Kumarakom Reviews

Food, sight-seeing and shopping
In Kumarakom itself, the best sightseeing option is to take long walks along the backwaters. However, if temples can be considered, then an hour?s drive towards Kottayam and beyond gets you to a famous Shiva temple called Ettamanur. Towards Cochin is another famous temple called Vaikom ? also a Shiva temple. A large part of the population of Kumarakom is Christian as evidenced by the various churches which dot the side of the main road. Central Kottayam has a big market place where you can buy everything from sports equipment to banana chips, to umbrellas (a Kerala specialty), to shoes.

Activities & things to do
Kumarakom is famous for one activity and that is boating. There are several kinds of boats available and usually the resort/hotel you are staying in will be able to do the arrangements. There are houseboats (ornamental structures made of cane and wood), canoes ? small boats rowed manually by the boatman, and speedboats ? which are fast motorboats. The price ranges from Rs.800 upwards per hour. Apart from this if you are a fishing freak you can join any of the boys found by the side of the backwaters everywhere with an indigenous fishing rod trying their luck ? quite successfully sometimes.

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc.
How to reach: By train: From most big cities trains heading to Kerala stop at Kottayam. From there to Kumarakom is a half an hour?s bus ride. By flight: The nearest airport is in Cochin, about 2 hours away by road. Carry insect repellants (like mats, coils and creams). Most of the insects surface during the evenings only. Though Monsoons are being marketed this year by Kerala tourism, during this time the roads between Cochin and Kumarakom and Kottayam and Kumarakom get flooded after 3-4 days of continuous rain. Only buses and big cars can pass through very slowly.