Village canals by country canoe

Kumarakom's villages grew up on reclaimed land between the lake and the paddy fields, and the canals are still their main streets. A local boatman poles a slender canoe, called a vallam, from the resort jetty into channels just wide enough for two boats to pass. Without an engine, you hear kingfishers, temple bells and the sound of women beating clothes on stone steps.

Along the way we stop at homes where families make coir rope from coconut husk, show how toddy is tapped from the coconut flower high in the tree, and explain the shrimp traps and Chinese-style nets used on the lake. Farmers working the paddy fields, which lie below the level of the canals, explain how the fields are drained and protected by earth bunds.

Many of these stops are part of Kumarakom's responsible tourism programme, through which villagers earn directly from visitors. We usually end at a family home for tea and banana fritters, or at a toddy shop for karimeen and tapioca. Morning trips are the most active; afternoon trips end with sunset on the lake.