Kettu Vallam

Trip Start Dec 10, 2006
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Trip End Jan 07, 2007


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Thursday, December 28, 2006

Our houseboat experience was exactly what we needed after our hectic sightseeing in the North.  Upon arrival at the Cochin Airport, Adam and I stepped off the plane ready to combat the usual onslaught of touts, which are aggressive street-side salesmen for everything from taxis to souvenirs.  However, we were pleasantly surprised that there were no touts outside the airport.  Instead, we were greeted by our driver and hopped into a white Ambassador circa 1940.  Kerala is much cleaner than the North.  People here do not use walls as latrines and have neat piles of street-side garbage instead of the continual littering that we saw in the North.  The well-kept streets might be a result of the fact that Kerala had the first democratically elected communist government in 1957-2000.  As a result, there is also very little industrial development as well.    
Once in Kottayam, we stayed in Theravadu Heritage Home, which was a good, basic stop-over accommodation with reasonably priced food and a helpful staff Backwaters of Kerala
Backwaters of Kerala
 .  The Kettu Vallam, or houseboat, they arranged for us was absolutely lovely.
We expected a small boat with a mat to sleep on, but instead we had a palace on water!  Our Kettu Vallam, a boat made from reeds/bark from the coconut tree was very nice and we had a crew of three men - a chef, captain, and one crew-guy.  Our help out numbered us.  We spent a day and a half doing absolutely nothing except soaking in beautiful scenery and eating.  We watched village life go by on the shores - people washed clothes, collected coconuts, and fished for dinner as we drifted by.  We will be posting pictures (worth a thousand words) when we have faster Internet service.  Our boat experience was one of the best that we've had thus far and was much needed after the somewhat exhausting bustle of the North. 
The clothes that men wear in the South are quite different than the North.  In Kerala they wear a button down shirt and a sarong, which are wrap-around skirts that are usually checkered, solid orange or solid white.  Adam bought one to lounge around the house in.  He's very secure in his manhood ;)                   
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