Where you'll drift
Your Kochi traditional houseboat experience.
Alleppey sits on a maze of lakes, rivers and canals running inland from the Arabian Sea. Travellers have called it the Venice of the East for over a century. From the deck you'll see paddy fields and coconut groves, temples and churches on the banks, egrets and kingfishers, and villages where the canal is still the main road.
Traditional kettuvallam · Sailing from Alleppey
Two air-conditioned bedrooms for up to four guests, meals cooked in the boat's own kitchen, and a crew who look after everything while you drift through the backwaters of Alappuzha.
കെട്ടുവള്ളം
kettuvallam noun, Malayalam
The boat
For centuries, kettuvallams carried rice and spices across Kerala's backwaters. Their hulls were built from planks of anjili wood stitched together with coir rope, without a single nail, and roofed with bamboo and woven palm.
Ours keeps that shape: the dark wooden hull, the woven arched roof, the carved railings at the bow. Inside are two bedrooms, a kitchen and an open lounge deck, so you can spend a few hours, a day or several nights on the water.
Inside the boat
Every photo here was taken on our own boat: the open lounge at the bow, a bedroom with its coloured-glass window, the woven corridor along her side, the kitchen and the bathroom.
Meals
Meals come straight from the boat's kitchen: Kerala rice and curries, fried fish, vegetable thoran, appam and fresh fruit.
Vegetarian, or something you can't eat? Tell Hanli when you book and the cook will plan around it.
Trips
Every trip is private: the boat, the crew and the kitchen are yours alone. Prices depend on the date, the trip and the size of your group, so message Hanli for a quote.
Early morning
Set off as the mist lifts from the water and the herons start fishing. Tea on deck while the villages wake up.
4 hours
A first taste of the backwaters if you're short on time: open lake, narrow village canals and back.
Daytime · lunch on board
A full day on the water with lunch cooked on board. Rest in a bedroom or watch village life go by from the lounge.
Late afternoon
Head out as the light turns gold and come back as the palms go dark against the sky.
1 night · dinner & breakfast
Cruise until dusk, moor in a quiet spot and sleep on the water. Dinner and breakfast are cooked on board.
2 nights or more
Go further into Kuttanad's paddy fields and across Vembanad Lake, with time to slow right down.