Backwaters of Kerala

Don’t get me wrong I am not going to India and will complain about everything but I went to Alleppy in order to catch one of the houseboats to cruise the famous backwaters of Kerala. I was also aware that if you pick a boat you can sleep on, you may not be able to enter the small channels as the boats are simply too big. While the scenery is fantastic I was waiting for the real life of the backwater to appear. The Lonely Planet describes it as one of the best experiences I was supposed to have in the South of India - however they also say that it may be one of your most expensive ones. On the other hand the book also warned of the potential amount of houseboats around. So I was prepared to see a few houseboats between the traditional rice barges, fisher boats and local ferries. At the end we saw some of the real life, but I could probably count the encounters on one hand. What you see mostly are tourist houseboats, one after the other, one row besides the other. The boats are inspired by traditional rice barges but openings are filled in with aluminum framed windows and the a/c units at the back are not the most inspiring items either. Equipped with three persons crew (captain, chef and helper), the house has space for 2 to 8 guests – hence quite a lot of boat for little amount of people. On the other hand, it is a great place to just sit and relax and let the scenery (and the other tourists) float pass you. No noise of any rickshaw will disturb you – very unusual for India. If you want to do it: pick a smaller canoe and start from a different place than Alleppy. Enjoy.
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Today we were not the only one...house boat jam in the backwaters.