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Under its former appellation of Alleppey, ALAPPUZHA , roughly midway between Kollam (85km south) and Kochi (64km north), is another romantic and historic name from Kerala's past. It was one of the best-known ports along the Malabar Coast, and tourist literature is fond of referring to it as "Venice of the East", but while it may be full of interconnecting canals , there the resemblance ends. Alappuzha is a bustling, messy town of ramshackle wood and corrugated iron-roofed houses, chiefly significant in the coir industry, which accounts for much of the traffic on its oily green-brown waterways. Despite its insalubrious canals, Alappuzha is prominent on the tourist trail as one of the major centres for backwater boat trips , served by ferries to and from Kollam and Kottayam in particular. Most visitors stay just one night, catching a boat or bus out early the next morning. However, a short distance north the centre, the congestion eases. You can walk along the lakeside under a shady canopy of palm trees, enjoying the extraordinarily slow pace of Keralan village life. Alappuzha really comes alive on the second Saturday of August, in the depths of the rainy season, when it serves as the venue for one of Kerala's major spectacles - the Nehru Trophy snake boat race .
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This event, first held in 1952, is based on the traditional Keralan enthusiasm for racing magnificently decorated longboats, with raised rears designed to resemble the hood of a cobra. More than enthusiastically powered by up to 150 singing and shouting oarsmen, scores of boats take part, and Alappuzha is packed with thousands of spectators. Similar races can be seen at Aranmula, and at Champakulam, 16km by ferry from Alappuzha. The ATDC information office will be able to tell you the dates of these events, which change every year.
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