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AbadWhispering Palms

From the air, they look like a web of tiny silver threads spinning across the patchwork quilt of the Kerala coast. Canals, sometimes as narrow as an arm-span, sometimes broadening out into vast, misty lakes. Straight as an arrow, or curling gracefully through scented forests of coconut, pepper and cinnamon.

These are the backwaters of Kerala. And their life's blood are the boats that ply here, used for housing, transport, commuting, commerce and in recent times, pleasure.

The queen among these is the 'Kettuvallom', the traditional rice barge, with its sturdy build and stately carriage.
Today, the Kettuvallom offers the visitor to Kerala an entirely new kind of experience. Combining holidaying, pleasure boating and ecological living in an exhilarating way.

Satori in a Spice Boat.
The Japanese managed to put it in a single word - 'Satori'. A sudden flash of experience that leaves its mark on your soul and colours all your life afterwards.
To cruise the myriad beauties of the backwaters is to invite Satori. So close your eyes for a minute and let your imagination wander with us.

You are on the boats' forward sundeck, comfortably ensconced in a rosewood-and-cane easy chair. Before you is a 19th century table and upon it is a fresh coconut, its water spiked with lime.
Your boat moves towards the mouth of the Kavanar river at a scorching 6 miles an hour. Hmmm. It would be a fight to keep your eyelids from closing, except that a refreshingly soft breeze angles in westerly, off the Vembanad lake. It carries the cries of distant darter birds, surprisingly loud over the waters.

You move upstream, and the gentle life of another world unfolds around you. A man, for some reason, gives his pig a bath on the riverside steps. A child smiles and waves shyly from behind a jackfruit tree. A dugout canoe, dangerously laden with a cargo of rice, passes by. You watch anxiously, but the water, ever threatening to slop over into the boat, never quite does so, and before you know it, its master has expertly manoevered the vessel to the far bank.

Beyond the palm tops, the sun begins its descent into the quick tropical dusk. There is little to do, but pick up a book from the shelf and while away an hour or two. Soon, the smells of dinner will begin to waft out of the kitchen, making it difficult for you to concentrate

On-board Banqueting
Ever had a meal prepared by the hands of a boatman? What marks it most is a simplicity, a lack of pretense. He is no chef, but he is the carrier of an ancient tradition of hospitality that equates the guest with divinity. This is why, in a galley barely larger than a closet, he is able to produce meals of surpassing delight.

A typical evening's fare may start with 'kootu', lentils and gourd, stirred with cracked pepper and tangy mustard seeds, then garnished with roast coconut shreds. Grilled karimeen could follow, fresh caught from the backwaters and marinated in red chilis and shaved ginger, chased with lime. Perhaps, if he can manage it, he'll proudly serve up a dish of the enormous local prawns, to go with the piping-hot white rice that arrives at regular intervals.

A spicy Chicken gravy serves well to fill you up, and the little dishes of pickles, limes and relish wake your taste buds up time and again, for more. You retire for the night to a queen sized bed. A fan, powered by the solar panels on the roof, whirrs to life. You are asleep, lulled by the gentle rhythms of paradise.

DISTANCES :

55 kms from Cochin
95 Kms from Cochin international airport

ACCOMMODATION :

One and Two Bedroom Kettuvalloms

FACILITIES :

Living room, bed room with attached bathroom
Solar power
Crew - Navigator / cook
Regular doctors on call