Navigating the Beautiful Backwaters of Kerala

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Kerala is a province in India that is characterized by its waterways that have, since forever, served as roadways around which communities were built. These communities still thrive today, so when you take a boat cruise to the backwaters of Kerala, you are not just viewing more beautiful scenery as a tourist. What makes this experience different, and much more special, is that you are viewing life as it still goes on in this very beautiful environment. The boat cruise options are numerous, from luxury houseboats that provide both dining and sleeping accommodations, to quaint little Venice-like Gondolas for two powered by the guy at the back quietly paddling you through the tiniest, most intimate waterways where you get up-close-and-personal glimpses of the people who live, play, and work here. We chose the later, and it was, we believe, the perfect choice.

Our boat guy was a very sociable, multi-talented dude with a fine sense of humour who chatted with all the locals he met along the way; serenaded us with his favorite Tamil folk songs; and also served as our tour guide and dinner host. In addition to providing us with a little background and history on the area, taking us to shrines, schools, restaurants, and homes, he also became our local bootlegger. Early in the day, he fixed us up with an order of home made Coco-beer. This is beer made from fermented cocoanut juice that was ordered in the morning, delivered in plastic one litre water containers two hours later, and had to be uncapped every hour thereafter for fear of exploding in the heat as the fermentation process continued throughout the day, all the while increasing the alcohol content from the initial 2% to 6% or more. Needless to say, this product was not winning any fine brewery prizes. It is a drink, rather, for which one must acquire a taste. We took one whiff, and one sip, and passed - the smell alone is pungent, to say the least - although one of the younger couples in our boating party pumped back a couple of litres of the stuff and survived. Our guide later also served us a fine home cooked, authentic, five course Keralan meal, each on our own banana leaf, and we had no choice but to practice eating with our fingers (right hand only please - very poor etiquette to do otherwise), as no utensils were provided. All in all, the trip was a completely relaxing, enjoyable, very laid back opportunity to witness daily life in the towns and villages of Kerala, including the many people washing dishes, doing laundry, washing their cows, fishing and swimming in front of their houses, obviously not threatened by the apparently non-poisonous water snakes we saw swimming by us.

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Photos

Beauty
What else can I say? I think this is paradise.

Paddlling Down the Backwaters
No, not us. We are chilling and taking it all in. So good.

Eagles Like Earrings
The deal was to take a picture with this eagle on my shoulder. But then he started chewing on my earring. This totally cracked me up.

Stan with his Buddy
This is much more civil. Actually, I think the bird looks bored cause Stan has no earrings to play with.

Water Snake Buddy
These guys didn't seem to bother anyone. We saw a couple of them on our boat ride.

Waterside Hairdressing
Just another day with mom doing her kid's hair, along the riverside. She happily waved at us as we rolled on by.

Family outing in Kerala
Nice.

Our Happy Guide
He was a ton of fun, always had a joke and a smile on his face. Cool hat too.

Luxury Houseboat
This would be another option for going down the backwaters. Not entirely difficult to take either.

Women Washing Clothes
Every home had its own wash area, which was usually a rectangular cemented area with a scrubbing stone built on top of its ledge. This was a very common sight along the river. This little wash area also served as a private bathing and swimming space.

Bindi Dogs
Okay, we cracked up when we saw these little doggies, each with their own bindi - that red dot in the middle of their foreheads. I wonder if this means they are young and single? What a hoot!

Gowri Homely Stay
Don't ya just love these little language glitches? They are always entertaining.

Our Happy Boating Group
We all set off in three different boats, but gathered for lunches and walks, and ended up sharing some good times along the way. Our little international entourage included Germany, Switzerland, the U.S. and of course, Canada. One of these young darlings reminded us of our own dear Tanner, especially when he happily consumed a litre of that awful homemade coco-beer. Can you guess which one?

Comments

[Susan]

Fun looking bunch. That would be coco-beer swilling Tanner on the right. Right?

[Susanne]

Yes, the left hand is for ablutions only--so don't do anything that could get your right hand chopped off!!!!!No complaints about the heat or no one will talk to you once you get home!!!!