Luxury Hotels That Float and Cruise

Snake boats are not the only backwater vessels that attract tourists. Increasingly popular are rice boats​—old-style vessels converted into luxurious houseboats.

Although many of those used by tourists are newly constructed, rice boats still exist that are more than a hundred years old and that have been made over for tourism. Originally they were known as kettuvallam, meaning “boat with knots.” The entire boat was made of jackwood planks and was held together with coir-rope knots, without the use of even a single nail. These boats were used for carrying rice and other commodities from village to village and spices to faraway places. With the arrival of modern conveyances, the boats became almost obsolete. Then a bright entrepreneur hit upon the idea of converting them into houseboats for the tourist industry. With balcony, luxury bedrooms with en suite facilities, and beautifully furnished living rooms, the houseboats can be called floating hotels. Attendants are provided to take your boat wherever you want to go and to cook whatever you wish to eat.

When evening comes, the boats are anchored either near the shore or, for those who desire more peace and privacy, out in the middle of a lake. There one can enjoy the enchanting backwater silence except, of course, for the occasional splash of a sleepless fish!

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“Kettuvallam”

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Houseboat