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Published: September 15th 2009
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Alleppey and the Backwaters
Houseboat day! Something that must be done whilst in Kerala is an exploration of the backwaters. In keeping with this, Warren and I had arranged a 'deal' with the owner of our accommodation in Alleppey; free room for the night if we took a trip on his houseboat. Although the cost was a little steep (in comparison to most prices in India - Rs6500) it included a 22hr trip with copious amounts of food and the boat to ourselves - a 1 bedroom en-suite double.
We had a terrible night's sleep due to perpetually howling dogs and a WAY too enthusiastic church group in the plot next to us who stated before sunrise using a megaphone and were still singing very long tunes until at least 11am. I'm all for religion, but I needed sleep! However, we got up and ready for 11:30 as requested and had a nice chat with a French couple on the owner's veranda before we the rickshaw arrived to take us to the houseboat.
Mr Johnson (the owner) accompanied us and once at the site - 10 mins from the house - he showed us around. He was obviously
very proud of his boat, and he had every right to be. The general structure, as you can see form the photo, is much like the old Chinese boats, made of wood, fibreglass and decorated with bamboo and dried grasses. Much larger than the average houseboat, the lower 'deck' area had a full dining table and chair set in the centre with 6 'swinging' chairs attached to the ceiling. The windows (of which there were several - like doors in size) had enough room so that you could sit there if you wanted as well (which I did later). To the back of the boat was a large stainless steel work counter where our meals were to be prepared by the chef. That's right - we had a chef, a waiter/helper and a captain - what service! Not much English between them, but we got along well enough :-) Upstairs was a seating area with 2 chairs, but also a raised platform with a cushion on so we could view everything with ease. Our bedroom was a good size with more of Mr Johnson's 'art' in (old, twisted tree stumps that had been painted - random!) The bed was a
small double, but the bathroom was nice and large - the width of the boat. We have not mentioned yet, but all the bathrooms we have come across so far have not had separate shower cubicles. Instead, the room is a 'wet room' (slippery at times); this occasion was no exception. Overall - very impressive start to our trip!
We 'set sail' at 12:30pm and we were instantly treated to a breeze - welcome on another hot day. Our dutiful staff brought us some (underdone) toast and jam, washed down with coffee - fab! We remained on the lower deck for a while, swinging in the chairs, sitting on the sills and generally enjoying ourselves until we decided a bird's eye view would provide more photo opportunities. We were nor disappointed. The narrow waterway we had started on opened out to a very wide area that was almost lake like, speckled with other boats and floating green clumps of vegetation; something which we were to see a lot more of on the course of the trip. It really was beautiful in the afternoon sunshine.
The next couple of hours were spent cruising some of the narrower backwaters that
led off of the 'grand lake'. From out cushioned viewpoint we say endless paddy fields, locals and their meagre housing and even some extroverted and brave souls were having a wash! All too soon we were being summoned to lunch - and what a lunch! You can tell form the photo it was quite a spread, but all of it was delicious. I especially liked a dish that comprised mainly of onion and desiccated coconut. Mmmmm. The fried piranha like fish were also tasty! As we were provided with cutlery we thought it would be rude not to use it - a welcome treat really.
The afternoon passed much like earlier, with stunning scenery and unique sights. There were a few clouds gathering though and sure enough, as we were mooring up for the night we heard the thunder and saw lightning over the neighbouring fields. The rain held off though and we unfortunately did not see that.
Once moored, Warren and I took a stroll onto 'dry land' to take some photos of the sunset and the paddy field up close. One of the crew decided we should follow him for a short walk to the 'village', which
we dutifully did. The destination - when we reached it - consisted of 2 small stalls selling drinks, snacks and cigarettes (the latter bought enthusiastically by the crewman) which we needed nothing from anyway! Nice to see the small houses up close and some local children who always want to shout 'Hello!' with gusto at us. Bless.
On our return we were shown how to fish with a cane rod but unfortunately, despite our best efforts, caught nothing in the almost non-existent light. Probably a good thing we weren't catching our dinner! Dinner itself was another feast, although not as tasty as lunch. This event was livened up by the swarms of flies that were persistently driving us mental. After dinner we fared the crew farewell and headed off to bed. A shower in the near dark (blue bulb!) proved amusingly problematic before retiring to the safety of the netted bed.
The next day we woke up and early and lay watching the banana and coconut trees from the cabin window. We went downstairs for breakfast which included some keralan specialities like coconut pancakes and fresh pineapple. We enjoyed the remaining couple of hours of the cruise, sitting
on the top deck watching the scenery and the river folk go about their daily routines of washing clothes fishing etc.
We arrived at the mooring point again, hitched up and waite for Johnson to arrive. He took us to the railway station where we said our farewells and departed. We then set off on the train for Cochin, our next destination.
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Jo
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hello from Preston
It's great to hear all about your exciting adventures... although you must be spending as long typing as sight-seeing! Still it all sounds fantastic and will provide us with something to gossip about at Neil's wedding this weekend.