Tell me more about the houseboat story.

Kettuvallams or boats, made of wooden planks of the Wild Jack Tree and tied together with coconut ropes, were used to transport daily household goods across the network of lagoons and canals

Over the years, with the advent of tourism, these small kettuvallams transformed themselves in huge residential barges, 70 ft in length and weighing about 35 tons, with furnished sun decks, bedrooms, toilets and make shift kitchens. These residential barges began to be called houseboats and unlike their Kashmiri counterparts were not used as a home, rather were kept for use by tourists only.

The initial houseboats were made of local materials derived from bamboo and coir and were non-motorized and moved with the help of oarsmen using their long pontoons as pivots to move the huge houseboat.

With the success of the houseboat as a tourism product, entrepreneurs moved to install motors into these houseboats. With the entry of motors into the houseboat business, these houseboats began to grow in size, weight and also comfort. Plush interiors included air-con bedrooms, toilets with shower cubicles, televisions and plunge pools that sell as swimming pools became a reality!

Today as they say, these are palaces moving placidly on water!