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Sri Lanka and India Day 8: Alappuzha Backwaters Tour

24 February 2016 • 72 km / 45 mi (map)

  • Added to Eric Scouten :: Travel on 2 August 2026
  • India 3

This afternoon, we were invited on a tour of the Alappuzha Backwaters. This looks like a quiet and laid-back lifestyle along the waters. True or not, we enjoyed the glimpse of a culture where the water is a primary highway.

We were on a traditional Kerala houseboat. You’ll see some photos of similar houseboats along the way.

A tile-roofed house sits amid tall coconut palms along a green backwater channel, with laundry drying on a line and lush vegetation reflected in the calm water under a bright, hazy sky.
Kollam-Kottapuram Waterway, Kainakary South, Kerala, India
A palm-lined green riverbank along a backwater channel, with tall coconut palms rising against a hazy sky, laundry including red and white cloth hanging on a line, solar street lamps, and lush tropical vegetation reflected in the calm water.
Kollam-Kottapuram Waterway, Kainakary, Kerala, India
A yellow tile-roofed house with a decorative white balustrade and arched veranda sits behind a low compound wall with orange pillars along a green backwater, framed by tall coconut palms and dense tropical foliage under a bright sky.
Kollam-Kottapuram Waterway, Kainakary, Kerala, India
A traditional thatched-roof houseboat drifts along a calm green backwater channel lined with tall coconut palms and dense tropical foreground, with a covered dock and small dwellings on the left bank under a hazy midday sky.
Kollam-Kottapuram Waterway, Kainakary South, Kerala, India
Three people – a man, another man, and a young girl in a yellow dress – travel in a narrow wooden canoe on green backwater, with one man rowing at the stern. Behind them a concrete arched footbridge with black-and-white striped railings crosses the water, alongside a stone embankment, tiled-roof buildings, palm trees, and signs in Malayalam.
Kollam-Kottapuram Waterway, Kainakary South, Kerala, India
A person on a motorcycle crosses a low concrete arched bridge over a green waterway, with lush palm trees, tropical greenery and small red flags on poles lining the far bank.
Kollam-Kottapuram Waterway, Kainakary South, Kerala, India
A palm-fringed backwater shoreline with tile-roofed and orange-roofed buildings along the water’s edge, a waterfront pavilion with white railings and old tires hung for mooring, and a narrow canoe pulled up to the bank under a hazy sky.
Kollam-Kottapuram Waterway, Kainakary South, Kerala, India
A white house with a red tiled roof stands on the banks of a waterway in Kerala, surrounded by tall coconut palms and lush greenery, with a low white wall and yellow flowers lining the water’s edge under a hazy sky.
Kollam-Kottapuram Waterway, Kuppapuram, Kerala, India
Two men paddle a small boat piled high with freshly cut green grass across a broad stretch of calm backwater, with a shoreline of dense palm trees and a few buildings in the distance.
Kollam-Kottapuram Waterway, Kuppapuram, Kerala, India
Two wooden passenger ferry boats named “St. Mary’s” and “St. Sebastian” moored side by side on a backwater channel lined with dense coconut palms, with water hyacinth floating on the greenish water and a waterside building bearing a Coca-Cola sign on the left.
Kollam-Kottapuram Waterway, Kuppapuram, Kerala, India
A wooden passenger ferry with a canopy cruises along a broad stretch of the Kerala backwaters, with several traditional houseboats scattered across the water in the distance. The left bank is lined with dense palm trees and low buildings under a hazy pale blue sky.
Kollam-Kottapuram Waterway, Kuppapuram, Kerala, India
Two men travel in a bright orange wooden canoe with a small red motor along a backwater canal in Kerala, one steering while the other sits amid white sacks. Behind them a grassy embankment lined with banana and coconut palms borders vivid green rice paddies.
Kainakary North, Kerala, India
Manimala River, Kainakary North, Kerala, India
A weathered public passenger ferry with a white and pink cabin and a rusted blue-and-white hull motors along a broad river, with passengers seated inside behind open windows. Palm trees and dense green foliage line the far bank under a hazy pale sky.
Manimala River, Kuttanad Taluk, Kerala, India
A wooden canoe with a cream, red, and green painted hull rests along a lush riverbank crowded with coconut palms and dense tropical trees, with laundry hanging on a line and a person crouched by the water’s edge on the right.
Manimala River, Kuttanad Taluk, Kerala, India
A green and blue wooden canoe with tires as fenders moored along the grassy bank of a calm river, in front of a modest house with a white picket fence, surrounded by tall coconut palms and dense tropical greenery.
Manimala River, Kainakary South, Kerala, India
Two men in a narrow wooden canoe on the Manimala River backwaters, one paddling near a low stone embankment lined with a white wall and dense coconut palms, while a third man in a lungi walks along the shore path behind them.
Manimala River, Kainakary South, Kerala, India
A pink single-story house with a corrugated metal roof sits on the edge of a river, framed by tall palm trees and lush tropical greenery. A stone embankment lines the waterfront, and two chairs and a thatched umbrella stand on the small terrace by the front door, with the calm green water in the foreground.
Pamba River, Kainakary South, Kerala, India
A white church with an ornate gabled facade topped by golden crosses stands along the edge of the Pamba River, with a blue sign reading “St. Joseph’s Church” near its entrance and a small waterside jetty in front. Tall coconut palms rise beside the building against a clear blue sky, seen from across the water in the Kerala backwaters.
Pamba River, Kainakary South, Kerala, India
A double-decker passenger ferry towing a long wooden canoe laden with cargo travels along the calm backwaters of the Pamba River, with a dense line of coconut palms and a few buildings along the far bank under a hazy sky.
Pamba River, Kainakary South, Kerala, India
A long wooden canoe laden with logs, poled by workers, moves across a calm river in front of a moored blue and green public ferry, with dense coconut palms and a covered waiting shelter along the bank behind them.
Pamba River, Kainakary South, Kerala, India
A pink roadside shop called “Vayalar Super Shoppee” in Kainakary, Kerala, selling stationery, bakery, provisions, cool drinks and tea and coffee, seen from across a canal where two women in colorful saris sit in a wooden canoe. People stand near the shop under tall palm trees and dense green foliage in the midday sun.
Pamba River, Kainakary South, Kerala, India
A red and white passenger ferry marked SWTD.A39 carrying people cruises along a calm river, leaving a wake behind it. The far bank is lined with dense palm trees and tropical greenery, with a tiled-roof building visible under a hazy blue sky.
Pamba River, Kainakary South, Kerala, India
A calm backwater canal lined with tall coconut palms and lush green vegetation, with a small blue and white covered boat moored along the right bank and a paved walkway with a lamppost and buildings on the left.
Pamba River, Kainakary South, Kerala, India
A high concrete road bridge on tall pillars spans the Pamba River, crossed by an auto-rickshaw and a motorcyclist. Dense coconut palms and small houses line the far bank under a bright, hazy white sky, with calm water in the foreground.
Pamba River, Kainakary, Kerala, India
A waterside village along the Pamba River in Kerala, with people crowded along a blue-and-white boundary wall and boarding narrow wooden canoes on the water. Tall coconut palms rise above white and blue buildings, including one with a bright blue metal roof and a metal water tower, under a hazy pale sky.
Pamba River, Kainakary, Kerala, India
A green and blue passenger boat named “Flash” with a thatched and woven roof carries people along a palm-lined waterway in the Kerala backwaters, with a thatched-roof houseboat behind it and lush greenery and buildings along the far bank.
Kuttamangalam, Kainakary, Kerala, India
A long wooden canoe with a Suzuki outboard motor sits in a canal in front of a small green-painted shop with an open doorway, its low boundary wall painted with the sign “Pooja Tours & Travels,” all shaded by tall coconut palm trees in the Kerala backwaters.
Kuttamangalam, Kainakary, Kerala, India
Traditional Kerala houseboats cruise along a palm-lined backwater channel while a man paddles a small wooden canoe in the foreground, with a red ‘Hotel Amala’ sign on the grassy bank at left.
Kuttamangalam, Kainakary, Kerala, India
Two people walk away down a narrow paved village lane lined with coconut palms, banana plants, green corrugated fencing, and small houses, flanked on both sides by canal water under a bright hazy sky in Kerala.
Kuttamangalam, Kainakary, Kerala, India
A shirtless young man in an orange lungi holds up a green coconut while standing beside a tall coconut palm trunk at the edge of a bright green paddy field. In the background are more palm trees, a transmission tower, and a hazy sky under strong daylight.
Kainakary South, Kerala, India
Poochakkal to Pallathuruthy, Kerala, India · 72 km / 45 mi
(Mouse over or tap on the markers to see the photos there. Use the button to adjust the map’s position and zoom.)

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