Place: Alapuzha(allepey), Boat trip from Alapuzha to kottayam, which costs 15 rupees.
Timings: You can find the details of the timings and routes in this site http://swtd.kerala.gov.in/
It is a daily boat service provided by the kerala water transport cooperation for the local people. Try to catch early morning boat or the evening one as the weather will be nice.
Kuttanad region always fascinates me, my English vocabulary is too poor to describe the beauty of this magical water world in a way it deserves, so instead of trying to be poetic, i try my level best to put this world that i have seen in this 2 hour boar trip in words.
Kuttanad region covers three districts in kerala, this region is popular for backwaters. Allepey, Kumarakom, Kottayam and other famous backwater destinations are located in this region only. When we planned for this trip to Alapuzha, i didnt want to book those house boats because of the budget problem, house boats are too costly charging minimum 5000 per room.when i was searching for an alternative way to explore this region i came to know about this kerala government boat service from alapuzha to kottayam. If you dont want to spend 5,000 to 10,000 bucks for a one night stay, if you want to explore the back waters in a very cheap way where you can interact with the local people who travel in these boats daily, you can happily opt one of these government boat trips.
This place is a very unique place, here every house is an island, every house's front yard will have steps leading to the lake where they wash the clothes, take bath, clean the vessels, every child here will get to learn swimming before walking ;-), every house will have a small rowing boat instead of a car or bike. I have seen a lady selling buckets and other steel bowls on boat. Fish curry is a common curry in their meals like pappu in Telugu states and sambar in Tamilnadu. I think if they run out of vegetables, they simply go to the front yard and catch few fishes and make fish curry. For every 1-2 km there is a boat stand, these boats are there only means of transport and there will be monthly boat passes also.
Life in this region is very different, in this region 60% of the area is covered by water. As the boat slowly moves on the lake surrounded by palm trees passing through the paddy fields, churches, small houses and big house boats, all you can do is appreciate the beauty of the place.
We took the boat from Alapuzha to Kottayam which starts from Alapuzha at 7.30 am. It was on sunday, there was no rush at all, we reached the boat stand at 7.25 and got into the boat. This trip covers 25km from alapuzha to kottayam and the ticket rate is 15 rupees. It will take two hours to reach kottayam as there is a speed limit of 10km/hr on the government boats.If you got time, you can get down in some place between which you feel worth wile for spending some time, spend some time there and catch the next boat. Boat driver number is 09400050372, you can call him and ask about the boat service details.
In this trip, i have seen very small part of this region and though we took the 7.30 boat, it was sunny. I wonder how this place looks in night, how it looks when it is cloudy and rains. Hope i experience these things in my next boat trip.....
