We had another beautiful, but life threatening (!) drive down from the hills to a city called Kottayam. Kottayam is listed in the Lonely Planet guide as being a hub for backwater cruises to start so this is where we headed.
We arrived late-afternoon and headed to the Ambassador hotel (again recommended by the Lonely Planet guide, despite feeling a bit like a prison camp - Thank you Lonely Planet!). Not knowing anywhere else to go and the city feeling rather intimidating after the peace and quiet of the hills, we decided to stay here anyway as it was only one night.
After dumping our bags we went for a walk to find this 'hub of cruises' and hopefully get some information or arrange something for the morning there and then. After walking for a while, we had not seen any other tourists, any travel agents or the river itself and could not find anyone who seemed to understand the word river!! This was not going quite as planned....and it was getting dark! Just as we were starting to panic, we see what seemed like a 5 star, 'leading hotel of the world' looming in the distance (in hindsight it was probably more of a 3 star but it was the most luxurious hotel we had seen in a while!)- being the daughter of a hotelier I knew we would find a sanctuary here! We almost sprinted through the front doors much to the alarm of the security!
The manager was most helpful and kindly informed us that we were in the wrong place for backwater house boats (Really Lonely Planet!?!?) and that we would need to get a bus 10km away to Kumarakom where we would find boats. Unfortunately it was too late to travel that evening and we had already paid for the delightful Ambassador Hotel which coincidentally was only slightly less than this Hotel Arkadia which was much nicer and even had a pool.Of course Su & I then managed to find our way to the hotel bar for a few mojitos to lighten the situation. As soon as Lex leaves us we end up in totally the wrong place!! Come back Lexy!!
Surprisingly for a hotel bar in the middle of Southern India where we had still not seen another tourist, this bar would not have looked out of place as a London club and reminded me very much of good old 24!
Is it 24, is it Jalouse? No, just the hotel bar!
You would have thought after Lonely Planet's recent run that we would have learnt our lesson, but no we went to a Thali restaurant on their recommendation. Drum roll please......the restaurant was closed!! Luckily there was an open restaurant upstairs.
Moral of the story - give Kottayam a miss and head straight to Kumarakom or Alleppey to get a backwater cruise tour!
The next morning we headed bright & early (we couldn't leave Kottayam soon enough!) to Kumarakom by bus. All was not quite plain sailing from here - the bus dropped us off on a dusty road seemingly in the middle of nowhere!! No sign of any houseboats, rivers, tourists, or anything really! Luckily a tuk tuk driver happened to pass and coincidentally had a friend who had a houseboat. What a beautiful boat it was! Our luck was changing and we managed to bargain him down from £80-£60 for an overnight trip including all meals from Kumarakom and ending in Alleppey on this floating palace!
The backwaters are a network of 5 large lakes, numerous canals and 38 rivers all interconnected in all more than 900km of waterway which extends almost half the length of the state of Kerala. Vembanad Kayal is the largest of theses lakes covering 200km squared, and this is where we were.
The houseboats are local boats called Kettuvallams which were traditionally used as rice barges transporting the rice harvested alongside the backwaters. More recently, many have been converted into luxury floating cottages as above with upstairs and downstairs seating/dining areas and air conditioned luxury rooms.
As soon as we set off, all the tensions of getting there and actually finding a boat immediately melted away and you could not help but feel completely tranquil. The lake was stunningly beautiful and so quiet we wiled the afternoon away just watching the scenery pass us by.
It was hard not to be utterly relaxed and completely contented to do nothing but watch the world go by. Such a welcome compared to the contrasting London life. We stopped on a riverbank and a feast was served for lunch!
After lunch we carried on cruising until sunset - there were so many birds to see that Susan has become quite the bird watcher (if you know Susan, you will be able to appreciate quite how funny this is!). She was almost squealing with delight every time an eagle passed overhead.
At sunset we took a walk into the paddy fields & watched the show in it's full glory surrounded by nature with not a car, building, or any wifi in the vicinity. It was wonderful! Unfortunately sunsets never look as good in pictures, the huge blazing orange ball of sun becomes this tiny orange thing - I must invest in a good camera I apologise!!
Susan has spotted a bird!
Of course, I couldn't resist doing some yoga in such a beautiful setting!
Magical skies at dusk (above) & dawn (below)
After another huge feast for dinner and a quiet night, we woke up at 6am to see sunrise. The world was so still & serene, it is one of my resolutions to see sunrise more often (and not by still being awake!).
Unfortunately for us, the cruise was only one day and night and we had to say goodbye to complete serenity and our floating palace.
If you are going to South India, this is an experience you cannot miss it was so, so peaceful, such a gentle pace of life which we often forget exists. Even though we were delighted with the boat and trip we had, I would recommend starting the cruise in Alleppey where there are many more boats to choose from.
We spent the day in Alleppey waiting for our overnight train up to Goa, it's a sweet town but not a huge amount to see!
Next stop Goa!
xx
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