Kerala

What a relief! A whole other world awaited us in the "backwaters" of Kerala - a region feeling more Caribbean than Indian, lush and tropical, relatively prosperous, and scattered with lazy buggers like us looking to float around on a houseboat for a couple of days. We flew into Cochin airport, and after an unexpectedly expensive taxi ride, a midnight stroll around Cochin to find a room, and an early walk back to the bus station, we arrived in Alleppey and it was good. Mainly due to a little establishment called the Indian Coffee House, where we had REAL coffee, blushing pink rose flavoured milk and crazy-cheap biryani.

But the whole point was to get out on a Kettuvallam, the 'traditional' rope, coconut fibre and bamboo boats that were originally poled through the narrow canals and calm lakes of the region, Of course now they're built in steel and plastic, covered in rope, and fitted with motors so tourists can be taken on pleasure trips - and it was our pleasure! Our little boat was staffed by three sweet but sleepy Keralans - Matthew, Arjay and Sanjay, who cooked us feasts, pointed out birdies and other cool stuff, escorted Ros to nice swimming spots and had arvo naps.






We were visited by floating fish sellers, stopped off to check out one of the oldest Christian churches in India, as glittering and vibrant as you'd hope, and has two quite spectacular sunsets from the comfort of our hammock laden vessel.