Foremost a big Hello to everyone reading this and thanks to all! Emma and I are astounded by the interest so many people have shown in response to this little blog. Since the last entry we ditched the idea of the 24 luxuriant hours on the houseboat 'cause a) it costs a fortune, and b) the reality of 24 hours on a small open air boat (insects!) & no A/C set in and so we opted for another option to get from Varkala to Allepey which involved a taxi to Kollam and taking the Tourist Ferry Cruise upriver. It follows the exact same path as the expensive tour but is with other travellers (in our case about 25 others), only takes 8 hours (in daylight, i.e. no insects!), and is a tenth of the price! The
... read more