We already had had a load of impressions, of which I could describe only the most outstanding ones. Mysure was the last “sightseeing” place, towards the end of our holidays these should get a more relaxing touch as after our return only Levin had one more week off. So besides broadening our mind we also wanted to get some rest. The state Kerala in the south was said to be a good place for that. It has a long cost and behind, a wide net of canals and lakes in-between villages and rice fields. One day and night on one of the many houseboat should get us in the relaxing mood. The experience had been arranged for us by my colleague Kedar.
Yet we had to get there before. A train from Mysuru would bring us to Allapuzha (Allepey) and a taxi from there to the boat. All worked as planned, the 15 hours overnight train ride was an experience maybe to be told in a post on transportation (that has yet to be written).
But once there, we were welcomed by the crew of three persons with a fresh mango drink, placed our backpacks in the two double rooms and directly set off. The boat – although we didn’t see it from the outside at first as we boarded through two other ones directly aside of it – was the classical style with a roof that looked like made from straw.
Yet it was equipped with air conditioning for the bedrooms (which we used for the night only). The navigator was sitting in the very front, behind there was an shaded but open to the sides “lounge” with table and armchairs. From there we could watch the scene with water hyacyths passing us by slowly… slowly.
After having a shower and the taking some pictures of the scene we were served lunch, vegetarian as we ordered it, and probably less spicy for western tourists, but this was OK. There was fried beans, a one-pot with lentils and other vegetables (dal), coleslaw salad and cooked potatoes both with coconut, but the potatoes with curcuma, and nan bread. I’m sure there are specific names but I cannot keep them in mind.
After lunch I shortly fell asleep. The slow motion caught me. I spent the afternoon snoozing on and off, watching the banks of the canals and waving to people there who mostly waved back while the boat made its way from one canal to the next. Tea time with baked bananas as a break. Nothing more to say. We once stepped out to have short walk, when the boat was tied up for the night, but our urge to explore more has been surpassed by our urge to relax. Dinner was evenly delicious as lunch and the baked bananas for the tea break. We spent the evening in the outdoor lounge that had to be covered from one side after a rain shower set in, talked and looked into our mobile devices, but as it had been dark already since around 6 p.m. we went to bed at 10 and had a relaxing night.
Next morning started early (7:30 h) with breakfast, again somehow surreal, the four of us sitting in a very spacious and clean boat on a very calm canal – while India for us showed itself in the last week often loud, crowded and dirty. We surely haven’t see all sides yet. The cruise ended at 9 a.m. in the spot where we started – I lost track on which waterway we have been anyway rather soon – and the taxi driver picked us up as arranged the day before. Thank you Evergreen Tours. Thank you Kedar.