Sue and David in India 2014

Kerala Part III – Kettuvallam (House-Boats)

Alleppey - Houseboats

During our coach journey to Alleppey where the houseboat (kettuvallam) was waiting for us, our Guide delivered the bad news that 'tomorrow is another Dry Day' in Kerala. The previous dry day was in honour of Gandhi's birthday (he didn't approve of alcohol) but the 1^st of every month is also a dry day here as it is pay day and the Govt doesn't want all the workers going out and spending their wages on alcohol.

Good news was that our coach stopped at a Government Liquor store where we could purchase essential supplies to take on board our houseboat. Men Only! Ladies aren't permitted to queue for alcohol but I did get off the coach to take this pic of the menfolk waiting in line. Our guys were put in a priority queue and whisked through quickly which was a bit unfair on the locals but they didn't seem to mind too much.

David bought 2 bottles of beer, a half bottle of local rum and a bottle of Indian wine … Grand Total £7.60 (or the equivalent in rupees). One bottle of local Indian wine in every hotel so far has been £22.00 so this was a really good result

Whilst waiting to board our houseboat I had a little wander and watched these ladies hard at work in the rice fields. Note their clever hats to keep the sun off them – and all the egrets in close proximity.

The houseboats are great. 3 double bedrooms with en-suites on ours, a large seating/dining area which is covered with a tarpaulin to keep the sun off but open sided to catch the breezes which are much needed as it is pretty steamy and sticky weather.

We had 3 crew on board who cooked us lots of Indian snacks and looked after us really well. Far too much food though. Just had a quiet evening on the boat, enjoying our 'cheap' drinks and chatting

lunch - David calls this my 'Camilla Face'

So many seabirds here and beautiful tranquil surroundings. Lots to see

The locals call this 'floating hyacinths' because the flowers do look like hyacinths but it is a fast growing weed and a nuisance to the boats

This is a darter (Snake Bird) which swims with its body underwater and its neck and head held high looking like a snake above the water. This one was startled by our boat's hooter so was scrambling to get out of the way

This is an Openbill Stork – for obvious reasons

Bee Eaters

White Breasted (or White Throated) Kingfishers

and ducks .... we saw lots of 'compounds' like this. Not sure if the ducks are destined for the table or for egg production:

Life on the water/side

Taking a break from the housework

We got off the boat a couple of times to join up with the rest of the group and wander round local villages and watch/meet the local folk.

these ladies were sewing blouses but happy to stop and chat for a while

and this was one of a group of men sculpting religious icons for sale to churches and private individuals ... he's working on an arm here

and a cat ... seems the Kerala folk don't have the same bad feelings for our feline friends as the people in Northern India do. we saw lots around

Sunset as we walked back from the village to our boat

and this was taken early morning (approx 6.30am) - can't say it was peaceful as we woken at 5am by the 'call to prayer' from a local mosque. Very loud and you know how sound carries over water, went on forever it seemed but it did get me out bed earlier than usual

Kerala Part II – Sunset Cruise

Sunset Cruise:

We had a couple of hours to ourselves during the hottest part of the day which was very welcome. At 4pm we set off for a sunset cruise looking at all the fishing boats and seabirds.

Big boats

Life aboard the boats:

Smaller boats using these poles to hold their boats steady in the current whilst they cast small nets to catch fish

Local ferry (loaded/overloaded to the hilt as usual here)

Egrets:

Sunset shots

Big disappointment/shock today a 'dry day' at the hotel … so no wine or beer available at the bar or in the restaurants. Instead we had sparkling water with our evening curry. 2 small bottles of Evian water was £9 shock horror!

David's highlight …. this is the first time we've spent 2 nights at a hotel with laundry service. This is how his laundered shirts came back:

Cute eh?

Kerala Part I – Churches & Chinese Fishing Nets

Cochin or Kochi as its now known – Kerala (Southern India)

11 of us from the original tour group are now 'down South' and have been joined by 4 other people who flew in yesterday via Dubai. Mum and Daughter and Husband & wife so we are now 15.

Wow … very hot (and steamy) and very different from Delhi/Agra/Jaipur etc. First impressions are that this area is much wealthier than the Northern States. Quieter – still some horn blowing on the roads but road users do seem to follow some rules. The hawkers (touts) are far less aggressive and actually take NO for an answer LOL. Cochin also seems to have lots and lots of churches, mosques, convents and also cemeteries/graveyards – something we saw little of in the North. Many of the lorries and boats are named after Saints or have Religious quotes signpainted on them.

We took a coach ride today to visit St Francis Church which is supposed to be the first European Church to be built in India c1500AD. Built originally by the Portuguese, taken over by the Dutch and finally the Brits. It has been rebuilt/remodelled a few times and has lots of handpainted pictures on the walls and ceilings. I won't post photos here. Except to say that there is a plaque on the wall dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II who visited the church in October 1997 … so we are following in her footsteps.

We also visited a Jewish Synagogue and the Dutch Palace which has some of India's most beautiful murals – we weren't allowed to photograph them but it was so hot and crowded inside that I gravitated towards the windows and photographed two birds in the grounds that I've subsequently identified from our 'birds of India' book

This is a Paddy Bird

This is a Coucal (known as a Crow-Pheasant). There were two of them hidden in the densest part of a mango tree … this one came out of deep cover for a while but still is partly hidden. You can see his red eye and fancy tail, and apparently it is a member of the cuckoo family but unique for having a long straight claw on the hind toe which you can just see in the pics I hope

This elderly couple were resting in the grounds of the Palace. This squatting position is a very common sight in India – groups of men and women simply squatting down to have a chat/meal in the same way that we'd sit on a chair. I guess if you've grown up resting in this way it seems perfectly normal and achievable – must help that they are so slim/fit as well.

We then went to see the cantilevered Chinese fishing nets in operation. Followers of Rick Stein's tour of India on TV will have seen these before. They were introduced by the Chinese who came to India in search of spices and basically they are large nets on poles which are lowered into the water and counterbalanced with large rocks. They stay in the water for about 20 minutes before being hauled out by gangs of fishermen. Mainly they catch Mullet here but we were told that the haul is poor at the moment – better in May/June.