An enchanted houseboat. Kerala, India

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.

Madurai. Temples, pilgrims and colour.

As with everything else in India you need patience to fly internally. We discovered

 that delays were normal and frustration was useless. We were flying to Madurai in

Tamil Nadu after a week in Mumbai. Madurai is one of Southern India’s largest cities

 and is a centre for learning and pilgrimage.

The Madurai Airport site reminded me of Mildura in Victoria, with red dust, heat

and very scrubby trees, to add to the picture a group of children were playing cricket

in the  red dust. We drove straight to the hotel, the Taj Garden Retreat, a fabulous

large old  Hill Station type of building high on a hill, in the fresh air, over-looking

the very polluted, smoggy Madurai.

 Madurai is known as the temple city and the temples are amazing. The main temple

 is the incredible Sri Meenakshi Temple complex. 

 It sprawls over six hectares and it buzzes with pilgrims, holy elephants and holy cows.

The complex is full of brightly coloured carved towers and statues.

 The grounds are surprisingly clean but still with ever-present beggars: I even saw a woman pinching her baby to make it cry before she came up to us for money. The complex is not a peaceful place of worship. The major temple is vast and at one stage we were lost in the maze of rooms and people.

The next day we were woken at 4.30 by the noise of drums and trumpets blasting out from loudspeakers at the temple. The temple was a twenty-minute drive away so it must have been deafening at the site. Close to the temple was a mosque and they had their loudspeakers on full blast as well. This was to be the beginning of everyday in Madurai.

Omar left for Tuticorin and I hired a driver. We were both appalled by the driving habits on the open road. Cars overtake buses that are overtaking trucks on a two-lane highway so you look up and see a mechanical wall hurtling towards you. Gulp.

 My driver spoke English very well and we had a good time exploring the countryside and town for the next two days. On the first day we drove out into the country and visited an almost deserted Hill Station. He told me that the locals were from the merchant class and the men had all moved to Chennai closely followed by the women so they could live in a modern city. The mansions they had left behind were largely in an incredible state of decay.

We also went to a marble quarry which was incredibly primitive with the workers hand chiselling the large blocks into smaller blocks. We then went, uninvited, onto a peanut farm. The children were terrified at the white woman and ran away screaming.

 On the second day we visited local temples and the Tirumalai Nayak Palace. The Palace was built in 1636, today not much of it remains but it is worth visiting.

Another temple we visited was the Terra Cotta Temple, the Kochadai Village Deity

Temple. It has a sacred tree that is supposed to be 2000 years old and had a hollow in

its side. The hollow was filled with snakes that were fed eggs and milk every day.

  The driver invited me to his home for lunch to meet his family. In retrospect it was probably dumb to go off with a strange man to a strange area but at least the hotel

 knew who I was with. His house was a tiny concrete block in a line of small concrete blocks. His wife and sons couldn’t speak English so there was a lot of bowing, smiling

and laughter. They had gone to a lot of trouble but I realised that they expected me to

 eat alone while they all watched. I finally convinced the driver to eat with me.

The driver told me that I was the first tourist to ever accept his invitation.

Omar returned after a successful trip just in time to catch a cultural event at

the hotel. Traditional dancing and music.

 The next day we had a very rough flight back to Mumbai.

Florence

I had travelled to Siena with a group of friends. The group was planning two

trips to Florence six days apart; I decided to take my bags on the first trip and

return with the group to Siena on their second visit. I felt that Florence probably

deserved more than two days. When we arrived at the railway station in Siena

we were running late (the group I was with was always frustratingly late) so I

caught the train by myself and arranged to meet everyone after I had checked

into the hotel. My little adventure began on a train by myself travelling through

the Tuscan countryside. Not being used to group travel I was very happy.

The outer suburbs of Florence looked very dowdy, industrial and depressed.

The Grand Hotel Baglioni was very close to the station so lugging the luggage

was very easy. My room had a view but was incredibly small: I complained and

was shifted to a larger room. The hotel had a fabulous roof top restaurant and

garden that overlooked Florence 360 degrees. At four-stories it was one of the

tallest buildings in Florence so the views were great. Even if you are not staying

here I would recommend having dinner on the roof.

I met up with the group and we walked down to the main square with the Cathedral,

Bell-tower and Baptistery. There were queues to get into every building. Tourist central.

I had thought Siena was fabulous but Florence was spectacular.

The use of multi-coloured marble made the square look like a giant ice-cream cake.

The detailing of the facades would take months to document.

One pair of doors to the Baptistery was by Ghiberti, “The Gates Of Paradise”.

I’d studied these in Art History at High School. The fineness of the detail is

exquisite. History coming alive.

The richness of the exteriors was matched by the ornateness of the interior

decorations. I was fascinated by the ornamentation and illustrative

qualities of the ceilings and walls of the major buildings. The craftsmanship

is exquisite. I found these more interesting than the ‘must see’ pieces of art.

 Florence is a walker friendly city and is laid out so that it is very easy to

see the major attractions, although just meandering had its own rewards.

There are fountains and statues everywhere.

 The Ponte Vecchio was full of small jewellery shops selling very gaudy items and I

resisted temptation to add to my collection. Although I was to later find some really interesting earring shops and succumbed to the lure of pearls, rubies and emeralds.

A lot of the pieces are replicas of the Medici collection.

The legacy of the Medici Dynasty has made Florence a monument to art and culture.

The Medici Chapel is a superb example of the art of lapidary; the walls and altars

glowed with lapis lazuli, carnelians and other semi-precious stones and marble.

But along with all the history Florence has a needy underclass.

 On my days alone I wandered around spending a lot longer at the major attractions.

The most important one being the Uffizi Gallery. I was a little disappointed with it

as I feel it needed a better curator. Not all old art is good art but this gallery seemed

to display everything with pride and without prejudice. It needed a good culling so

that the gems could really sparkle.

 It was great to be able to get up close and personal with the religious art. The

books that I have at home don’t show the finer techniques and different materials

that were used to build up the density of the gilding. You couldn’t take shots so I

busily took notes on everything. No-one commented on me waving a pencil inches

from the paintings. The gallery has a wonderful collection of Botticellis and it was interesting to see the originals that I have been using for inspiration for years.

The hotel was directly opposite Santa Maria Novella with all its stunning murals

by Andrea Buonaiuto

Like all other Italian towns that I had seen there were Madonnas on nearly all

street corners. Lots of Kodak moments. I decided to get my film developed

and found a local chemist who quickly decided that I was mad with the amount

of film that I was getting processed. 

The major public gardens in Florence are the Boboli Gardens behind the Pitti Palace.

The gardens were wonderfully laid out with various outdoor “rooms”. It was

obviously a place for the locals to chill-out on a hot weekend with families having 

picnics and couples wandering around.

On my last day in Florence I went to see David. A giant, impressive piece of marble.

I prefer the unfinished sculptures of Michelangelo as they have more energy and

humanity. No photography was allowed so I went and photographed a lot of false

Davids. Florence is well populated with them.

I found a lot of attractive restaurants and had a grand time pretending that I was

Italian. The general shopping in Florence was very stylish but I was bemused to

see that people take their dogs into department stores. I also visited the Palazzo

Vecchio built between the 13th and 14th century. Parts of it had been modified

by Michaelangelo. The interiors are magnificent.

I loved Florence and want to return sometime with Omar.