Kerala Back waters: Aleppey Alleppey (Alappuzha) is one of the gorgeous tourist place and a district of Kerala, India. It is one of the most famed holiday destination from `God’s Own Country’. The district is a sandy ribbon of land assorted by several natural inland waterways. The beauty and attraction of Alleppey is enriches with the charming canals, lagoons, lakes, beaches, backwaters as well the mouthwatering variety of sea/river fishes, coir products and traditional house boats. Alleppey is a beautifully painted portrait by nature using the real “Water Colours”. The enormity of water in the life of Alleppeyans can recognize from the famous saying “The local Kids learn to swim before they walk and learn to sail boats before they learn bicycle” In the first decade of the 20th Century, the then Viceroy of the India, Lord Curzon made a visit to Alleppey. He mesmerized by the quaint beauty of the landscape, in ecstasy and surprise, he said, “Here nature has spent up on the land her richest bounties”. In his excitement, he calls out the then, Allappuzha, the VENICE OF EAST”. Thus Alleppey assured its place in the world map of tourism. The large network of natural canals, existence of a port, several bridges across the canals, a long sea coast might have motivated him to make such a comparison to the real Venice. Alleppey has grown-up in importance as a backwater tourist hub, attracting thousands of tourists every year who come here to enjoy the soothing aquatic beauty of nature. Houseboat holidays, Boat races, beaches, marine products are few of the attractions. Alappuzha is connected by waterways to various other parts of Kerala, including the famous tourist destination, Kumarakom. Alleppey is the prime centre for conducting backwater tours by Houseboats. The Houseboats are traditionally known as Kettuvallom. These mid sized yachts are made with traditional style mixed with modern luxury packs. House boat owners to provide modern era facilities like Air-condition, Television, Internet etc, due to the increased competition to attracts tourists. Some house Boat interiors are nothing lesser than our 5star luxury suits. Such boats are available for hire on a daily charge basis or for longer time. A typical house boat contains 2 bedrooms and an attached bath room. House boat trips in Alleppey also provides amazing opportunity to see the fertile paddy fields in Kuttanad, known as the Rice Bowl of Kerala as well the most beautiful backwaters region. An aspirant can hire one of the houseboats for an exciting trip in the world of water and can enjoy the real nature’s glory. Houseboat tour also provides wonderful experience of palm groves, paddy fields, lovely landscapes and traditional villages located on the shores. If recreation is your purpose, you can happily go for a 2-3 day cruise on the backwaters of Alleppey. These will certainly an unforgettable experience when you will be encircled by green only, far from the busiest city life. Try the mouthwatering Kerala fish delicacies. Crabs, Prawns and a variety of other fresh water/sea fishes are available in the nearby … [Read more...]
Andhra Tourist destinations: Araku Valley
Last year, I had spent three days at Araku Valley with my family as an extension of our Vishakhapatnam tour. Araku Valley happens to be a very picturesque hill station about 115 kms away from Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, fast becoming a much popular tourist destination owing to its serene and calm ambience and scenic landscape. There is more than one way to reach Araku Valley. If you wish to take the flight – Vishapatnam Airport happens to be the closest airport. Trains are available to Araku Valley from Vizag. If you so wish, you can take the help of your hotel authorities in Vizag to arrange for a rented car to take you to Araku Valley. Again, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation takes tourists to Araku Valley in luxury buses at regular intervals. We had taken the train from Vizag and thoroughly enjoyed the stunningly beautiful route, intercepted by numerous tunnels. Araku Valley has a number of hotels, resorts and guesthouses with in-house restaurants in many of them. So accommodation and food are not a concern. Once we reached the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation Resort, which is a very pretty and well-maintained one, we were greeted by a very vibrant performance by the local tribal women decked up in bright and colorful sarees. They sang their traditional songs and swayed and moved elegantly along with the beats. A lot of tourists also joined in to dance with them. It was a very enjoyable performance. We spent the three days at Araku Valley relaxing and taking leisurely strolls along the mountain paths with a cool pleasant mountain breeze blowing in our hair. Even sitting in the balcony and looking out at the picture-postcard scenery – majestic mountains smeared with lush greenery - right in front was an amazing experience. One evening, we walked over to the tribal museum, which has a nice collection of interesting arts and artifacts related to the culture of the tribals. After three satisfyingly pleasant days at Araku Valley, we hired a car back to Vizag. Along the way, we dropped in to see a pretty coffee plantation and quite a few viewpoints looking out to slices of gorgeous landscape. The driver proudly informed us that movies have been shot in these beautiful locales. However, the show-stealer was Borra Caves. This limestone cavern is a wonderful place, displaying stalactites and stalagmites and steps leading into the bowels of the cave. The cave is flanked by lush greenery. If you are going on a trip to Andhra Pradesh, do not miss the beautiful Araku Valley. Traveller: Anwesha, Kolkata … [Read more...]
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