The one thing you must do in Kerala: Experience Village life

Sometimes the most rewarding experiences in travel come when you interact with locals and get a peek into their lives. Village experiences are a perfect way to get off the tourist track and see something new. Some unpretentious experiences like buying from local markets, trying freshly brewed toddy (alcoholic beverage) tapped from the coconut tree at a toddy shop or enjoying the cuisine at village home will make way for some memorable times. Read on for inputs on some of the best village tourism experiences in Kerala. 
 

There are many spots where you can get a feel of the quintessential Kerala village life but Wayanad, Munroe Island and Kumarakom stand out as some of the best village tourism experiences. Many of these experiences can be planned as day tours or add-ons to pre-planned Kerala tourism packages. Below we have whipped up the details of some the most popular and well-organised village tour products in Kerala.

Village life experience @ Kumarakom

As you navigate the small canals on a country boat, you come across villagers engaging themselves in fishing, farming, women converting coconut coir to rope, pottery, toddy tapping and so on. Besides this, the village people also have traditional methods of doing things like bow & arrow fishing, organic backyard farming and broom making. This village tour offers you not only an informative tour but also a chance to try your hand at some of these things yourself thereby creating a memorable experience. This tour gives you a chance to see and experience the simplicity of life in a world uncluttered by the complex issues of urban man. 

Village life experience at Kumarakom has bagged the UNWTO award as an innovative community based tourism product.

This Village tourism initiative by Kerala tourism is an effort to share the benefits of tourism with the village people and in the process giving an invaluable experience to the traveler. There are trained people who guide you and take you to the homes fields and work places of village people where you get an opportunity to learn from and interact with the rural people to feel the essence of the land. Watch this 1 minute video which brings in the essence of the Village life experience here: 

Village exploration @ Wayanad

In wayanad’s village experience, the concept is to live with a host family from where you go about exploring the village, plantations of coffee, rubber and walk along endless paddy fields. It is interesting to observe the rural lifestyle which makes the best of locally available resources like bamboo, clay and grass. If you are interested you can even met indigenous communities like the kurichias who still follow the joint family system and have unique customs, agricultural and medicinal practices. 

Hidden away in hills of this land are some of the oldest tribes, who live in a world uncluttered by the complex issues of urban man. 

The 1-minute video below features a tribal farmer from Wayanad who preserves 40 indigenous paddy seeds and involves in traditional farming methods. Discover more such people on your visit to Wayanad. 

Tailpiece

Kerala is not only about the blessed landscape and natural beauty it is also about the people living here. Village tours have proved to be very attractive and often among most memorable parts of packages offered in Kerala. Don’t miss an opportunity to visit this part of God’s Own County. Let us also treat you to a quick trip through the narrow canals of Munroe island in Kollam. It is one of the most unexploited tourism destinations in the state. 

 

A glimpse into the interior canals. #kerala #backwaters #India

A video posted by Jeevan Krishnakumar (@jeevankris) on

Jul 31, 2016 at 5:39am PDT

Feel free to chime in with your thoughts and queries in our comments section here. Have a great holidaying experience in Kerala!