Caption: The Cover Photo.
First of all, I thank you all for your support during the previous 7 posts. This is the final post and has some interesting information that may be interesting to you.
The starting:
- The origin of the houseboat is from the Uru Boats (similar to Dhow), which is believed to have its roots back to 1,500 years and is the largest handcrafted ship in the world.
- The home of Uru is in Beypore, in Kozhikode district, Kerala.
- In the beginning, the Uru was used for trade by the Arabs, Chinese and Europeans.
- The different names: The ancestors of Houseboat were known as Dhow, Machwa, Jalbhoot, etc.
- The Mestharies/Assaries (chief carpenters) use their traditional tools to create these huge vessels - everything from their mind (no computer support).
- Presently, a decent 3 bedroom houseboat may need INR 50,00,000 to 1,00,00,000 (based upon the facilities) to build and may take a year or two.
The costliest houseboat (Dhow/Uru) built:
- The luxury carrier “Al Rahi”, which was built at a cost of around $ 14,00,000 is the costliest (2017) and it was built for a Qatari citizen.
- At 140 feet long & 30 feet wide, Al Rahi included 20 Sleeping berths at multi-levels/floors; it is fully furnished and has many washrooms, large kitchen & leisure areas and much more.
The previous post 7/8 #Houseboats - Shikara Houseboats in Alleppey is Here
Photo - 1. Caption: The URU (photo courtesy - Wiki Commons - Here)
Alleppey houseboats:
- From the beginning of the millennium, houseboats became an established tourist attraction.
- Though the traditional houseboats were built using wooden planks, which were tied/stitched with coconut coir (with coir packing in between the wooden planks to arrest the water leakage). However, the technologies have evolved now even metal and even fibreglass are being used.
Photo - 2. Caption: A - Wooden Planks & B - Planks Stitched with coconut coir.
- Modern houseboats have walls & doors made up of synthetic wood to reduce their weight.
- The typical Bedrooms are baths attached with hot water facilities; solar heaters are compulsory.
- Toilet water is properly treated before disposing of; garbages & wastes are also properly disposed of by the service provider.
- Usually, in a 3 bedroom houseboat, the crew members will be one captain, one cook and another allrounder.
- The kitchen will be well furnished to cater to different cooking styles including a deep freezer.
- In general, there are 3 types of Houseboats:
- Deluxe: Of course along with the build quality & features, the main difference in operation is that the Air conditioner works from 9 pm to 6 am.
- Premium: Full-time AC and some extras, as prefixed.
- Luxury: Full-time AC (even the dining maybe) and a few other luxury benefits including special food.
Note: Kindly confirm everything in advance, at least before the starting of the journey.
- Keep all valuables (the camera, etc.) in the bedroom, especially at night.
- The fishermen occupy the backwaters from 6 pm; so the houseboats halt by 5:30 pm.
- Morning the houseboat starts back by 7 am to reach the starting point by around 9 am.
Photo - 3. Caption: A Typical Kerala Kettu Vallam which ferries the cargo.
Photo - 4. Caption: A houseboat under construction.
Photo - 5. Caption: A fibre boat ferrying the locales.
Photo - 6. Caption: A tiny ferry used for personal purposes; (maximum two persons only).
Photo - 7. Caption: Another cargo boat carrying the goods.
Photo - 8. Caption: A small boat used for fishing; the fisherman is laying the nests.
I hope, I have covered almost everything you wanted to know about the houseboats and related pieces of information, in the past 8 posts (including this post); in case if you want to know more, kindly let me know.
Here are the previous posts about the houseboat:
- The houseboat & its interiors. (Here).
- What you may want to know about a Houseboat as a tourist (Here).
- One full day day-trip experience (Here).
- How to avoid disappointments during a Houseboat trip -TIPS (Here).
- Different types of popular houseboats (Here).
- A few shots (Stills & Videos) during the voyage (Here).
- Shikara houseboats in Alleppey (Here).
- Some interesting facts about Houseboats (Here).
Regards
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