Away from the chaos and noise of India is Kerala. Nestled in the south-west corner of India, Kerala
is the home of spices, coconut groves and tea plantations. The Western Ghats have protected the
area from the rest of India and it has developed its own customs and cuisine. Its long coast has been
used as the landing points for Europeans and Chinese traders over the centuries and everywhere you
can see influences of the Dutch, Portuguese and English; in both architecture and religion.
One "must do' in Kerala is to take to the water. Kerala has 900 kilometres of waterways and
canals along the coast and inland. There are large lakes and canals surrounding the rice fields.
The rice fields are below the level of the canals and get flooded during the planting season by
opening irrigation channels that are connected to the canals. Along the banks are many towns,
villages, churches, schools and shops. The waterways are the roads of the area. Travelling on
the water gives you a voyeuristic view of life. There are many ways for the tourist to travel,
they range from organised tourist cruises to water taxis.
The most popular way is by house boat. The house boats are converted or newly built
kettuvallams. They were originally used as ferries and to transport rice. Now they have been
converted into luxury accommodation. There are some shonky owners so it is best to either
view the boat before you sign on or get a reputable hotel to organise a boat as they will then be
responsible if any thing goes wrong.
The route that is usually used is from Kollam to Alleppy or Alleppy to Kochin. We arranged
our boat through the Taj Garden Retreat in Kochin. We got on the boat at the Taj Kumaraon
and were amazed. The boat was spacious with an open lounge and dining area, an enclosed
air-conditioned bedroom and at the back a small kitchen and staff area. We were introduced
to our staff for the next 24 hours. There was a boat master, a cook and a helper. We set off
across the Vambanad Lake, one of the largest lakes in India. It was so peaceful with water
birds and never ending cups of tea and coffee.
It seemed that every hour or so we were offered banana fritters, plates of fresh fruit and
biscuits. Cars and trucks can only access the periphery of the area so everything ends up going
by water. The major workhorse seems to be very long, narrow boats that are piled high with
sacks and building materials. Usually with only one or two workers struggling to pole them along.
The locals seemed so used to the tourists that they ignore the houseboats although the children all
laugh and wave on their way to and from school. Small boats pull up along side the houseboat
selling freshly caught fish and fresh vegetables and fruit. We were already regretting that we had
only booked for one night.
The locals bath in the canals, wash their clothes and pots and pans in the canals and take their
drinking water from it. The canals are kept remarkably clean.
Most of the houses along the canals have their own jetties and private boats.
Our houseboat was for a couple but there are much larger ones for families and groups.
It is a very expensive activity for India with boats ranging from $US200 to $US700 and
up a night. So it falls very much into having a treat. And it really is a treat. No mobile
coverage, no email and best of all no computers.
The array of boats and their uses are wonderfully diverse. We saw school boats dropping off
students at individual jetties and livestock being taken to different pastures. We saw people
at boat taxi depots with their shopping waiting to go home. And we saw many other houseboats.
At night we pulled into a mooring that was close to the boat masters village so he could go home
for the night. As evening fell there is a bit of a traffic jam as all the boats have to moor. They are
not allowed to travel during the night as it is considered too dangerous.
During the day the boats have to travel very slowly so that they don't interfere with the normal daily travel and tip over smaller craft.
With a picture perfect sunset we popped the cork on a bottle of champagne and settled in watching
the lights in the villages come on and the night traffic on the canal. Kerala calls itself "God's Own
Country" and on a night like this I think they are right. After a wonderful meal we sat on the deck
and just relaxed. We slept well with absolute quiet and the gentle rocking of the boat.
The next morning we set off as the waterways came alive.
All too soon we were caught up in another boat jam as all the houseboats headed to Alleppy.
At Alleppy we sadly said good bye to the staff and the boat.
We vowed to come back and spend at least two night on a houseboat.
But that's another story.
