Allepey - Venice of the East
Trip Start
Oct 07, 2007
1
24
42
Trip End
??? ??, 2008
Alllepey,
India
Saturday, January 12, 2008
We rented a canoe for a couple of hours and took a leisurely spin around some of the waterways. Having learnt our lesson from the bamboo rafing in Periyar, this time we've got a local on board to do the hard work! The first hour is rather uninspiring - the canal is a major highway and every minute there are huge houseboats passing by with loud motors running and Indian music blaring. Besides this on the banks there's the continual sound of hammering and drilling as even more houseboats are constructed
Allepeney Canal
.Once we get onto the quieter waterways though it's a different story. Here everything is impossibly quaint - the water is full of lilies, the banks are lined with palm trees and little wooden houses, the locals row from neighbourhood to neighbourhood and the children play in the water. The kids have cottoned on to the advantages of tourism though and it's rare we pass one that doesn't look for a pen. I'm afraid they'll have to put their writing careers on hold if they're relying on us for provisions because we had nothing to give them!
The next day we're on the water again. This time on an 8 hour cruise to our next stop, Kollam. Jonathan returns rather traumatised from shopping for snacks for the trip. Apparently on vendor, who needs a lesson in customer care, asked him whether his skin disease hurt - oops! The only other time I've seen him this offended was when a hawker offered to accept his watch in exchange for a rather shoddy looking drum!
Anyway, the cruise is pleasant but inevitably by the eighth hour the scenery is getting a bit repetitive and our arms are starting to fatigue from waving at the locals. We're glad when we finally arrive in Kollam - until we have a look around the town that is and realise there's nowhere half decent to stay. Still, we're just here for one night so we're not too bothered by having to drop our standards a little!
