Riding along with these picturesque environs on your bikes brings up-close encounters with the ecosystem of the unique backwaters in which local people have created a different lifestyle to those in the city.
Lord Curzon’s ‘The Venice of the East’ Alleppy is renowned for its picturesque setting by the shores of the Arabian Sea and its intriguing network of palm-fringed backwaters, which are now a tourist’s delight. It is also known as “the land between the sea and the network of rivers flowing into it”, identified by its former name 'Alappuzha'.
Kuttanad, the 'Rice Bowl of Kerala’, lies at the very heart of the backwaters in Alleppy district. Its vast swathes of emerald paddy fields have rightly given Kuttanad its sobriquet. The area is fed by the waters of four important rivers: Pampa, Meenachil, Achankovil and Manimala. The Houseboat cruise through the canals of Kuttanad is the most sought out experience for people visiting Kerala. As one cruises down the waterways, there are opportunities aplenty for photops of the life on the coconut-palm fringed waters as well as the villages scattered along the embankments. But what’s also very interesting is taking a bike ride through the paddy fields to understand first-hand the life lived by the waters and these rich crop giving land and water vistas.
On this program, along with understanding more about heritage, we also focus on getting a glimpse into the history of how over the millennia the backwaters were systematically turned into paddy fields and how networks of canals were created to irrigate, to collect silt and to connect these fields. On this magical journey around the paddy fields of Kuttanad, you will get to know how coconut, rice and fish sustain the livelihood of thousands of families in this region.