Munnar to Alleppey to hire houseboat--am I allowing enough time?

kimmiekat

Hi. We will be departing Munnar on Feb 26 with driver and heading to Alleppey to book an overnight houseboat for the next day. I read in another thread someone suggested getting to the docks at 9am to shop around and hire the houseboat. If we don't get to Alleppey until early afternoon, will we still have some options?

I understand the drive from Munnar is 5 hours so if we leave at 8am won't get there before 1pm.

Also a few other questions. We are hoping to take houseboat from Alleppey to Kollam--will this route limit our houseboat choices a lot?

Does one pay for the houseboat before the trip or after and is tipping customary?

thanks a lot for answering any of these questions. Kimmie

rsHari

You can certainly hire even if you reach there on noon, but you will have to cut short the distance on the boat unless you are staying overnight on the boat.

No need to pay tips if you have not bargained

vandy

Hi there,

The 9am suggestion is for taking the Houseboat on that same day.
There should be no Problem inspecting Houseboats in the Afternoon.
The route you want WILL limit the choice of Houseboats and will also increase the cost as you will be required to pay for the Houseboat's return Journey to Allepey.

When initially booking ONLY pay a Deposit,something like 50%.
If you are satisfied with the Services Provided a Small Tip is
Customary to crew members, maybe 100 - 200rps each.

Some operators you may want to contact for some Quotes are;

www.naturevisionkerala.com

http://www.keralagreenery.org/houseboats.html

vandy

kimmiekat

Thanks so much. I think we will have a look in the afternoon when we get back from Munnar but good to know we can get one early the next day, if need be. I didn't realize you could hire them same day so that clears things up. I think it makes sense to just do the Alleppey route and go to Kollam after by road. Thanks also for the links--I will check them out.