In God's Own Country (Visit to Alleppey)

Me and my wife visitied Alleppey (in Kerala) last weekend. We just wanted to gear into some sort of relaxation mode and get away from the hustles and bustles of the traffic-congested city of bangalore. Mann ! what a relieving experience it was... The place is so full of beautiful still lagoons, surrounded by a zillion palm trees and rich greenery .. Calling it a nature lover's paradise would certainly be no mistake.

I was long interested in travelling in a house boat (known as kettuvallam in native language) or riding in a canoe through the still backwaters of kerala. We booked ourselves for a day cruise in a houseboat, which in itself was splendid. A ride on a houseboat is a fabulous way to explore the fascinating beauty of the backwaters. There was a in-house cook who cooked us delicious lunch. The backwater ride along with the gentle flow of breeze in the sunny weather, through the palm fringed narrow canals winding through the vast expanse of paddy fields and tiny huts lined up along either sides of the canals, was really a bliss.

After around 6 hours of journey, the housboat left us at this beautiful resort, called the 'Coir Village'. The resort was located on 3 tiny islands amidst the scenic backwaters (see the first photo) This place is rightly called the 'Venice of the east'. Seeing is believing ... Here are a couple of smaller version of the photos.

Allepey, in God's own country, was indeed beautiful, with sparkling backwaters, rich lush greenery and mellowed silence.