14 January Kochi
A network of about 900 kilometers of canals, rivers, and lakes weave inland
from the coast of Kerala, and tourists love to travel these backwaters! We
wished to spend a day on the water, cruising beneath the lush tropical greenery
that encloses villages and garden. Glenda looked into taking a guided kayaking
trip, which looked appealing, but these cost a lot and would require a taxi or
long bus ride south to the start in Alleppy. Luckily our Airbnb host at
Beechboro Home Stay had good connections and set us up on an all-day backwaters
tour including taxi rides there and back. The backwaters near Alleppy can get
very crowded, but our backwater journeys went through a less-visited area
farther east. A taxi picked us up for the long drive through heavy traffic of
the Ernakulam area, then south to our large canoe, where we met our guide and
boatman and joined a couple from Kuwait. The boatman poled us at a leisurely
pace through green tunnels of vegetation and past homes and farms. We made
several stops to visit a farm and see traditional crafts of rope-making,
mat-making, cloth weaving, pottery, and producing coir from coconut husks. At a
lunch stop we had a simple banana leaf Kerala meal.
A canoe passes
near our launch point.
This looks like
wild jungle, but people live along the canal.
A rare meeting with
another group
Canal-side flowers
A machine (off to
the left) twirls the strands of rope pulled from strands of coir (coconut husk
fiber).
Making a mat from local grasses
We
watched thread being wound onto bobbins for weaving on a hand loom.
Pottery quickly
takes shape at the hands of this skilled potter.
After a break we got on a larger boat, equipped with chairs and a roof and powered by two boatmen who slowly poled us along. The boat took us on a loop through open countryside of wide rivers and a big lake, which was pleasant, if a bit too leisurely.
We wait for our
second boat ride.
Our boat moves very
slowly despite hard work of the two boatmen.
Our comfortable
boat
On the taxi ride home we detoured to a large Hindu temple complex, Vaikom Sree Mahadeva Temple, dedicated to Shiva. Glenda and Julie felt unsure about going inside the central courtyard, but our guide, a Christian, seemed happy to take me there though we both had to take off our shirts to follow local custom (Women don’t take off their shirts!). The temple had hundreds of oil lamps, mostly along the walls, and would have made a brilliant sight at night when burning. In the evening our taxi dropped us off back at our homestay after a very full and enjoyable day. We finished off with dinner at nearby Oceanos.
Some pilgrims
prostrate while circumambulating the temple
Innumerable oil
lamps on the right would be a spectacle when lit at night!
On to Kerala: History and Art in Kochi
Back to Beginning of South India Backpacking Dec. 2018-Jan. 2019