Nowhere in the world, will you
find the world so different and amusing. It was the Kerala backwater tour that
offer such a unique taste of nature, that how much you grab, you are still to
miss something or the other, best among all. As the houseboat sails over the
backwater, the view starts to unfold of the women in bright saris slap clothes
again the rocky bank, young boys going school waving their hands and the whit
smiles swim all across. Men rowing canoes loaded with bunches of banana and
coconut pass. It is an awesome view that is very rare in any other corner of
the world.
The only sounds that disturbs the
tranquility of the place is the calves mooing, sweet twittering of the birds
and the whirring of the fan overhead the houseboat, places on the sided deck.
I watch the birds looking for
their catch, goats tied to trees with ropes and the ducks been flock away by
the anxious householders. A shirtless old man in a white loincloth, known as a
dhoti bends over and brushes his teeth in the water.
After hours of journey though the
picturesque landscape of the backwater, the houseboat slowly took side of the
bank to stop for lunch of banana curry, fried long beans, milk butter,
fried cabbage, fresh fish and rice. The
dish was so special and nicely prepared that I did not stop, till I got the
message from the stomach, it is enough, done for the day.
After such a heavy meal, soon
after sailing for hours, it was time to think for the dinner. We stop at a
small stall on the bank selling fish and other sea food. I picked up two large
prawns from the stall and handed over to the cook to prepare for the dinner.
As we start to sail, the sun
starts to set, I find myself cruising along a vast lake with the landscape
changing from the green to the flat rice paddies that ends to the horizon. Now
the sun on its final smile burns bright round orange and bids good night to
everyone. We tied our boat to a couple of palm trees for the night.
As everything turned dark, I hear the threatening rumble of thunder
overhead and the pitter –patter of rain on the water. As the light glow outside
the open deck, bugs swarms around the light that sails me to the insanity. By
the time, dinner was ready and Sameer leads me to an alternative dinner room,
where he has put several dishes for me on a table cloth over the mattress.
He now explains me in his best
possible English about the dinner and the delicacies he has prepared for the
night. Though it was delicious, my favorite experience is at breakfast the next
morning “Banana Pan Cake, Idli and Dosa”.
The backwater in Kerala covers 900 kms and the waterways around the Alleppey in Kerala is the best to explore on a traditional houseboat.
The backwater in Kerala covers 900 kms and the waterways around the Alleppey in Kerala is the best to explore on a traditional houseboat.
The six rice barges were
converted to today’s houseboat in the early 1990 but today, there are some 450
houseboats in Kerala, plying the canals. Some are completely glassed in and
some are two storeys.
While most of the men in Kerala
wear Western Cloths with the odd dhoti, women wear colorful saris with jasmine
flower in their hair. Kerala also has the country’s highest literacy rate and
you are unlikely to see beggars and slums that are very common in most of the
states of India.
About 10% of the total population
of the state works in Middle East as nurses and teachers. The value to
Education for both girl child and boy child can be found from the forward
thinking of the Maharajah, who rules the state earlier. The students in Kerala
learn three languages, the national language Hindi, the business language
English and the local language Malayalam.
My journey beings in the Fort
Cochin also known as Queen of Arabian Sea, which is one of the India’s Oldest
European Settlement with Portuguese, Dutch, British and Jews all enticed by the
spice trade. The fort is the main attractions and earlier it used to cover the
radius of 7 kms, but now almost destroyed, it has only 1 kms left.
The area is now converted and now
most of the area is filled with colonial homes that are converted into heritage
hotels, boutique hotels and homestays.
The area is now filled with
colonial homes that have been converted into boutique hotels and homestays.
Fort Cochin is famous for its
ancient Chinese Fishing Nets, which is said to been brought from China and this
large wooden contraptions are operated by atleast 5 people. It is also an
important attraction of the town.
Fishermen out here do demonstrate
for tourists to earn couples of dollars and show how the suspended fishing net
works and how everything out here works.
Markets along the river sell
fresh squid, lobster, crab and mussels, which can be bought and taken to the
nearby restaurants to be cooked.
Apart from all these, the town
has many interesting places that are sure to make the journey truly remarkable.
I enjoyed visit to the famous Synagogue, Willingdon Island and after that I
precede towards Periyar, a five hours a hair rising journey through the
mountainous areas. We see cows wandering
at the street around the waterfalls and women collection water on the side of
the road vassal made of palm leaves.
The early morning view of Periyar
was truly amazing, refreshing, green and alluring. Morning I take cruise on a
man-made lake of Periyar inside the sanctuary and as it move we spot wild boar,
buffalo, turtles, bird feeding their cheeks in nests. Afternoon we visit to
Elephant Camp and also the spice garden were we can see pepper, cocoa, coffee,
ginger, curry, cinnamon, tamarind. In is in this place, I helped the elephant
take bath for the first time in my life.
After the bathing session of the
elephant was over, I climb up and sit back on the back of his neck, while
elephant sucks water from the bucket with his trunk and sprinkled all over back
to me. It was truly amazing as it was hot sticky afternoon and the water
drenched me making me feel enliven by such a wonderful fun experience.
