Cruising down the river on a Sunday afternoon.....
Trip Start
Mar 21, 2009
1
19
39
Trip End
Mar 20, 2010
Kerala,
India
Monday, June 15, 2009
Allepey backwaters, Kerala
Excited about my forthcoming trip, I was up and out early that next morning. I bough samosas and took a rickshaw to Allepey beach. Again, very quiet, there were nice stretches of sandy coastline and charming little roadside stalls for chai and snacks, but several dilapidated buildings stood nearby. It seemed strange that such a lovely area was spoilt by old properties that no-one appeared to be sorting out. There was a nice little canal system close by, with boats available for hire but there were very few customers that morning. I enjoyed two lots of chai with locals and then headed back to my digs, to be motorbiked down to the local waterways. There, in all its glory, was my very own houseboat, designed like a kettuvallam (rice barge) with my own captain (Jinil) and cook (Santosh) for company thro'out my trip.
Designed to beautifully synthesize with its surroundings, the boat has a galley, double bedroom, lovely shower room en suite, comfortable lounge area with cane chairs and coffee table, side cushioned seats, a large cushioned area for sleeping or lazing and stairs to a balconied, terraced area with tables and chairs for higher, loftier views! It looked fantastic! Far more important than the boat tho' was this myriad of backwater lakes and canals that I would be cruising over the next 3 days. It's a vast network of waterways that provide the area with its lush vegetation and huge areas of rice paddies, along with a sizeable fish stock and coconut palms that make this area so rich. It's a tropical paradise, with lush views, gorgeous weather, incredible Keralan cuisine and nice people - what more could anyone want!!
Jinil and Santosh stood waiting to welcome me aboard my temporary, cosy home with a coffee table full of fresh fruit (pineapple, papaya, melon, bananas, apple and orange) and passed a full coconut bowl of coconut milk and a straw to me! It was delicious and I thought I'd gone to heaven! I settled in as Jinil started making our way down the initial waterways (covered by the public ferry), where life in all its glory was in full swing. Ladies were quietly washing their clothes in the river, with the occasional slapping noises of fabric against the riverside stones. Lunch pots (all beautifully clean metal) were vigorously scrubbed clean and neatly stacked on the riverside and freshly laundered washing hung on border hedges to dry. White, brown and speckled hens darted and clucked around the home and goats quietly grazed between them.
I'd chosen this boat carefully, since environmental concerns (including motor pollution) is seriously affecting the backwaters. My boat had the Green Palm Certificate - an ecofriendly accreditation system, where operators must install solar panels and sanitary tanks for waste
disposal. They also use a cleaner, natural gas as opposed to the diesel fuelled fumes emitted by the public ferries. They're also much quieter, having little impact on the natural surroundings. If you closed your eyes, the only sound you could hear from our boat (while it was cruising along) was the quiet, lapping of waves, as the boat made its way thro' the canals.
We passed a part of the Veembanad Lake that's famously used for the Nehru Trophy Snake Boat Race. Taking place in August, scores of giant, low-slung chundan vallam (snake boats) take part, each 30m long and crewed by up to 100 rowers. Built with a raised, snaking prow, they sway in unison to the fast rhythm of full-throated singing, rowing at incredible speeds.
I waved at parents and children alike, while cautious babies eyed my European looks with great suspicion! Mothers laughed, encouraging them to respond, while grannies waved and chuckled from the entrance to their homes. I'm in no doubt that life isn't a bowl of cherries here and that everyone works hard to get by, but they really do seem such a happy, contented group of people. Quiet, decent and very proud, they clearly love their homes on the backwaters, as the monsoon floods mean many will be flooded out for 2 months a year (between Jul - Sep). The government automatically re-house them into temporary accommodation, such as schools etc until they can return! Anyone, surely, stripped of their roots, personal privacy and possibly lifestyle for 2 months, must surely love the other 10 months enough to suffer?!
Standing on my balcony, I played games with children running along the banks on their way home from school, throwing them each a banana as we sang and laughed along the banks together! I shouted 'Namaste' greetings to fishermen, pulling in their nets into long canoes, while I took photos of the stunning views. This was another India - a quiet, unassuming, natural beauty with a population that totally differs from the rushed, loud, littered India of the cities, towns and villages that I'd visited so far.
My second dose of heaven came mid-afternoon, when my first real taste of Keralan food was tested. There were poppadoms, chapattis, fish (in a beautiful sauce) and pots of sumptuous vegetables and rice. I had to forgo the carbs, as the fish and veg looked wonderful and I hadn't had much of what I'd called veg for weeks! What with banana crisps served at 5pm (just couldn't face a mouthful!) and lots of chai, I really wasn't at all hungry when meal no 2 arrived! Four huge chunks of chicken with more lush veg, rice puri, pickles and slice pineapple!! I managed a very very small piece of chicken, a spoonful of veg and some pineapple and had to admit defeat, begging the guys to get it all down them!!
The dark night was seemingly still at our moorings, but the night was far from silent: rather a cacophony of sounds, deep in the rice fields, banks, shrubs, trees and undergrowth. Frogs croaked loudly, chit chats & crickets aired their lungs or rubbed their wings together accordingly. fish made their way to the surface to scan for food and rats trawled their territories for food and scraps. It was a balmy, warm night with a series of pale, yellow lights dotted haphazardly, signifying busy homes in the area. Occasional brighter lights reflected on the water, as evening fishermen sat optimistically under a canopy of bright stars. Occasional, gentle warm winds swirled around me as nearby ducks prepared to sleep. this backwater country and Venice of the East is certainly immensely beautiful! As I returned to my inner bedroom (I could have slept outside but I knew this would be a far more comfy area for the guys than where they would otherwise sleep - and there were all those potential mossies, despite a net!!), I reminded myself how lucky I was to sleep among such gorgeous scenery - a real emerald jewel in South India's crown!
My kettuvallam (boat made by tying together of pieces of wood - there's not a nail in the whole structure!) bedroom was very comfortable and the shower room good. It's a sturdy vessel and altho' now converted into luxurious boats with modern amenities, they were once the primary means of transporting cargo here (Kerala's staple crops are rice, coconuts and fish), It rained all night but the day recovered well, from early the following morning. I kept my fingers crossed that this monsoon weather would refrain during the day and do its utmost only during the night! After breakfast, we moved on from our moorings to explore more these majestic emerald green lakes, estuaries, criss-crossing narrow canals and innumerable lagoons. Altho' we weren't covering a fraction of the 900kms of inland waterways, these palm-fringed places really do allow you to catch glimpses of the unique lives lived by the locals here.
The waterways clearly nourish an infinite number of rice paddies and coconut groves and are home to a variety of birds: I saw beautiful kingfishers, herons and egrets. Duck farming is another local way of life here, as these water birds are an integral part of the landscape. I also saw fruit growing in abundance: jackfruit, coconuts and bananas, while bougainvillea flourished between all the homes. The sky cleared very early morning and the weather became beautiful, so I spent some time on my high balcony, laughing and waving to other passing houseboats' occupants. Altho' there weren't many in our vicinity most of the time (the bigger ones can't enter the small canals), many of the larger, beautiful boats are privately owned by wealthy Indian families and can opt to go off the usual routes to further areas, so there can be quite a number of boats on the waterways at any one time. They were also very friendly and were often shouting to get my attention first!
I had the most amazing fish curry at lunchtime! Seafood is a favourite here and certainly one of mine (I'd requested it as a preference when asked what I'd like to eat before the trip). This meen pollichatu (cooked in banana leaves) and also molee (cooked in coconut milk , ginger and cumin) were absolutely fabulous. The food is cooked in coconut oil here and I always had one vegetable dish mixed with fresh coconut (eg grated carrot or beetroot). Vegetables were never overcooked, as they're steamed and stir-fried, so the excellent flavours stay in the food. Again, so much variety (6 different dishes) that I just couldn't eat much, but I made certain I found room for some papaya - again, something I'd specifically asked for before my trip. I've loved papaya since boarding school - 1965!!!
We went to visit an area where they pump out the water from the rice fields and catch fish from the pumped out water (or rather where the pumped out water is feeding into the nearby river). A few local families lived in the area (altho' many of the homes are so small and inconspicuous that you can hardly see them behind the shrubbery) and their fathers and sons were filling up small canoes with the fish caught. I took a few children to the local 'shop' to buy them some pens and little chocolate bars - they were all so cute! I was to learn here that coir (coconut fibre),copra (dried coconut meat) and cashews are loaded onto boats here too, along with other canals in the area.
When we stopped in the evening, I spent a considerable amount of time staying up on my balcony for better views of the area. The stillness and sounds of the night were incredible and I didn't want to move for ages. Finally, I left the boat and walked along several narrow spits of land, often only a few metres wide, dodging thro' the overhanging trees and hens. The little earthy paths were only about 12" - 18" wide and were often very lengthy walkways to further access points. It would certainly only have taken a foot or two of higher waterways to have completely absorbed them! There's definitely no other place like it - so peaceful and utterly stunning, with a huge canopy of stars so bright above - quite moving! Another lush chicken meal and plenty more chai and heaven had arrived on earth!! I was awake early the following morning and heard movement on the boat at 6.30am, while having my shower. When I emerged from the bedroom tho', the guys had disappeared! I had the boat to myself until 7.30am, when both returned from what had been a 25mins each way walk to the local Hindu temple, for 10mins of puja (prayers). We immediately left the mooring, as we had some mileage to cover to return to Allepey.
The sun shone again after what had been a bad night for rains and a huge rainbow arched over the rice paddies nearby and ducks revelled in the extra water and fresh, clean air. I ate a tomato and onion 3-egg omelette and a bowl of fresh, mixed fruit - too much for one meal but I was keen to eat all the fruit, rather than have lunch! My trip was coming to an end and I tried to savour every moment of what was left of my trip. With glasses of delicious Indian chai (there's definitely not a cup in England that could match it!), I returned to my balcony to soak up the last views of the rice fields, the huge collections of ducks everywhere, the goats and the chickens.
Women had long washed away their breakfast dishes and were now getting on with clothes washing by the riverside (many of them half submerged in the water). Tidiness had been a key feature everywhere we'd meandered and children also ran errands and helped around the home. Extended families work well here (ie there are many in the area), altho' the natural landscape obscures the actual number of people living here. It's obvious they all have the same sense of pride, respect and love of their surroundings and it really shows. I just wondered how intrusive my presence had been in their quiet, private and peaceful lives amidst all this Keralan beauty.
Our return to Allepey came far too soon and I found it difficult to leave this beautiful experience behind. Being the nature freak that I am, despite the unparalleled magnificence of many of India's amazing sights, this serene and stunning backwaters experience had just catapulted itself into top position! But time was ever pressing, so I returned to pick up my backpack and took the bus to Kochi, via Ernakulum (leaving my backpack in left luggage). I’d decided to return from Southern to Central Kerala to snatch a quick glimpse of Fort Cochin - an area where Chinese fishing nets, Jewish synagogue, Portuguese homes and British colonialism have all made their mark. It’s actually a number of islands and peninsulas but Fort Cochin & Mattancherry were the areas I was going to visit.
Kochi, Kerala
I made my way to the very start of the Keralan backwaters area of Fort Cochin, where cantilevered Chinese fishing nets clung to the shores (I could see about 12 of them). Mainly used at high tide, these gigantic spider-like contraptions need at least 4 men to operate the counterweights! A legacy from the 14th century Kubla Khan trading, they looked very impressive with their dark wood frames and bright blue nets. I wandered among some craft stalls nearby, buying a couple of ’reversible’ puppets (male and female depending on which way they’re turned).
Then I moved on to see St Francis Church, built in wood in 1503 and rebuilt in stone in the mid 16th century. Vasco de Gama died in Cochin (the former name of Kochi) in 1524 and was buried here for 14 years until Portugal took him home to Lisbon. A Dutch cemetery nearby was disappointing. Containing the graves of Dutch soldiers and traders after 1724, it was locked, requiring permission to see it. Whereas, the towering Santa Cruz Basilica was open for services with an impressive flow of saris and lunghis flowing into the grounds, to give thanks to Mother Mary in a side chapel. The original had been built in 1506, but the current building has only been here since 1902, with lovely interior art.
By this time, I’d walked quite a number of streets in the area and was very aware of its Portuguese and English heritage, with large village greens full of Indian cricketers of all ages! I continued on to Mattancherry to see its Mattancherry Palace. The Portuguese built it in 1555 and presented it to Raj Veera Kerala Varina (probably to secure trading terms) and the Dutch renovated it in 1663. The grounds and actual buildings were non-descript, not looking like a palace at all and the museum was nothing to write home about, but what was brilliant was to see the remains of some Hindu murals that had been painted on to the walls of one single room. Very ornate and lavishly detailed, they contained entwined characters and scenes from many parts of the Ramayana (Indian epic), Mahabharata & Puranic legends. Incredible!
I walked on to the Jewish area, incredibly called Jew Town. This is a port area and used to be the centre of the spice trade. There are many small, tiny old buildings here that used to be used to conduct the spice business from with turmeric, ginger, cloves, cardamom and cumin the main exports. The small shops located on cobbled streets eventually lead you to the Pardesi Synagogue, altho’ they’ve all been converted to craft shops. I still found some homes with Jewish house signs outside and Star of David designs within metal window guards.
The synagogue was stunning, with a lovely interior. Chinese willow pattern tiles adorned the floor with a lovely gold pulpit further illuminated by incredible chandeliers and multi-coloured glass lamps. Built in 1568, the Portuguese destroyed it in 1662. thankfully, the Dutch came to the rescue and rebuilt it 2 years later, altho’the clock tower wasn’t built until 1760. This had been a really interesting area.
I returned to the Basilica, where a local theatre were performing , using Kathakali art forms. This traditional Keralan art form has been around since the 16th century, altho’ 2nd century temple rituals are part of its essence. I could have attended from 5pm, when a lengthy and highly disciplined preparation process takes place (applying make-up and facial extras), as well as costume changing, headpiece adornments and meditation time. But I chose to return later, to see the last of the make-up being applied.
We were first introduced to the principle concepts of Kathakali: hand gestures (mudras) and facial expressions (name not known). It was incredible just how precise all these movements had to be and just how they’re achieved!! We were then given a synopsis of the show, which explained exactly what would be ‘said’ and acted out, so it was incredible to watch it, being able to understand what was going on! There was a drummer & a singer (of the wailing kind), while 2 male protagonists and 1 female acted out the scenes. The costumes were amazing and stilted facial movements were really fantastic. Two men in brown lunghis came on stage to hold up an ornate, large rectangular cloth, while certain actions took place behind it.
In this enactment, the them of good and evil were covered, where the girl is saved from a wicked man. All such themes are covered in Kathakali: war & peace, wealth & poverty, courage & weakness, along with good versus evil. Traditionally, performances usually take place in temple grounds and last from 8pm until dawn! Thankfully, we were all able to fully appreciate 1.5hrs before we might have had difficulty!
A bus back to Ernakulum was quickly followed by a train to Madurai. I’d had to book a seat, rather than a sleeper, as there were no sleeper bunks left available when I booked and I needed to be travelling before bunks became available (ie 5 days on from when I wanted to move on). Apparently it’s because there aren’t many trains serving this part of the country and demand always outstretches supply. And boy, was I to find out!! When I got on to my carriage, the open compartment was absolutely rammed with people everywhere - and I mean everywhere! There were people lying asleep in the luggage racks overhead. There were so , so many people lying in the aisles. There were others who were double, trebled and quadrupled up on the 3-seater seats and the carriage doorways were just piled high with bodies!! It looked like a bomb had gone off and the bodies had just been blown about all over the place! I had to insist that people got out of my seat and I placed my daypack on the seat next to me (next to the window), as I wouldn’t place it down on the floor when I knew I’d (hopefully!) fall asleep!
I wasn’t well liked, as I fell asleep and those next to me said they didn’t have enough room and would I move my bag onto the floor like others (they were all very young people). I told them that perhaps if the person sat on their knee moved away, they’d immediately have more room, as it was supposed to be a 3-seater. Then the other guy said that the seat didn’t allow for bags, so I told him that I’d gladly put it on the floor and have more room myself, when Indian people could be relied on not to steal bags!! Until then, I said, I was intent on keeping my possessions close by!!
After getting a few hours broken sleep, I awoke in the morning to find the carriage almost empty - most people had clearly only needed the train for a short trip!! But altho’ there were probably buses they could have caught, trains are much more popular here - partly, no doubt, as many buy a cheap general car ticket and then search out better seats on the train. That’s assuming that they all bought tickets at all!! It’s not quite so easy to get a free bus ride!!
Within a few hours I ‘d arrived in Madurai.
