10/08 we started from: BANGALORE for our most awaited Kerala Tour.
Our first destination is the Venice of the East, ALLEPPEY.
We started late at 6pm from Bangalore and hit the Mysore road to stop for a fishy dinner at Pujari-Fishland around 10 pm. As always, it is my dream fish place to hog and hog and start for the journey. We crossed our planned 37 kms to Nanjangudu and then to Gundlupet. We halted, took a coffee break and fooled around for sometimes to wail off time as much as possible.
Around 1 am, we reached before the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary at Sultan Bathery, the forest remains closed from 9pm to 6am. There were about 150-200 cars waiting for the check post get to open. We waited for about 3-4 hours and greeted daybreak and sunrise in the forest. A pitch dark night by the forest is definitely an experience to enjoy. We had read a lot of reviews of the different routes to Alleppey from Bangalore, we avoided the coimbatore road to ignore the forever bad 80 kms from Palakkad to thrissur. This route had nowhere been mentioned and hence we took the road not taken and ended up spending a night by the forest, an experience to be cherished.
We took the Kozhikode-Mysore-Kollegal Hwy/NH 212 and headed in Kerala. The road remained green and winding all throughout with a stretch of 20kms downhill that was bad due to rain and thick vegetation. The natural beauty left us awestruck and we photographed our way to our destination.
At about 12pm, we reached SH 71/State Highway 71 at Manjeri and stopped for a long break of lunch and relaxation. Our lunch consisted of Kerala paratha and curry with biryani and kerala style chicken kabab. Once done, we walked around for a while and then started our drive.
Post 12 kms, we took the Palakkad Ponnani Rd/Shornur – Perinthalmanna Road, saw the beautiful OttuPara Juma Masjid and got into the Salem-Kanyakumari Hwy with an entry toll of Rs. 3/-. Funny it was for all of us. As we kept going further we passed Thrissur and the Cochin- Ernakulam through a beautiful stretch of urban kerala that looked more like one of the Middle-East towns.
Post this stretch started the horribly potholed 30 kms road to Alleppey. This was the unavoidable stretch of the last few lapse of the journey and was extremely frustrating. Finally around 7 pm, we reached the backwaters of Alleppey.
Tired as we were, we were warmly greeted by the houseboat owner. Our car was parked in a safe household for an amount of Rs.100 for the next 2 days. Coffee and Banana pakora was served to us as a welcome drink and snacks.
As we settled to freshen up in the splashy and swanky air-conditioned bedrooms, the boat started to take us into the darkness of the backwater. After an hour, it stopped by a small island rowed with other houseboat like a queue. We had a quick dinner of Kerala food and enjoyed the ripple of the water till we went back into the cosy blankets.
At 7am, it was the knock for the morning tea/coffee. I woke up at daybreak with the sound of rain. I slided the window and moved the curtains to see the dark sky and rain lashing on the water. What a beauty, I told myself. We sat in the common area for breakfast around 9am for the hot steaming dosa, idli and appam. The houseboat kept rowing it way through the vicinity of small villages where the daily mode of transport are the small boats.
People ferried their way to work in passenger boats, students went to school in school boats, milkman rowed his boat to stop by every household to deliver milk, the vegetable seller stopped by every house to sell the vegetables. What a wonderful like Alleppey had. Every household had a boat shed to garage their personal boats, like we have our car parks in the cities. 
The cook and the helper caught fishes from the back water and fried it for us.
At 1 pm, the houseboat stationed by a stretch of land. We were served our lunch and post lunch, we got down to take a walk around, had tender coconut water and stopped for some banana chips and soft drinks.
The boat started to row again and as we passed other houseboats, we clicked photographs and waved out to them. The rain kept showering on and off. We had our share of sunshine as well. At 5 pm, we were served with snack and tea and coffee post which, we settled for some beer and the hot fried fishes. The rain lashed again on the houseboat and it was amazing. We continued to enjoy the scenic sunset on the water and enjoy the evening. The houseboat was again stationed by a small island for the night with the others. At about 9pm, dinner was served. Post dinner, we played some card, sang some songs, talked for awhile and finally it was a birthday party on the houseboat. After wishing Vinay a very memorable birthday on the houseboat and raising a toast, we retired for the day at about 2am.
Next morning, at around 8am, we were served with our breakfast as we headed to the shore where we started from. Our Houseboat experience finally came to an end. The feeling was lovely, will be cherished for sometimes other than the time bound routine that we were tied up into after a very long time. Convent life flashed back into my memories in the houseboat and all my hostel matrons revisited me in Alleppey.
On the whole, it was a good memory.
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