Spice Coast Cruise

Most of the new houseboats have enlarged the hull and introduced all manner of mod cons. Not here: this is the traditional sized kettuvallom and the style has been kept to a minimum using only traditional and natural materials. If you want to experience the most classic houseboat and have a minimum impact on the ecology. This boat is for you!

With a few tweaks to the hull, partitioned bedrooms and all the modern conveniences added. Bed rooms have a cozy space where you can lie down and watch the scenes passing by. Bedrooms are warm, cozy spaces with mesh windows that let in the palm-scented breeze, even as they keep little insects at bay.

Your meals are prepared by your boatmen in their traditional manner. In other words, lots of fresh flavours and a minimum of fuss. It is the very same food which they eat, made with tangy spices and with a lot of coconut. The fish was probably caught while you were sleeping, then marinated in red chilies, ginger and lime, before being grilled. Accompaniments may include lentils and gourd cooked with fresh pepper and mustard seeds, served with greens handpicked from the little markets that dot the canals. And (we need hardly add), lots of steaming bowls of rice.

There are no noisy diesel generators on board a Spice Boat. Electric power is courtesy the solar panels affixed to the roof. The soft putting you hear is the sound of the outboard motor running on vegetable oil, a safer alternative fuel. Measures like these minimise our impact on the ecosystem of the backwaters.

Further Information