Cruising Kerala’s backwaters in a luxurious overnight house boat was perhaps the most relaxing thing we have ever done, but the day didn’t start that way.
We took a taxi from our homestay in Fort Cochin, following the road along the coast, we wound our way through the lush palm fringed landscape.
It’s fair to say India’s roads are nothing short of chaos, not only are there cars, motorbikes, trucks and rickshaws but the road is shared with cyclists, families walking, people doing business and random souls just hanging out. And there are a lot of people In India! Add to this an assortment of free roaming cows, goats and dogs it is easy to see why there’s always something coming at you head on. We expected our driver to be used to all this so weren’t too worried.
That was until we looked out the window and all we could see was a parked rickshaw getting closer and closer. As we braced for impact the driver quickly swerved to the left and there was a loud crash. In the end it was just the wing mirror that got hurt. The driver stopped the car to retrieve the now glass-less mirror, it was at this point that I looked for the other wing mirror and noticed that it was nowhere to be seen.
Only in India is it possible to hit something parked on the opposite side of the road and still hold down a job as a taxi driver!
The statues of Ganesh, which lined the dashboard, must have been working their magic as we managed to arrive at the dock in one piece. We wondered how habitable the boat would be as we had booked in advance through the owner of the homestay in Kochin. Stepping onto the boat was disappointing, easily described as old, dirty and un-appealing. Luckily we moved straight through and onto another house boat.
It was quite obvious that this boat was worth the 8000 rupees (£80) we paid for the night. The boat was clean, well-furnished and even had air conditioning in the bedroom.
The air conditioned dining room came with a with complementary fruit bowl.
And the relaxing lounge area had comfortable seats to take in the view.
At the back of the boat was the kitchen where our private chef would be making our meals. As we left the dock the chef brought us coconuts with a straw.
For a moment it felt like we were kings! All that was left to do now was put our feet up, relax and watch the world go by.
The Kerelan backwaters are beautiful, some might say heavenly. The waters are lined with palm trees, rice paddies and Indians going about their daily business. Just watching the world go by from the privacy of our boat made it all the better as we could not be disturbed.
There were people fishing with handmade bamboo rods while, further down the river, a few brave boys picked coconuts. We passed women washing the clothes and men working the rice fields. A real glimpse into what life is like in this unique corner of India.
As lunch was being prepared we retired to the dining room. The driver put on his best serving jacket and helped the cook serve what can only be described as a curry feast. There was enough curry to feed a family. The mix of flavours were just amazing.
Later in the day after much relaxing, the cook asked us if we would like to stop at a local fisherman’s hut to buy something to cook for tea. The boat moored outside a small shack at the edge of the backwaters. The three fisherman inside were keen to sell us some of their catch. Crabs, prawns and several varieties of fish were laid out neatly. I thought it was about time Leanne got over her dislike of prawns. The fisherman noticed my keen interest and handed me the biggest prawn they had, grabbing it by its antennae and swinging it in my direction.
It was too hard to refuse, I ended up buying the two biggest prawns I had ever seen.
We continued to relax into a hazy day dream as we floated along the backwaters. As the sun began to set we moored into a small village.
The village was a ram shackle selection of basic housing around an inlet on the water ways.
When we went for an afternoon stroll along the narrow paths the villagers welcomed us warmly and the children asked us questions inquisitively.
Tea was much like lunch, amazingly tasty, but there was far too much to eat. As the night closed in we drank a few beers and headed to bed relaxed and stuffed full of curry.
A fitting ending to a perfect day on the Keralan backwaters.
