‘If you must spend night on a houseboat, choose Alappuzha’

Alappuzha: An article, “Kerala (India) Colorful Explosion of Culture and Nature (Kerala (India): Kleurrijke explosie van cultuur en natuurKnack”) published by Knack, a Dutch-medium Belgian magazine highlights Kerala’s scenic beauty and tourism potential. This comes in the wake of Lonely Planet, the world’s largest travel guidebook publisher, naming Kerala as one among the world’s 10 best destinations for going on a family holiday in 2014.

The well described article which appeared on November 13, says Kerala is the perfect destination for those who would like to combine culture and Nature. It highlights the Dutch-Portuguese-Jewish cemeteries, elephant processions, houseboats and synagogues.

The report goes on to say that Kerala is a place where people can see red pennants etched with the hammer and sickle, portraits of Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez.

“This makes it clear that Communist trade unions are strong here”, it says. The article also talks about the centuries-old Jewish community. It is not certain when the first Jews arrived in the port town of Cranganore (Kodungallur). “It’s certain that between the 5th and 15th century, the Jewish community almost independently operated under the authority of its own prince”, it adds.

Religious harmony and the splendor of houseboats are other highlights of the article.

“If you need to spend a night on a houseboat, it has to be in Alappuzha ,' the Venice of the East ' “, it says adding that Nature lovers could still go to the Periyar national park, famous for its elephants and tiger programme. The house boats are equipped with air-conditioned bedrooms and a kitchen, it points out.

Receiving the award from Lonely Planet, Tourism Director S.Harikishore, who led the state delegation to the World Travel Mart (WTM) recently, said Europe was the most important market for Kerala, which recorded over 150,000 tourist arrivals in the state last year.