Kottayam · Kerala
Kumarakom and the eastern shore
The quiet side of the same lake, and the rubber country behind it.
When to come
November to March.
How long
Two, often as the calm half of a backwater week.
Getting there
Cochin airport to Kumarakom, 75km, about two hours.
Kumarakom is Vembanad from the other bank: a bird sanctuary, a handful of houses on the water, and none of Alleppey's traffic. The difference between the two shores is the difference between a town and a village, and which you want depends on whether you would rather walk to a shop or hear nothing at four in the afternoon.
Behind it the district climbs into rubber. Kottayam is the town that taught Kerala to read — the first press, the first college, and a literacy rate that made the state famous — and it is Syrian Christian country, with churches older than anything in Europe's colonies and a kitchen worth the detour.
Most people come for a night beside the lake and leave having eaten better than they expected.
Kottayam, in photographs
Where we would put you
Journeys that go there
Worth your time, or not?
Tell us how many days you have and who is coming, and we will tell you whether Kottayam belongs in them — and what to leave out to make room for it.