We left Fort Kochi after an abundant muesli, curd and papaya breakfast and hopped onto a shared taxi with two American students to make our way to Alleppey, for the famous keralan backwater experience.
Our first stop was the houseboat jetty, an experience worth forgetting; two wasted hours, a slight liver pain and a pang of homesickness; culminating eventually in a damp hotel bed.
It was however set amidst a lush garden with (what later that night turned out to be) an excited and loud rooster, an emu and a bunch of old young and ageless potheads. the atmosphere was, of course, relaxed, and we were even delighted with a few hours of guitar and beatles to bring us back to the good old yesterday, when our troubles seemed so far away.....ahem...
the next morning we tried another route to the houseboats, through the hotel guys. we ended in the most luxurious, comfortable floating cloud of a boat just for the two of us and the three friendly crew member who turned out to be real good fun!
we left the jetty at around 1pm in what was a serious monsoon downpour! it had rained persistently through the night (not enough to shut that rooster up though) and had continued flooding into the morning (apparently giving the rooster an even louder voice). luckily though, by the time we set off the dark clouds subsided and we got a chance to take in the beauty of the backwaters.
the boats used for homestays are built in the style of rice carriers, hence the typical thatched coverings and uberenormous canoe shape. they vary in size but all include at least one bedroom (with toilet and shower!) and a kitchen and outdoor (but sheltered) area.
i write as i am on the boat...
the backwaters we have seen for now are wider than we expected. as ron described it 'l'autostrada a doppia carreggiata e' piu piccola'. the canals are dotted with algae and pretty water lilies (ron almost fell in trying - and succeeding - to get me one to put in my hair), and the occasional splashing fish.
the skies are loaded with multicoloured fairylike dragonflies and migratory birds (that look like ducks but aren't). palm trees, banana plants and rice paddies line the waterways providing coconuts, woodfire and some shade to the desolate cottages from which entire families gather to wave at us.
we stopped twice. the first time to buy 'tori' - a typical keralan palm wine made and fermented entirely inside the palm tree. from the second it is extracted, its contact with oxygen forces it to ferment at a fast rate - hence must be consumed on the day. it is sold by the litre and people fill their own plastic bottles from large tanks. it looks like milky water and is the alcohol of choice of old men and teenagers.
it's weird!!! it smells foul!!! it tastes sweet and tangy at first then the immediate afterstate is unmistakably salty. As ron and i finally decided, it tastes like a mixture of sunday roast gravy and japanese salad vinagrette. our curiosity was paid off after a few sips so we gave the rest to the crew who perhaps are more accustomed to the peculiar 'ick' factor.
our second stop was at a riverside fishmongers (a backwater supermarket?!) that sold us some really expensive, lobster-sized prawns. huge beastly things, later turned out to be worth every single penny.
for lunch we had pearl spot, or black fish; apparently a speciality of the backwaters.
the story of the water from the backwaters is quite an interesting one. the river itself is freshwater, however, for two months a year, the dams are opened and sea water is allowed to converge with the backwaters. the fauna and flora of the backwaters have thus adapted to the strange sweet and salty conditions!
second day to be continued...
