The backwaters of Kerala

There is a 900km network of waterways in Kerala and still to this day many people have to use these highways to get from their villages to the pavement. The only way to see this part of the country is to take a full day tour.

The driver picked me up at 8am sharp as it was a 35 km ride to meet the boat. Well, 10 minutes into the drive we pulled into a truck stop and he informed me I was joining another group. Being the last person to join the group I was in the front seat of a mini bus. Now, Indian driving is reckless but when you are in the front seat you gain a whole new perspective! I have decided there is an invisible lane in the middle of every two lane road. This lane goes in either direction and is based on telepathy who is going to go first! Actually I had a perfect view of the sights, a window that opened plus I was not sitting so close to the next person that I was stuck to them! 45 minutes later we arrived at our destination and boarded a covered houseboat which held 20 of us.



The morning was spent cruising the large open waterways which was extremely pleasant and peaceful. There were many fishers going after tiny mussels and our guide told us mussels are not only used for food but the shell is used as a medical agent used to help with osteophoris.


We stopped off at a small village and learned about different spices but I was more interested in checking out how the household was run. The kitchen was outside as were the toothbrushes hanging in a basket nailed to the side of the house and the toilet was inside. Makes no sense to me to have the sticky part of the house inside and trust me it smelled... These ladies from the house had homemade snacks to sell. I bought fried bananas and tapioca chips which were delicious!

After three hours of cruising we headed back to the dock and lunch was served on board. It was pretty good but I was hesitant as I really did not want to have to use the washroom on board!

After lunch we transferred back to our bus and headed to much narrower backwaters which can only be accessed by wooden canoes. I was upgraded to business class on this trip too!

The afternoon in these boats was really nice as the highway was now down to a single lane and you could hear all the wildlife and see the plants up close! We had a couple of stops the first being at a coir factory :) It was amazing to watch this woman make what I call twine. I had no idea that this kind of rope came from coconuts. Nothing is considered waste in India.

The second stop was at a coconut field where I tried coco milk and fresh coconut for the first time. I am not big on liquid that is room temperature and it was not as sweet as I thought it would be but none the less I managed a sip or two! The actual coconut was slimy and tasteless. At lunch we had it dried and flavoured two different ways which was great!

The day ended at 4pm and the trip home was a repeat of the start except in Saturday afternoon traffic, which is heaviest in India as Sunday is the only day off most people have, so there is much more movement taking place. More motorized vehicles to share the 'middle' lane with!!