spirit. And the best part was that the beach was clean and people kept it well. I liked that part. The sand was soft and it was enriching just to walk among the waves and watch the sun go down. Another paradise for photographers.

Ode to Krishna

Originally uploaded by Pallavi Barua.

It was a beautiful evening which we did not want it to end. I was just filled with awe as I always do when I watch the sunsets. The sea had a different call to it and I could just sit and not go anywhere.

We came back and walked the streets and found that the streets were filled as if there was some “mela” going on. The temples were alight with multiple lamps and everything was bright and very festive. I was told that there was some festival going on and that day was the last day.  Knowing that we went to the temple next door and was awashed with simple bhajans sung by two women taking turns. It just filled me with pure divinity, just sitting there and listening to one of the women sing while baby Krishna was rocked on the swing by the pundit. The temple itself was not so crowded and that made it all the more peaceful. I am not a temple person but I love temples which have personality and open spaces.

Pickup point for a boat ride

Originally uploaded by Pallavi Barua.

We had dinner at the homestay. We did the smart thing to order dinner beforehand so that by the time we finished our walk, the food would be ready. The next morning we planned to do the boat ride along the canal. We asked the homestay manager to book us a boat.

We went to the pickup point to board the boat. Unfortunately, the manager booked a cidey motorboat. I was pissed to see that. So I chose another boat with chairs which looked simple yet very lovely. Because of the previous booking, we had to pay a little more than what was arranged.

My recommendation is to go to the pick up point really early and book boats there. You will get a cheaper deal and do haggle.  The earlier the better.  We got a boatman who was very quiet and very friendly at the same time.  We took a 3 hour boat ride and it was one of the smoothest experience.

Garage for the boat

Originally uploaded by Pallavi Barua.

Watching the daily life as we cruised by was something like watching a movie run by you. Gliding through the backwaters, it was peaceful with wild life and domestic life blended to perfection.

Shops by the waters, ferry stops, backyards, very quaint shops, the natives going about their activity.. all of that at some point made me humble and remind me of how simple life was and here we are running after so many non related things.

Our boatman was very kind to have us stop at a home where they sold fresh coconut water.. and you could also go for a loo break there. You could also have prawn fry or fish curry and local cuisine on one of these stops.

The boatman also took the effort to pluck raw mangoes from a low hanging branch and gave it to us with simple pleasure. He produced a small knife and invited us to cut and have the mango. I found that very sweet.

Loved the different boats and the life style that I watched going by..I would reccomend this glide to everyone. Dont miss it this if you are in Allepey. That is the highlight of the trip. We did visit Poomkavu Church and the lighthouse and closed our evening with sitting the sun go down on the beach

Houseboat for rent

Originally uploaded by Pallavi Barua.

We started early next morning at 6:30 AM and reached Bangalore by 10:00 PM with loads of memories and some peaceful moments.. which I can go back to when I need that inner moment.

References to this location .

• Gowri Heritage Residence ( the place where we stayed.
• About Allepey
• Coir Village Lake Resort – a highly reccomended resort by friends
• Tourism in Allepey – Some useful tips on what you could do and see around this place.
• Houseboat Cruises in Allepey – Its expensive but I think this is worth a day’s experience. If you have a decent sized group, the expense could be well distributed.  You can get 1 bedroom to 4 bedroom houseboats. Take your pick. ( select ‘click for details‘  on the linked website to know the tariff)
• Backwater Tours – You could try for this if you have larger plans and more time around this place.

Some nice homestays I had researched on.

• Nelpura Heritage Homestay
• Poppally’s Heritage home and resorts
• Ted’s Homestay

My reccomendation :

• If you are traveling from Bangalore, its a long way down on wheels so make sure you have some time planned for rest before checking out the native scene.
• An ideal trip would be one day homestay and one day houseboat. Its not cheap so check for options.
• You could do what we did. Stay on a homestay and spend a cruise on the backwaters on a motorboat with cane chairs. Please specify that you would like to have the boats with the bamboo chairs.  That gives you the feeling of a houseboat glide even if you are not in one.  It costs about 400 – 450. If they say more, haggle for it. If they see a crowd, they will charge more. If they see two or three people, they charge the normal fee.
• Gowri Heritage Homestay is good but the food service sucks. It takes 45 mins to 1 hour to prepare any dish that you want. So I would actually not reccomend this place unless you are not fussy about that. We compensated by having local food which actually ended up really cheap for us. I would rate it at low average on the hospitality and service. Not a place you could depend on to make your stay better.  Though the homestay in itself and the location is very charming and accessible. Its not worth the price you pay.
• The beach is good in the evenings.
• Dont forget to stop for a tender coconut water break. Request your boatman for it if he does not do it on his own. Its divine. I dont think I have had a more sweeter and tastier coconut water anywhere.
• Take the 3 hour cruise. You will not regret it.
• If you are visiting the Lighthouse, do it between 3 to 4:30. You will find it closed otherwise. The lighthouse was first lighted in 1862.
• Have your lunches in small shacks and you will not regret the experience.
• Don’t forget to buy some coir items by the highway shops. They are dirt cheap and very very well crafted.  Allepey is a major center for coir industry.
• If you are in the center of town, dont forget to try the Thaff restaurant for amazing Kerela cuisine. I specially liked the beef roast.  If you are not into too much spice, do request to serve you less spiced dish of whatever you find in the menu. You can get the flavor customised to your pallete.
• When you are coming back, stop at Vythri for lunch and definitely have the chicken and the beef biryani.. Its awesome.
• Dont ask for curds. Its a rare commodity. You could make do with ice creams when you are thoroughly spiced out. Works wonders for the stomach.
• Avoid peak hours driving in the town. Its madness.