Houseboat Cruise

We left Cochin by taxi and arrived in Alleppey to board our houseboat just prior to lunch. A bit of hassle about the schedule and drop off location, but with that sorted we were on our way.

The boat is the width of a bedroom and three rooms long. The front “room” is open air and we spent the afternoon there, enjoying the sights or sitting at the table to eat the meals they prepared for us. We’re thankful that travellers are exempt from the fast. The back two rooms are bedrooms and the very back of the boat is a small kitchen.

We traveled through a couple of lakes, and various canals, some big and some smaller. The scenery was typically palm trees and rice fields and some banana trees too, although later in the afternoon we went through village areas and got to see the daily working of rural life in Kerala.

We saw people washing clothes in the canal, others washing dishes, and others swimming or bathing in the canals. A few people were fishing too. We saw colourful clothes on lines strung between palm trees. We saw huts made of palm leaves and a couple of homes that were very luxurious. There were small boats, and large boats and we also saw many birds.

We moored at the side of a canal alongside a rice field in the early evening. We got off for a walk and now we are contentedly awaiting our dinner. In India people eat rather late. Most people don’t eat before eight o’clock and often as late as nine or ten!

CM