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Vembanad Lake
This enormous freshwater lake stretches from Cochin to Alleppey. Separated from the Arabian Sea by a narrow strip of land, it is fed by rivers and streams running down from the Western Ghats. Its banks are dripping with exotic vegetation, making it a wonderful birding destination, and the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary is on its eastern shore. The lake forms a crucial part of the complex system of the Kerala Backwaters and an artificial mud barrier divides it into two sections - brackish and fresh water - to protect low-lying farmland from the seawater. More than 1.6 million people live on or near its banks and its waters are constantly criss-crossed by boats, including the traditional thatch-roofed boats known as kettuvallam.
To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.
Bill Bryson