Manu: One of the biggest events in Alleppey is the annual Nehru Trophy Snakeboat race. See a good video of the boat and the people here. This year it will be held on Saturday 13 August 2011.

Bamboostix will have our own biggg party to celebrate. While you cannot participate in the actual snakeboat racing, bamboostix will give you the opportunity to race a traditional wooden canoe boat yourself with your new found friends at the resort!

Make a booking quickly as rooms will run out soon!! Manu +91 99958 21014 or email us manu (art) alt108.com

28 May 2011 Manu: Sophie and Laura came to Bamboostix in April and taught us a very addictive dice game that we have since taught hundreds of others. So I decided to put the rules straight!

You need 6 die/dice. Unlimited number of players.
Aim: The first player who gets 10,000 or higher notes his/her points and the rest of the players have one last chance to get higher than this (no matter who starts the first roll).

Points: Single die. Only 1 and 5 have points by themselves. 5 = 50, 1 = 100. For the rest you need 3 of a kind or more.

Doubles = No points. If you get two 1's = 200 or two 5's = 100.

Triples: 2's = 200, 3's 300, 4's 400 etc. Only exception is for three 1's for which you get 1,000. Also, these must be in the same role. So if on the first roll you get 2 fives and remove them for 100 points, you cannot add another 5 in the next roll and count that as 500. It will be 100+50.

Four of a kind: For the 4th of the same one, add the total of the first 3. ie so if you get four 3's then for the first 3 you get 300 and for the fourth you get another 300 = 600. For four 5's you get 500+500= 1,000. Same for 5 of a kind and 6 of a kind. ie if you get five 3's you get 300 for the first three, 300 for the 4th and 300 for the 5th = 900.

Special rolls: You get 1,500 points for getting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or triple doubles (3 pairs for eg two 2's, two 5's and two 6's) or double triples (say three 4's and three 6's)

In every roll you need to have at least some points ie 1 or 5 or a triple of something. If you dont, you get a Zouche (penalty). If you do, then you have remove at least one dice (or group) from the game from which you got the points. Obviously, cannot remove die on which you didnt get points. Then you have a choice of stopping or throwing the rest of the die again. If you stop, then you note down the total points you have made. You can keep throwing till you either stop voluntarily or you get a zouche.

If you keep rolling and finish all the 6 die, then you roll all 6 again. You get the points from the roll on the first 6 dice and then whatever you get on the next roll(s) till you stop or get a zouche (in which case you lose all points including from your previous roll(s) in case you had continued rolling.

When you stop, without getting a zouche, the next player has the option to either continue your game or start a new roll with all the dice. So if you get three 5's and stop, then you score 500 and the next player will continue rolling with the remaining three dice. If they do not get any points on this, then they get a zouche. If they get another 5, they get 50 points plus the previous players total of 500 (since they continue playing their game). Now they can choose to stop or continue playing. If they continue with the remaining two dice, and roll maybe a 1 and a 5, then they get a total of 500+50+100+50= 700. Since they have got points on all 6 dice they roll again. Suppose in the next round they get two 5's and two 1's and a 4 and a 3, then they can remove the two 5's and two 1's. They now have 700 from first roll and 300 from the second; if they chose to stop, then the next player has the option to continue with the 1,000 points. 

A Zouche by itself (marked with a Z) means nothing, but 3 zouches in a row gets you minus 1,000 points. If you get two zouches and then some points, the previous zouches dont count. They have to be continuous.
To start the game you need 500 points. Some people play negative points, but I say stop at zero.

One more rule... Right at the beginning ONLY, you need to get 500 points (in one roll) to enter the game. So if you roll and get 450 points, you cannot stop as you have to keep rolling till you get 500 or you will not enter the game. No zouches will be registered neither. Also, if you havent entered the game you cannot continue a game from a previous player. 

Nice clean fun game for the family in the backwaters of Kerala. Suitable to be played in bar's, restaurants, beaches etc around the world but best recommended at Bamboostix sipping on those sunset mocktails and tender coconuts!! Enjoy your trip!

13 May 2011 Manu: We offer free accommodation to traveling artists who can teach other guests at the resort. One interesting person who came here was Enric from Spain. He is an all round entertainer, juggler and gave a brilliant crystal ball performance.

Now that he has gone, Manu can teach you the basics so that you can get juggling with 3 balls within the hour while Manu is practising with 4. Then download some tricks off youtube and you are ready to impress your friends back home!

25 Apr 2011 Manu: Bamboostix is perfect for yoga.

1. Rooftops give you 360 degree views so that you can practise your asanas in peace and with privacy.
2. With only 8 rooms on 10.4 acres (40,000+ sq m) we have plenty of space and neighbours are far away, so you will have a very peaceful sleep and not be disturbed when you meditate
3. Our food is healthy and fresh to ensure a good diet that is essential to your well being
4. Breathe easy as the air is super fresh as we not only overlook a large open lake but we get an amazing cooling sea breeze for most of the day
5. Be positive = the staff is very helpful and the people we have attracted so far have been amazingly friendly. 
6. You can go for nice relaxing swim in India's biggest lake right from within a few steps of your room.
7. The resort is built in an eco-sensitive way

06 Apr 2011 Manu: The best way to beat the heat is to go for a swim in the lake. At Bamboostix Island Resort you can jump from the resort itself or from a boat in to India's biggest lake.

Many people ask me if the lake is good for swimming. Good question, since they are coming from Alleppey town side where the channels have stagnant water and pollution. Unlike the smaller channels in Alleppey, ie near the finishing point where the snakeboat races finish, Bamboostix is located on the open lake front. Here it is not too deep and with the sunlight we have an amazing biodiversity in plants that are continuously cleaning the water. Personally, I swim about 3 times a week in the lake and have never had an issue.

Lots of people go to seek cheap accommodation in Varkala especially for the ability to be by the beach-side. Actually, you are more likely to go in to the lake in front of our hotel than you are to take swims in the strong currents in Varkala. Not putting Varkala down but it has a lot of problems especially with people throwing garbage off the cliffs. At Bamboostix, we have taken minor steps to clean the lake and in the off season will be pushing the houseboat association, hotel association and local island committees to build awareness of this unique eco-environment and how best not to destroy it for future generations.

02 April 2010 Manu: We put an abandoned birds nest in the restaurant. A weaver bird has made it its home. Madlen (Austria) took some amazing photos while sipping her lemon mint freezie (the house speciality of the restaurant at Bamboostix Island Resort, Alleppey, Kerala.

There are over 43 species of birds in the 2 sq km of lake Vembanad, as identified by a Swedish birdwatcher. We have binoculars and a bird watching guide book for enthusiasts.

29 Mar 2011 Manu: The best place to think and relax and set your mind at peace. This is the view from the first floor of the staircase between the two upstairs rooms at Bamboostix Resort, Kerala.

Since there are no roads on the island, it is total silence. The emptiness of the vast Vembanad lake is broken magically as the occasional fisherman or houseboat drift slowly past.

In the last week, the fisherman have decided to fish for clams 150m from the resort. They start at sunrise and you can watch their unique methods (with a pole, double net) etc working their way through the lake mud. They are used as a source of protein and then the shells are smoked to produce a white lime paste which is used for construction and also along with the dreaded paan (beetlenut leaves).

27 Mar 2010: Madlen (Austria/Vietnam) just clicked the most amazing wild life photo at the resort. Around 7am in the lotus/water lily tour, we watched a black cormorant dive in to the water and pick up an eel. As it flew out of the water, it was being chased by other cormorants (in picture). You can zoom in quite close on the high res image. It however dropped its catch and the cormorant behind scooped it up from the water and gobbled it mid-flight as a few more had joined in to the chase.

Bird watching at Bamboostix - in case you want something to do in Alleppey/Alappuzha!

05 Mar 2011: For the most peaceful sleep of your life, do what your ancestors used to do in the good old days... sleep on the rooftop. Natural air-conditioning at its finest. Up there, the temperature is always perfect.

We have put beautiful bamboo beds for day time sun soaking and mosquito nets for night time sleeps under the stars.

A fun thing to do in Alleppey while on your Kerala holiday tour!

05 Mar 2010 Manu: The most popular tour in our resort is the early morning lotus tour. Breath-taking scenery and the lotus popping like pop-corn as the sun slowly rises in the horizon. Wont say much more, come and experience it for your self.