on board a traditional houseboat.Vembanad Lake is the longest lake in India, and the largest lake in the state of Kerala. The Lake is famous for its exceptional scenic beauty, lush green surroundings and exciting boat cruises.
Centered around the 90km expanse of Lake Vembanad, the backwaters of Kerala are a unique – and fragile -ecosystem unlike any other in the world. Enveloping the port towns of Alleppey and Quilon on one end, they stretch like a patchwork quilt clear across the state, to Calicut in the north.
Some are no wider than an armspan, navigable only by canoe. Others are dual carriageways, deep and rippling, sometimes broadening out into vast misty lakes, sometimes curling into twisting wormturns, hemmed by paddy fields and fed by a thousand fat streams from the high ranges of the Spice Mountains to the east.
Your meals are prepared by your boatmen in their traditional manner. In other words, lots of fresh flavours and a minimum of fuss. It is the very same food which they eat, made with tangy spices and with a lot of coconut. The fish was probably caught while you were sleeping, then marinated in red chilies, ginger and lime, before being grilled. Accompaniments may include lentils and gourd cooked with fresh pepper and mustard seeds, served with greens handpicked from the little markets that dot the canals. And (we need hardly add), lots of steaming bowls of rice.