Kerala travels! This was our boat! It was just my wife Caroline and me with four staff. Talk about an amazing experience!
I don’t do as much travel writing as I would like to. Then, I don’t really travel as much as I would like to either. So when I experienced a backwater cruise during my recent Kerala travels, I just had to tell you about it.
My wife Caroline and I are currently in Alleppey, Kerala. I’m here gathering recipes for a book I’m writing but there was no way I was going to come all this way and not see as much as I possibly could of this amazing place.
My good friend Jomon Kuriakose, who is the Chef de Cuisine at Lalit London and originally from Kerala told me I had to take Caroline on a backwater cruise. I know Jomon isn’t just a fantastic chef but a lover of all things Kerala so I wasn’t going to pass on that advice!
We knew on arrival that we were in for a fun and memorable experience.
Our cruise started at 12pm and we were immediately made welcome with fresh coconut water on arrival. There are many different sized boats you can book. Ours was a two bedroom boat and as it was just the two of us, we chose the room we wanted.
Most of our time during the day was spent at the front of the boat, taking in all the magnificent scenery. The actual cruising part of our overnight stay was about six hours long and following are a few snaps I took so that you could see for yourself why you might like to do the same.
Our dining and relaxation area on board. That’s Caroline there on the sofa taking it all in.
She dozed off to sleep just after this photo was taken. You really can forget all of life’s stresses and just enjoy.
You see many other boats along the way. They are part of the scenery. We loved seeing them all.
Each of the rice boats had a distinctive look to them but they also had their own unique design.
The vegetation was so green. I couldn’t put my camera down. I wanted to remember it all.
Every couple of minutes I saw something else I had to photograph.
Views just don’t get much better!
The cruise started near a bird sanctuary and you do see a lot of interesting feathered animals along the way.
The perfect way to spend a day and night.
Eagerly awaiting our first feast!
While we enjoyed life on the boat, our two chefs Monikkuttan and Suni were busy cooking up a feast for lunch.
All the food was freshly made right down to grating fresh coconuts. So much better than the tinned stuff!
So, would you like to see what they prepared for us?
To have our own floating dining room was one thing. To have a spread like this served to us was incredible and a real surprise.
You may as well see our favourites! This pan fried, fresh water fried pearl spot fish is a real Keralan delicacy.
Spiced chicken roast!
This mutton stew was delicious served with steaming hot, fluffy white rice.
The salads in Kerala are simple but always fresh and the perfect accompaniment for all the other dishes.
We loved the veggie sides and the Keralan light papadums were to die for!
After one of the most memorable meals I think we’ve ever had, we were off again to cruise until the sun began to set.
Driver Udayappan Syrang even let me drive the boat for a while.
Our evening meal, after mooring up consisted of one of the best chicken curries I’ve ever tried, dhal, homemade chapattis, pickles… It was a delicious Keralan feast for two!
If you’ve never been to Kerala before and you happen to like a glass or two of wine or perhaps some cold Kingfisher beer, then I’ll warn you here, that is easier wished for than done! Kerala is essentially a dry state and alcohol is difficult to come by!!!
There are numerous toddy shops where you can purchase cheap alcoholic palm toddy. More on those in a later post. If, however you want to enjoy a glass of wine or beer in the evening like me, you’ve got to do some forward planning and even then it isn’t necessarily going to work out as you might have hoped.
Luckily for us, our host Jins Sunny was more than happy to find a beer and wine shop for us and deliver it back to the boat! Now that’s service and enjoying a few adult beverages in the evening with Caroline was the icing on the cake for us!
Ice cold Kingfisher and an Indian red wine that was really good I should add!
The bedrooms were simple but very comfortable with an ensuite and shower. The room was air conditioned too!
After a restful sleep, we were awoken by birdsong and then the boats engines starting up. We went out to the front of the boat for a further 40 minute morning cruise to where we would be let off. Early morning on the Alleppey Backwaters is something I hope to experience very soon again.
We could have stayed on the boat a few more days without ever getting bored. There was so much to see.
Water lilies along the way.
This is the man who made it all happen! Thank you Jins for making our trip to Alleppey perfect!
One last pic! I highly recommend taking a backwaters cruise!
I couldn’t recommend this trip more. The service on board was second to none. We were catered for in a way that you rarely experience back home in the UK. The cruise cost about £150! Never before have I experience such amazing service and especially not at that price.
All opinions are my own. I did not receive any payment for this review and Caroline and I were paying guests. You can get more information here. Jins Sunny will be happy to help you. His company Travelmate Holidays specialises in tours all over Kerala.