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Old 9th April 2008, 23:56   #46
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Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay View Post
How much does it cost to rent such house boat for a couple of days?
I can get you a 2 bedroom boat with all facilities as in Samurai's boat for 5500 for non AC and 7500 for AC, food included. The limit is 4 people with small kids. Toddy and Karimeen polichuthu cost additional....cheers:.

These guys have amazing service. Last time, We called a cellphone given by the crew and ordered 2 Romonov vodkas and beef. About a hour later, it was delivered to us on a tiny boat.

Samurai, amazing pics as always.

Last edited by mail4ajo : 10th April 2008 at 00:01.
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Old 10th April 2008, 00:00   #47
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Originally Posted by mail4ajo View Post
I can get you a 2 bedroom boat with all facilities as in Samurai's boat for 5500 for non AC and 7500 for AC, food included. The limit is 4 people with small kids. Toddy and Karimeen polichuthu cost additional....cheers:
Man, that is too expensive. What makes it so expensive ? Is it possible that 2 couples/families can share a boat to reduce costs ?
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Old 10th April 2008, 00:20   #48
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Man, that is too expensive. What makes it so expensive ? Is it possible that 2 couples/families can share a boat to reduce costs ?
Yes, the families can share. The cost is for renting the whole boat and not per family. I think now is a off season. You can see most of these boats parked during the off season. They will drop rates at this time.
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Old 10th April 2008, 00:33   #49
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Nice pictures

I experienced the similar-sounding pain when I was running (jogging) without warming up. Hope you have found the reason for your pain.
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But with only two days to go, I developed a chronic pain in my left shoulder blade which made it difficult for me to twist my neck. All of a sudden the long drive started looking very doubtful. But we didn’t want to cancel the trip, so we booked a Kingfisher flight to Cochin and back. The pain eventually vanished by the time we started the trip, so it didn’t affect the trip itself.
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Old 10th April 2008, 01:14   #50
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these pictures do perfect justice for the scenery of South India .. beautiful .. so serene .. cannot wait to be there one day ....
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Old 10th April 2008, 09:17   #51
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Originally Posted by esteem_lover
Man, that is too expensive. What makes it so expensive
John, these houseboat stays are a big hit with westerners, which is one reason the prices are going up by the day. Another reason is the huge packet shelled out to build and operate one of these boats. Ofcourse as someone said, the rates vary by season.

I would say it is worth every penny you pay. Do it once and I am sure your kids (and you too) will not forget the experience.

Some of these boats, I heard, are owned by Mallu movie stars (Dileep, Jayaram etc) who I am sure must be getting a decent ROI.
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Old 10th April 2008, 10:53   #52
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Originally Posted by esteem_lover View Post
Man, that is too expensive. What makes it so expensive ? Is it possible that 2 couples/families can share a boat to reduce costs ?
Rates are flexible. You can even get boats for Rs.2,500 per day/night during off-season. A lot also depends on the facilities in the boat - some of them have extremely high-end interiors, most of them have above average interiors, but there are also some that arent very expensively done up yet have all facilities and are clean.

What makes them expensive? A base boat without the interiors costs upwards of Rs.12 lakhs. Its made of wood, remember - and its fairly large.

Then you need to add the interiors - all of which is made in wood. Most of the boats there use TEAK for the interiors - that drives up the prices. Plus you have all the modern amenities of a hotel and its en-suite with a living room and a dining area. Some of them have first floor balconies too (for parties where a section of the crowd drinks and the others are teetotallers). These things cost money, and they only make premium money during the tourist season (Oct - Feb), though I prefer taking a kettuvallam (houseboat) during the monsoon - its a very surreal feeling.

Last edited by Steeroid : 10th April 2008 at 10:56.
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Old 10th April 2008, 10:56   #53
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Great Pictures

Hai Samurai,

Great pictures ...... loved the evening dusk shots, captured the rainy mood. The shot with dark clouds in the background bring back lots of memories from Kerala of crazy bike-rides through roaring rain.

Looks like you had a blast on the boat and with your Camera.

Have some friends from Gulf who come every year to Aleppy regulary for a 2 day stay on a/c house boat; through friends I've fixed a regular houseboat guy, charges 5 K per day for a family of 4 pax, inclusive of food. From Nov to Feb, he doesn't give weekends also we have to pick lean days.

Happy Driving,

--Ramky

===============
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Old 11th April 2008, 00:29   #54
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Thanks everybody for the appreciation. In fact, I had never seen a single photograph about Kerala houseboats, just had heard about them. Now, you all have seen it.

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Nice travelogue Samurai, Nice photos but expected something slightly better from you but then you were on a family trip not a photo trip ;-)
Well, I am no pro unlike my camera. Frankly I am still learning the new camera (E3), I still don't know all the functions and I am yet to tame it, by that I mean finetuning to my taste.

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For the first 2-3 hours we enjoyed like anything, but after that it started to be a boring affair even with bottles of KF's and toddy + fresh fish/meats and include swimming too. Many of them eagerly looked at the shore with love during the return journey
I can believe it. Not everybody can enjoy nature with nothing to do. People who grew up around nature can easily do it, but less so with city dwellers who are used to the hustle bustle. I had mentioned this once in my Sikkim travelogue.

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Originally Posted by Samurai View Post
Trekking in a deserted Himalayan forest is totally a different experience. Away from all distractions like people, work, TV, newspapers, Internet, SMS, etc., you have to learn to become one with nature to enjoy these long monotonous walks. Since both my wife and I spent considerable time in forests and farmhouses during our growing years, it wasn't hard to slip back and enjoy the solitude.
I guess it is an aquired taste.

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I experienced the similar-sounding pain when I was running (jogging) without warming up. Hope you have found the reason for your pain.
I woke up on Thursday with the pain.

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Originally Posted by ramkya1 View Post
Looks like you had a blast on the boat and with your Camera.
It was the first major outing with my new E3.
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