Kerala - Part 2 (The Backwaters)

This was definitely one of the highlights. I had read about the Kerala backwaters before and knew we had to do it. It's was out of the way (thirty hour train ride from Bombay) but well worth it. Basically, the backwaters is a water system (some of it canals) that stretches for miles and miles through the southern part of the state of Kerala. At first I thought it was just through the forest but these rivers and canals actually go through villages. For some reason, this made it even cooler.

We rented a houseboat with a Swedish couple we met in Alleppey and we cruised the backwaters all afternoon, slept overnight on the boat in the middle of a lake and cruised back the next day. It was extremely relaxing and absolutely beautiful.
This was our boat. It had two bedrooms and three crew members (one cook, two drivers). The food was excellent too. I don't know what something like this would cost in Canada but it was quite reasonable. We were treated like kings and queens. That's our captain. Notice he is using a pole. The boat (and look at the size of it) was man-powered - only two men and two poles. This not only made the cruise peaceful and quiet, it was also a lot better for the environment. These waters are getting quite polluted from all the boats.

A couple of guys fishing in the lake.

A woman walking along the river.

One of the canals. You can't really see, but there are houses on both sides. It was like going through a neighbourhood in the suburbs, except the streets were canals.

This is the Swedish couple, Hannah and Martin. Very cool people which made the trip even better.

Sunset over the lake.
Sun almost down. By this point, we are anchored on the lake, having drinks before our dinner. It was paradise.