We have arrived in our final destination Fort Kochi before flying out to Malaysia. We came here straight from our cruise on the house boat on Monday (16th) morning, which was a lovely experience floating around the famous backwaters of Kerala.
On Saturday (13th) morning our train pulled out of Varkala and we had our final journey on the Indian railways to Alleppey. In comparison to some of our train rides it was a gentle affair lasting only a few hours, however one gentleman decided to treat the giant verruca on the sole of his foot with some cream right beside my wife. It was both disgustingly funny and unsurprising at the same time and provided ample vindication for not wanting to take our shoes off when entering places of worship in India. It was also a perfect example of the supposedly conservative Indians having little or no shame when it comes to certain things. Our Bhutanese waiter from the previous evening also told us a few things about Indians most of which we already knew. He had came to work in Varkala to earn a little extra money, its 5 days by train to the Himalayan Kingdom that he calls home. I asked him how many local workers and he was then very quick to tell me that the locals can't work there because they don't have the manners or discipline required.We laughed knowingly at this as he continued to tell us that any locally owned restaurants fail very quickly as they tend to scare off customers with their over eagerness to befriend tourists and their manners are very poor. But on the other hand they are keen to earn and jealous of the money that he makes on their turf. Just another example of the many contradictions that infiltrate India.
One verruca treatment later and we were in Alleppey, a small town centred in the Keralan Backwaters. The Backwaters are a mixture of brackish lagoons and inter-connecting canals. The waterways form the infrastructure for the quiet villages and towns that line their banks creating a relaxed rural idyll. However the relaxed nature of the backwaters attract tourists in their thousands. Luckily though the tourists are pretty much confined to the houseboats that wander the waterways and these are limited to a slow pace all helping to still give the impression of being undiscovered.
As I mentioned previously our planned trip to the Andaman Islands went belly up so we decided that we would splurge on one of the famous house boats for a Backwater's tour. On the recommendation of a French couple that we met in Kumily, we went with a house boat operated from our Home stay In western terms it was never going to break the bank, but one night in the houseboat could have kept us going for two or maybe three nights of standard travel. But we had been told it was worth every penny and we would get our 3 meals cooked up by our own chef and we would also have a boat captain to boss around.
The houseboats are based on the native rice barge design that was used to transport goods and people for centuries, but inside they can have every creature comfort you want as long as you are prepared to pay for it. We had an upper and lower deck, bedroom and attached bathroom, which would have put a lot of our previous accommodation to shame. We cast off on Sunday 14th at midday and we encamped on the upper deck watching the canals drift by. I was a little disappointed by some of our route as it crossed the wide coastal lagoons and lakes where there was not a lot to see. Also the sheer number of house boats on the water was a little annoying at times, especially when a boat load of Indian tourists would break the calm with some Hindi rave music, shrieking and dancing their way past. Mostly though its just another boat floating past silently while the roosters crow, laundry ladies pound their garments and children lap and splash in the water.
We moored up for the night next to a small village and after another blood red sunset it routinely started to rain once the light left the sky as it has done so in Kerala since our arrival. After dinner we had only the mosquitoes to worry about, which are malarial in this part of India. Our room was pretty much air tight though and the mosquitoes seemed to be successfully excluded. Anyone who has encountered mosquitoes before will be aware that they love to bite you on the feet, which drives me bananas with itching. This along with the thought of sun burnt feet has lead to me sporting a trendy pair of socks on this trip. They are pulled up my legs as high as they will go and they are never off not even in bed. So the socks, the air tight cabin, and some mosquito spray all helped to keep me bite free on our night on the back water, something I feel quite proud about. A small victory for mankind over mosquitoes in their domain!
After breakfast we were on the move again and all too soon we were back to our boarding point and we were land-lubbered once again. We boarded the bus to Kochi and as the bus took off a fat man and his friend demanded our seats. He was in for a fight if he thought he was going to shift me, but shift me he did! He called the conductor and after a conversation between them in the local language the conductor told us that the bus was not going to Kochi, this I thought strange as 3 other passengers had told us that it was. On hearing this another foreign tourist couple on board bailed out so despite my suspicions what could we do only the same thing? If the conductor said it wasn't going to Kochi how were we going to pay him to get us there? The fat man's waist line was the biggest clue as to what was happening. In India, as in a lot of poor countries being fat is a sign of wealth as you have access to a lot of food. I suspect that he was going to bribe the conductor for our seats and they both seen us as an easy target. We got off in bad humour and walked back to the bus station where there was another bus waiting, with plenty of seats and no fat men. That's the great thing about India is that there is always another one, whether it be a bus, rickshaw, or restaurant, if your not getting what you want, you can always go along to the next one as there is an endless supply. We lost about 20 minutes so it was no huge issue. This type of corruption in India is endemic at all levels from the fat man on the bus to the coal tycoons and their minister buddies. It must leave the general population demented with frustration.
Another few auto rickshaw rides and a ferry trip that took us past an Indian navy instalment and we were at our current and final location in wonderful relaxed Fort Kochi. It is old colonial port and the atmosphere is leaving us having difficulty to believe we are in India at all.
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