The Backwaters

It’s been just over a week since we arrived in Kelara and what a luxurious week it has been. Last time I wrote it was from The Riverside Retreat near Alleppey, having arrived a couple of days from Gokana. We were paying a little more than usual to enjoy the tranquillity of staying in the backwaters but it was worth every penny. It’s truly a beautiful place, both in terms of the surrounding and the guest house itself. The Riverside Retreat is located in the huge 900Km network of rivers and canals that run along the coast of Kelara know as the Backwaters. The Backwaters have been and still are incredibly important to the state, supporting farming, transportation, fishing and more becoming the jewel of Kelara’s tourist industry.

We planned a short visit so we could take an overnight cruise on one of the house boats that travel up and down the waterways. We needed to stay somewhere first however so we could find a reputable boat at our leisure rather than being rushed into the first one we came across in Alleppey. However, once we’d experienced the beautiful surrounding, the home cooking and the luxury of the rooms (it was nice to have a bathroom with a sink and mirror) at the Riverside Retreat we were in no rush to find a boat. In fact, as we were so impressed we were happy to let Gigi (the owner) recommend and organise a boat for us whilst we stayed a couple more nights.

Our stay was probably was probably the most relaxing and peaceful of any place we’ve been to so far as The Riverside Retreat is far away from any of the main hubs providing access to The Backwaters, such as Alleppey. When we took a walk round it seemed to be the only guest house in the area and we were the only guests at the time, so we really felt away from it all. Having endured a very long journey to get there we were happy to sit around and watch life go by for a couple of days. Even the task of ordering food was taken care of as we let Gigi’s wife serve us a variety of traditional Indian dishes for breakfast and dinner. However after being served a dozen or so banana and coconut pancakes along with our eggs on toast on our first morning we decided that we need to do something a bit more active than sit in hammock opposite our room. I was keen to get out on the water in some way and fortunately Gigi had a canoe along with a couple of oars. Neither of us have a massive amount of experience on the water, so we had quickly learn to keep the boat in a straight line and not get in the way of the big house boats that also making their way up and down the canals. It was a lot of fun, but hard work (especially co-ordinating our efforts) but we made it down to a nearby village where we stopped for a drink and took a look at the local temples. On the way back I let Maren put her feet up and by the time we returned home I was quite pleased with my new rowing skills. I surprised both myself and Maren with my control of the boat as I manoeuvred to park up along the canal bank back at the guest house. If we’d managed to work off breakfast rowing the boat we soon back in the red after our dinner. Again, we were treated to more beautiful south Indian food, with a myriad of vegetable dishes that I hadn’t experienced to go along with some fresh tuna. The rest of our stay at the Riverside Retreat followed a similar pattern of wonderful but far too big meals and trying to do something more active than watching the world go by along the river during the day. If we’d stuck around for any length of time we’d surely gain weight very quickly as we were so well looked after, but having asked Gigi to arrange our boat trip for Saturday we soon had to leave. We left late in the morning after another delicious breakfast and took a rickshaw to Alleppey to board our boat.

Having watched many boats pass along the river during out stay at the Riverside Reteat we had a good idea of what expect, but we hoped that we’d be on one of the nicer boats. When we arrived at the river bank in Alleppey we weren’t disappointed. Whilst it wasn’t a big boat, since it had just one bedroom, it was perfectly formed. Both the bedroom and main deck were beautifully furnished and even the bathroom was far more luxurious then most of the modest accommodation we have become accustomed to. We couldn’t wait to start cruising the water ways and we weren’t the only ones. Even before we were underway we were blown away by the sheer number of other house boats driving past, and as we set out ourselves we were far from the last to leave. There are quite literally hundreds, perhaps thousands, of house boats on the water ways and as we made out way out of Alleppey we had to fight our way through the backwater rush hour. However, travelling at a leisurely pace of just a few miles an hour in the morning sunshine along the wide canals with plenty of space for all the boats it was anything like getting stuck in city traffic back home. As we made our way north the boats soon thinned out and before long we found ourselves in wide open waters as we entered the Vembanadu Lake, which is the longest lake in India and at 1512 square kilometres one of the largest. However, we soon turned back into the canal system where we made to another more modestly sized open water area to find a quiet spot to moor the boat so we could have lunch. To work up an appetite our captain encouraged us to take a swim first, assuring us that there were no crocodiles to worry about. So despite our fears about how clean the water might be we got ready to take a dip. As we made our way in we almost jumped out again due to the temperature of the water, not because it was cold but because it was so hot! The water felt unnaturally warm and would probably be quite acceptable for most people’s bath. Ironically, this was the closest we’d got to a hot bath (or shower) in weeks. Since the water provided little relief from the midday sun we were quickly out again and happy to lounge around until lunch was served, which was more of the same beautiful Southern Indian cooking that we’d experienced at the Riverside Retreat. After lunch we headed off again, and it wasn’t long before we’d decided that it was beer o’clock and the cruise would be enhanced by a little music from our mp3 player connected to onboard sound system. The afternoon flew by as we made our way along canals with palm trees and paddy fields either side and the light shimmering on the water as the sun began to get lower and lower in the sky. However, just as we were really getting into things our captain informed us that we’d soon be stopping for the night as the house boats were not permitted to travel the water ways after a certain time to allow for fishing. We were somewhat disappointed, but we still had a lovely evening taking a walk along the river bank, enjoying a beautiful dinner on the boat and as the heavens opened watching the torrential rain bounce off the river. When it was time for bed though, our boat experience wasn’t quite so pleasant. It was clear that we should have taken the AC option for just another thousand rupees as it’s was an extremely hot and humid night. It was almost impossible to get to sleep and opening the small window into the room barely made a difference. After a couple of hours we managed to finally drift off but we didn’t sleep for long. Maren woke up to see what appeared to be someone at the window peering into the room. Having awoke me I failed to see anything since it was pitch black outside and found it hard to believe someone would be out on the water at this time, but not long after we both saw him back at the window. At the time we assumed that he was trying to get a look at Maren in her underwear and after raising her voice a little he disappeared and we closed the window. However when Maren got up in the morning she noticed that her bag that had been by the window had been tampered with and some items were missing. She initially panicked as it had contained her passport, but thankfully this had been carefully left by the thief on the window sill along with her purse and book. However, it appeared that her credit card was missing, along with a small amount of cash, toiletries and some other minor things. After phoning to cancel the credit card we realised it could have been far worse. We’d made a very silly mistake leaving something near an open window (despite it requiring another boat to get along side) and if any of our other bags, such as the one with all our money or all our electronic gear like my camera or laptop it would have been a disaster.

We’d got careless because of how safe it normally feels in India. In comparison to other developing countries or even in the rougher areas back home you generally feel very secure. Despite the extreme wealth divide between rich and poor in India (along with tourists) incidents of robbery whilst not unknown do not seem to be common. The chances of any crime occurring during daylight or in the presence of any other people always seems to be very unlikely. Whether it’s a strong sense of morality due to the deep spiritual beliefs of most of the population or severe treatment towards those who bring shame towards their family or community that is responsible I’m not sure. Even when we were a victim of crime, the man who stole from us took the time to only take out of the bag what was of use to him and even put back the things that were extremely valuable to us, e.g. the passport. A few days later we also found the credit card which had been put back as well, just not in the compartment it was originally placed in. I doubt for a second that any thief in England makes that sort of consideration.

(Warning it’s about to get soppy)

So despite the slightly unpleasant night, nothing could take the shine off our wonderfully romantic trip on the water and we could still enjoy our breakfast watching the sunrise on Valentine’s day. The fact that our backwater trip crossed into Valentine’s day was completely unplanned (I rarely track the date and haven’t worn a watch in weeks) but that is just typical of our trip so far. I can’t even begin to count all the pieces of good fortune we’ve had, the great people we’ve met (especially those who have looked after us) and I’ve regularly felt like the luckiest person in the world. Maren and I have jokingly started giving regular thanks to the universe for arranging everything so perfectly time and time again. Whatever the reasons for our luck I am truly grateful and even more so that I get to share it with someone I love very much.

Photos for the back waters are at http://picasaweb.google.com/kris.lander/TheBackwaters