Vembanad Lake — Kayal in Malayalam — is the great inland water of Kerala, a 96-km-long brackish lake that fingers north from Alappuzha to Kochi, with Kumarakom on its eastern shore. The lake is the centre of Kerala's backwater tourism, but it is also a Ramsar-listed wetland of international importance and the heart of the working life of dozens of fishing villages.
The classic Kumarakom experience is a sunrise boat trip out onto the lake: water like mercury, the long fingers of the toddy palms in silhouette, fishermen casting Chinese-style square dip nets from low canoes. Houseboat operators run cruises from a few hours to multi-day. For something quieter, hire a country boat from one of the homestays — slower, lower in the water, much closer to the wildlife.