We had been married for eleven years and somewhere along the way, we had forgotten how to be slow. Kerala fixed that. The drive from Kochi Airport to Alleppey takes about 1.5 hours. Our driver Suresh told us that the backwaters look different every season. In October, he said, they are very green and very quiet. He was right on both counts. Choosing Your Houseboat This is where most people go wrong. The backwaters have hundreds of houseboats and the difference between a ₹4,000 per night vessel and a ₹12,000 one is significant. We chose a mid-range boat with one bedroom, an open sit-out deck at the front, and a cook who prepared every meal fresh. Tip: Book directly with the operator rather than through aggregators — you get a better boat for the same price and can negotiate inclusions like kayaking stops and village walks. Day One: Learning to Do Nothing Our boat left the Alleppey jetty at 12 noon. The first hour was all narrow canals lined with coconut palms. Women washing clothes on stone ghats, children waving from school boats, fishermen setting nets with the kind of patience that feels almost meditative. We ate lunch on the deck — prawn curry, appam, a whole pomfret fried with Malabar spices. The food on a good houseboat is one of the highlights of the entire trip. By late afternoon we had anchored near a small island. We took a walk through the village. No phones, no maps, no agenda. We bought fresh coconut water from an old woman for ₹15 each and sat watching egrets. Day Two: Sunrise and Goodbye Wake up at 5:45am. This is non-negotiable. The backwater sunrise — mist on the water, birds calling, absolute silence except for the occasional splash of a kingfisher — is something you carry home with you. Breakfast was puttu with banana and kadala curry. We were back at the jetty by 10am, which felt too soon and exactly right at the same time. Cost: Two days, one night houseboat for two — ₹14,000 all-inclusive. Worth every rupee.
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