Alappuzha: Venice of the East

As I browsed through the photos of our family trip in 2019, I realised that some places, some memories and some people instantly bring a smile on my face. As Europe battles the pandemic and I stay at home for a few weeks till the world recovers, I thought of writing about one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. For this, I take you back home to my country, India.

My sister and I call ourselves “mountain people” so we had, with our family explored a lot of Northern India. We wanted to plan a trip in December and we realised that the weather would be perfect for a short trip to Southern India! We decided to finally explore the beauty of the South, and planned a trip to Kerala, often referred to fondly as “God’s Own Country”. Before we dive into Kerala’s beauty, I would like to mention that all the photos have been clicked by my talented sister, who was kind enough to let me use them for this blog post. Thanks Sneha :)

Among other beautiful landscapes, Kerala is most famous for its backwaters. Kerala backwaters are a network of lagoons and lakes connected by artificial canals. They form 900 kilometres of waterways almost parallel to the Arabian Sea. Alappuzha, sometimes referred to as the ‘Venice of the East’ is at the heart of the backwaters, and offers houseboat cruises. We were to spend one night in Alappuzha and after a lot of discussion we decided to rent a houseboat in Vembanad lake. We were skeptical about it at first because some reviews weren’t great, but we didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity. And it turned out to be the best decision we could have made! What came as an absolute surprise was that we had a huge houseboat exclusively for the four of us! I remember almost jumping of joy when I saw the boat and its deck!¹

Our Houseboat

We then took a boat taxi and went on an hour long cruise through the waterways to the little floating villages around. The rower of our boat was a very excited man from one of the nearby villages. He showed us paddy fields and told us a lot about the daily life in those villages. The twinkle in someone’s eye when they talk about their home is beautiful to watch! We also got to see people going about their daily lives and some children saying (almost screaming) an excited “Hi” to us as we rowed past their houses :)

It was almost like we had landed in heaven. The coconut trees bowed down to us, as if welcoming us to Kerala, and formed a canopy as we rowed across the beautiful canals. It felt as though nature was embracing us, and we were just soaking it all in.

After we came back to our houseboat, the houseboat started its journey to the middle of Vembanad lake. Sipping our chai and eating our favorite pakodas, we journeyed away from the world as we knew it. The memory of that evening is crystal clear in my mind, even though it has been two years since we visited Alappuzha.

Backwaters of Alappuzha

As the evening melted into night, the crew parked our houseboat somewhere in the middle of the lake. I remember seeing flocks of birds flying back home, and I felt more at home than I had felt in a long time. Sitting on the deck of our houseboat, Alappuzha rewarded us with a spectacular sunset, probably the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen! I have never experienced such silence before and those who know me well know why. The “chatterbox” of the family, for once, had nothing to say! I just enjoyed the exquisite portrait nature was painting for us as I slowly learnt the language of comfortable silence. In all the years that I have spent writing poetry, I have noticed that I rarely write poetry about the things that give me extreme joy or sorrow. It’s no surprise then that I haven’t written a poem about Alappuzha. I don’t wish to change any part of that surreal evening with my verses!

Sunset from Vembanad Lake

I will hopefully travel to a lot more places and see more of the world, but I will never forget the evening we spent at Alappuzha. I am excited to see if anything in the world compares to watching a gorgeous sunset with your loved ones, but I am sure I will always carry this memory in my heart. One day, my sister and I will talk about Alapuzzha fondly as we show our children the beauty of our country!