Assian Tour Holidays

Local folklore has it that Kerala was "reclaimed" from the sea by the warrior sage Parasuraman by a throw of his battle-axe. Whatever the truth behind the legend, the fact remains that Kerala is a land with a huge necklace of canals, lagoons, lakes and rivers. These water bodies are loosely known in the local parlance as the backwaters. This peculiar landscape has had a distinct impact on the lifestyle of the people who live along the banks of these backwaters. Kerala uniqueness lies in its backwaters - found nowhere else in the world. They form a beautiful and economically viable feature of Kerala. The 41 West-flowing rivers of Kerala form a backbone to this magnificent gift of

nature. In the olden days, this water highway stretched from the South of Kerala right up to the northernmost part of the state. But situation has closed many of these waterways now. There is an ongoing project to reopen the old waterways, especially for the tourism industry. The backwaters are a gateway for the visitor to see first hand the unhurried village life of rural Kerala. The life is tough and traditional work is highly labour intensive - a reason for the strong Communist sympathies of the rural folks. Here one meets the people engaged in country boat building, prawn cultivation, sand mining, coir manufacture, limestone collection (by divers who are specialists in this field), rice farming and duck rearing. Such unhurried life holds a certain fascination for the visitor to these places. It is small wonder then, that this place is also a strong magnet for the millions of tourists who come here from all over the globe to encounter the unbelievable beauty of the place and the life of the millions besides these backwaters.