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Rice boats
With the advent of roads & better means of transport, rice boats fell into disuse. The timely arrival of the concept of converting these into luxury barges caught on & the era of rice boats (or houseboats) was born!
The rice boat is constructed using ancient philosophy of boat building by the local carpenters using anjali wood. The peculiarity of the boat is the use of coir for holding wooden boards together . Each Anjali wood plank is tied together ("kettu" in Malayalam the local language - hence the local name "kettuvallams or literally 'boat tied together with rope') to the next with strong rope and then coated with caustic black resin obtained from boiled cashew kernels and fish oil.
The cuisine is something special. The mouthwatering delicacies of the Kuttanadan area like ducks, karimeen(Pearlspot), prawns and other sundry delicacies will tickle your palette like no other. Indeed a feast fit for kings!
The backwaters
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As
the name suggests, were used in the old days to transport rice, the
staple of the Keralan people. Rice meant money, & those controlled
the supply of rice invariably were the 'chiefs' of the locality. 
The backwaters is an
elaborate chain of lagoons, lakes & rivers, spread like a
necklace through central Kerala and found nowhere else in the world. So
it is no wonder that these waters have evolved a special lifestyles of
their own. So the cruise offer excellent opportunity to see the
lifestyles of local people living along the large sections of the
backwaters of Kerala. The houseboat is one such phenomenon which is in
reality the converted rice barges of yester years.