We have a little bungalow at Palmgrove Lake Resort, with a view of the backwaters … but the difference between here and Cherthala is striking.
Rush hour here is at midday and 5pm which is when the kettu vallam barges go out and return each day … mostly passed our bungalow!
There are 450 barges operating out of Alleppey, most huge with engines and AC and have been big business since 1990. They race down the wider waterways, as the smaller canals are too narrow, all following a similar route, including a turn round the lake …
Fortunately, barges are not the only way to get about. One day we took the public ferry, the latest in luxury travel … through the backwaters via umpteen ferry stops in the middle of nowhere to Kottayam about 2.5 hrs away. The ferry had to stop short of the town, as the bridge has fallen into the canal and blocked the way so we got a tuk-tuk into town, grabbed some lunch, then got the ferry back.
Away from Alleppey, the backwaters seem untouched by tourism, and the expanse covered by paddy fields and canals is huge. The backwaters have been made from land reclaimed from lagoons by dykes to increase farming land and a system which flushes out monsoon waters and excludes seawater, enables 2 crops of rice a year. There is a price to pay though, as the fertiliser from the paddy fields runs off and feeds the rampant water hyacinth till it chokes the waterways and decimates the fish numbers, helped also by the film of oil from the tourist boats.
Surprisingly no more than a few minutes go by before you see someone walking or waiting …
doing washing or in a boat …
running a cafe or even reading the paper … and despite the apparent isolation, they are all linked by the ferry.
We also got the little canoe ferry across the backwater where we are staying, which is used by the locals to cross the water so we could go for a walk where we passed a toddy shop selling hooch … although we didn’t try any!
Another day we took a 2 hour trip on a shakira, a small motor launch, which can go down the narrowest waterways.
We also picked up very fancy umbrellas with a sun reflective coating that double as parasols at the very famous Popy shop.
One evening, we went to the Avocado Garden for dinner, where we were shown into a lovely garden with tables and some low level seating with cushions. The fish in banana leaf was delicious as were the veg curries and they even played Bruce Springsteen on request!
On Sunday evening we went to Alleppy Beach for sunset … obviously the place to be with people promenading, seeing and being seen in the cool of the evening.
We watched from Dreams bar as it got darker and the sun set.
Off to the train station next … for the Pariyanampetta Pooram!!
My husband Chris and I decided to go away to celebrate our two big birthdays which meant we needed to be away six weeks to take them both in … and since funds aren’t unlimited, where better to go when it’s chilly in England than Southern India.
Off Travelling Together 