Alleppey or Alappuzha was a name I had heard often and dreamt of visiting for ages. I had read that the sleepy town was often referred to as the Venice of the East because of its backwaters – the numerous waterways which are a part of a unique coastal geographical feature.
Opportunity to make my dream a reality presented itself when my friends booked one of the popularKerala Travel Packages for themselves and urged me to accompany them on their Kerala Holiday. I needed no further encouragement and immediately called up their Tour Operator and booked a similar Kerala HolidayPackage for myself.
En route my flight to Cochin, I read up whatever I had managed to lay my hands on about Kerala, Alleppey and nearby places to visit. I discovered that Alleppey had been founded in 1762 by Raja Keshwadasan – the then Diwan of the princely state of Travancore. In its heydays, it was one of the busiest trade centres being a very good port along the Malabar Coast. When the British further developed it as a trade port in the late 18th C, it is said that traders from all corners of the world came here in their quest for gold and precious souvenirs.
I further read that the intricate network of waterways in Alleppey was the lifeline of the town. Since the town was perched on a narrow spit of land between Vembanad Lake and the Arabian Sea, the residents had carved out land for cultivation of paddy by erecting dyke-like mud walls all along the coast. A postscript said that the traditional and very popular drink - rice wine - was locally produced in these numerous paddy fields.
The drive to Alleppey was smooth and incident free thanks to the fantastic services included in our Kerala TravelPackage. My first sight of the Alleppey convinced me that Kerala was truly God’s Own Country. The pristine back water town with its gently swaying, countless coconut palms all along the waterwaysand the tiny villages and hamlets on the edge of the water exuded a laid-back, relaxed and peaceful ambience.
Later, while lounging on the deck of a rice barge or ketuvellum, which our Tour Operator had included in our itinerary, even though we had booked a Kerala Budget Tour Package , I realized that the sense of peace and the experience of sleeping on the water, under the open blue sky was priceless. I realized that the decision to come to Alleppey had been absolutely correct.
At that very moment, I made a mental note to come back to Alleppey with a similar Kerala Holiday Package on my honeymoon, after I find and wed the girl of my dreams.
