It was already 23C when we disembarked the ship having negotiated a second round of face-to-face immigration inspections – this time at some speed – and the temperature rose to 29C during the course of the day. As I mentioned in the last posting high summer on Kerala is from March to May. We were on our way to Allapuzha a small town nestled in the midst of a thick tangle of lush tropical waterways to board a Houseboat or Kettuvullom (As they are called locally) for a gentle cruise through the palm shaded canals and lagoons that form the Alleppey Backwaters – often dubbed the ‘Venice of the East’.
Our destination was some 75 Kilometres south of Cochin and provided a marvellous opportunity to observe life in the southern most state of India in all its diversity. I think every metre of the road on either side was a jumbled mass of all kinds of street stalls, workshops and larger businesses. Fish (At no point on the journey were we very far from the sea), all kinds of fruits, vegetables, spices and other domestic needs were met by these small stores and a very notable absence of supermarkets. It certainly made for some interesting and vibrant street scenes in the many small towns and villages through which we passed.
Another notable feature was the many large hoardings advertising all kinds of colleges and educational opportunities – clearly education means a lot in this part of the world. Every school we passed was full of waving pupils in their neat, colourful and immaculate uniforms.
So after a one-and-a-half hour bus journey – and I’m glad I wasn’t sitting in the front – we arrived at our destination and quickly boarded out Thatched houseboat for a two hour cruise. It was a relief to get away from the tooting car and lorry horns until we discovered that there are some 1600 houseboats on these backwaters and horns were essential to avoid collisions – and to settle disputes between rival companies - in even the widest parts of the waterway.
For the most part however I could sit back in comfortable settees on the shaded foredeck and watch the world flow gently past supping mango juice and eating delicious local bananas.
Ever since I saw the houseboats featured in the TV series “the Jewel in the Crown’ – and yes I know that was over 30 year’s ago – I have wanted to experience this way of living - some dreams take longer to fulfil than others!
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