Kerala Backwaters

We've just finished our two day houseboat tour of the Kerala Backwaters. Forty rivers converge in this area to flow into the Arabian Sea, so the whole area is filled with lakes and canals and rivers for miles and miles and miles. Rice paddies are ubiquitous here as are fishermen. We cruised down the lakes and canals watching people live out their daily lives on the banks as they have done for centuries. There were very few other boats in the water with us on the second day, so it felt like a journey into prehistory.

The boats are larger verions of Kerala rice barges (pictures to follow soon). Our boat had a staff of three charming men --a cook, a driver, and a third guy who did a little of everything. We had a enclosed deck with chairs and a chaise lounge for reading and viewing and also a small table for dining. And we enjoyed the languid drifting of the boat, the sunsets and the peace and quiet...during the day.

At the first place we docked for the night, a boat across the way began to play loud music, hip hop and lots of garish American pop. Stephanie and I grumbled quite a bit about that, but eventually they quieted down and the night became peaceful again. That's until we went to bed. I was so tired the first night aboard that I didn't hear the river rats scurrying around the rafters until I woke up in the middle of the night. Stephanie,who had been reading late, said they had been quite active and she was pretty sure that she heard them in the walls too. It was a creepy sound, and I was glad that I hadn't slept outside on the deck, which I had wanted to do until I remembered the that mosquitos are everywhere there. The second day, I began to feel ill from food or water bacteria, so went to bed early after taking my antibiotics and though I woke up a number of times at night and heard the critters above, I was too sick then to care. Happily the antibiotics did their work and I felt considerably better the next day to enjoy the breakfast and our last little tour of the backwaters.

Kerela is an interesting state in that it is the only state in the world where a communist party has been elected into power. The CP in Kerala has ruled on and off, mostly on, for 50 years. This party is currently in office, but our driver suggested they may not win the upcoming April elections.

I've read that the 100% literacy rate in the state (the only such rate in India...the world?)is their doing, and we noticed that the state is practically trash free -- remarkable to behold after having spent four days or so in the Tamil Nadu area on the Bay of Bengal which is a considerably poorer state. Kerala looks cleaner and more prosperous than other areas we have seen. There are a lot of Christians in this state, the second largest group after Hindus, so we saw lots of chruches and shrines to saints and the Sryrian apostle that brought Christianity to India. It's a wonderful place and I wish we had had more time to explore it. Next time.