Houseboating in Kerala

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Tom: So, after recovering (quite quickly thankfully) from our dodgy tums in Varkala and generally just chilling a bit (yes Soph we both had Ayurvedic massages and yes it was different :-)), we bussed it on up to Allepey to take in a backwaters cruise. Of course we're right in the peak of the peak season, so they wanted blood (actually I should try donating blood next time, I'm sure there's a shotage here). Luckily, we got a cancelled slot but it was PRICEY let me tell you. I thought well we're only coming here once, so we booked it for the next day. We spent the evening mooching round Allepey - it was the first day of 4 days of festivals (for New Year I presume) around the beach. Great seeing so many kids and families around having fun. Obviously we're of particular interest to the kids "What's your name?", "Where you from?", "One pen", etc. And they're so well behaved - never heard a single whinge or cry. maybe they have it it beaten out of them at home but it doesn't look like it, they just aren't spoilt little gets which is certainly how they make western children look in comparison.
So, the houseboat cruise was great. Overpriced yes, but glad we did it. Crew of 3 to wait on us, loads of food, beautiful scenery of the canals and paddy fields, etc.

Bry: When we initially saw the boat I was a bit disappointed. They had covered the lovely wooden deck with plastic and the furniture was nasty black tubing, which when the others were all wicker and coir matting was a bit of a let down. However, what ours had going for it was a cool little upper deck with thr best vantage point and just enough shade... so cosmetics aside our boat had a distinct advatage. We anchored at the 'village' of two of the crew, although they said the population was 30,000 so village might not be the word I'd choose. In the night we were woken by a large scuttling sound so we pulled the covers around us and turned on the light... nothing. It was somwthing crawling between the room roof and the woven awning-thing. Sounded huge, I convinced myself it was a monkry as this seemed more appealing than other possible options. On the way back in the morning, there was a steady stream of boats, which lonely planet describes as 'grid lock' definitely a relative term for anyone who has seen Bristol traffic on a Friday rush hour. Tom and I were making attempts at the Malibu ad... add your own Carribean accent 'man - it's total gridlock!'

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Photos

And a light shone on where (s)he lay...
Our room in Allepey... Bry takes her usual Siesta