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A ride on a houseboat has become
a sine-qua-non as far a tour of Kerala is concerned. This
trend in Kerala-holidays for a day and night ride on a
houseboat has evolved over the last decade or so. The
houseboat metamorphosized from the erstwhile 'kettuvallams'
of Kerala.
With its labyrinths of backwaterscrisscrossing
the length and breadth
of Kerala,these kettuvallams formed the main mode
of transportin the past. for both goods and personnel. These
ancestors of the houseboat consisted of a craft 16-30 feet
long and 4-6 feet wide in the middle. In the middle of the
boat was and awning thatched with count leaves and
secured with coir. These awnings were some 6 feet long and 3
feet high and was made to protect the travelers or the
paddlers from the weather. It served as a bedroom and
kitchen.
Modern houseboats of Kerala are some 60-100 feet
in length and 13-18 feet at its widest. Bedrooms, toilets,
kitchens and other amenities required by tourists and
travelers are incorporated into these houseboats of Kerala. As
their numbers proliferated almost overnight into a thousand
more teh effluents and refused discharged into the backwaters
by these houseboats became an  environmental
issue in Kerala. Subsequently the Kerala Government
implemented strict specifications for houseboat fabriction
vis-a-vis effluent treatment. As a result of these regulations
the houseboats of Kerala are now fitted with the most modern
equipments for toilet and kitchen effluents. Thanks
to the seclusion provided by these houseboats, honeymooners
from all over make a beeline for Kerala for a unique hideaway.
Here on the placid backwaters of Kerala, the newlyweds find a
unique and affordable ambience to get to know each other and
to have a memorable honeymoon. For honeymooners Kerala and its
houseboats provide for the visit of a lifetime as acknowledged
by the National Geographic Traveler |
