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Houseboats
Kerala's unique houseboats, also known as Kettuvalloms helps the tourist in discovering the enchanting backwaters and lively villages of Kerala on a houseboat cruise. Apart from excellent outlook, these houseboats are extremely eco-friendly, as it is made of of bamboo poles, coconut fiber, ropes, bamboo mats, carpets etc.
The houseboats of today are used for leisure trips, but in old days, these Kettuvalloms were used for commercial purpose. The original Kettuvalloms were used to carry tonnes of rice and spices from Kuttanad to the Kochi port. But due to the large influx of modern day transport facilities, these houseboat revived themselves as a luxurious entity.
The Kettuvalloms (houseboats) of Kerala are giant country crafts, measuring up to 80 feet in length. The houseboats have all the creature comforts of a good hotel including furnished bedrooms, modern toilets, cozy living rooms, a kitchen and even a balcony for angling. Parts of the curved roof of wood or plaited palm open out to provide shade and allow uninterrupted views.
Thus, these extravagant houseboats takes you along a vast network of lagoons, lakes, rivers and canals and provide you excellent facilities of inland navigation.
The enchanting holiday destination of the Kerala backwaters are Thiruvananthpuram, Thiruvallam, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Kumarakom, Cochin (Ernakulam, Kochi), Kozhikode, Kasaragod. The 'kettuvallams' or the traditional houseboats offer the best possible accommodation. The largest backwater stretch in Kerala is the Vembanad lake which flows through three districts and opens out into the sea at the Kochi port.