December 20th – Backwater lives

Apparently there are over 900km of backwater ranging from broad river highways to tiny sleepy little channels where the palm trees from either side meet in the middle. The area is full of little villages or hamlets some of which have no roads near them and the only form of transport is by water and by far the most common boat is the traditional canoe.

Boatmen collecting sand from the bed of the canal in the early morning

For me, the defining sound of the backwaters is that of washing being slapped across a stone. Wherever we went there were women doing their laundry, washing children, themselves and pots and pans in the water immediately in front of their houses.

This morning we were moored up near a path that was enroute to a local school. We had a stream of children peering into the boat, saying hello and then asking for, “Just one pen?” Fortunately we had a packet of pencils and together with a ruler, a couple of pencil sharpeners and a complimentary bottle of shampoo taken from the Taj Malabar. I think we kept most people happy!

Some of our many visitors!

In the morning we took a brief walk to the see the sea at Thottappally and watched the fishermen at work but the rest of the day was spent idling in the boat as we meandered through the backwaters.

The school bus

December 19th – Food and more food……

The trip is fully catered – we get breakfast, lunch and dinner. For every meal we have three vegetable side dishes, a main stew or dahl, rice and either papads or chapattis. It’s all absolutely delicious Keralan food made with loads of coconut. For dessert we either have something sweet or a plateful of pineapple slices and orange segments that melt in the mouth. I think this is some of the best food I have ever tasted. If we were to spend much longer than three days here I’ll be the size of a house(boat)!

Lunchtime spread - dinner is even larger!

We had a bad buggy experience on the first evening. The electric light in the living area seemed to attract a most exciting and diverse swarm of insect life. I had to abandon my beer because of the sheer number of suicidal creatures that had decided to end their lives swimming themselves into an alcoholic stupor. We were pleased to discover that there are probably ten or more lizards living in the ceiling which were having a veritable feast day! On the second day there were far fewer little beasties and we were able to enjoy our dinner without the additional crunchy topping!

Lizard on the ceilingFishermen on the canalsJoseph driving the boat in the afternoon sun

December 18th – Backwater cruising

After a second excellent breakfast buffet Bethan had a swim in the hotel’s infinity pool. She was a bit disappointed to realise that the photographs showing the pool flow seamlessly into the ocean were optical illusions and the pool did have a proper end to it after all.

John and Bethan sitting on water

At about 11.00am we set off for Alleppy to join our houseboat for our three day backwater cruise. After stopping in a very colourful and incredibly noisy street for essential colouring supplies for Bethan we were taken to a pretty ramshackle looking small ferry – our hearts sank for a moment as we imagined that this was to be our boat for the duration – which took us out to our rice barge or kettuvallum.

Festival day (or maybe week) in Alleppy

It has a comfortable outdoor sitting eating area and an air conditioned double bedroom with an en-suite shower room. It also comes with three exceedingly polite and helpful staff, Deebu the cook, Joseph the driver and George the engineer and general odd job man who also helps with the driving.

Rice boats leaving Alleppy and heading for the canals

Backwater cruising is possibly one of the most relaxing things to do in the world. We sit on a sofa and slowly watch the world go by.

Backwater washing!

December 17th – Kochi

Our day started at 9.30am with a tour of the old city. We were met by Shagzil Khan, our guide, who later revealed that he had been in Folkestone the previous week on a Saga training course. Apparently India is the new and exciting destination for over 55s! Kochi is a very different city from Bangalore, it’s small, quiet and, in some places particularly picturesque!

A snake charmer - probably highly ethically unsound but Bethan loved it!

Bethan holding a baby python

We saw (and photographed) the signature Chinese fishing nets, saw a snake charmer and took a walk through the historic Jewish Quarter and visited a synagogue. We had a sweet lime soda in a small tea shop and then visited the Dutch Palace. For lunch we ate, in the a/c room, of a local restaurant recommended by our guide. The bill for five delicious thali meals together with a bottle of mineral water came to an impressive 151 rupees. We got the impression that the Taj Malabar, charging 225 rupees (without tax) for a bottle of Kingfisher, was a serious rip off!

Bethan and John lending a helping hand to the fishermenChinese Fishing Nets

We went on a sunset cruise that evening and took more photographs of the Chinese fishing nets as the sub went down. Another disappointing aspect of the Taj Malabar in addition to its hugely inflated prices, is its lack of restaurants serving vegetarian food. There’s a seafood restaurant, an outside barbeque and a rather charmless Thai restaurant and a coffee shop. We ended up eating a veggie burger at the coffee shop! Otherwise, it’s a very nice comfortable hotel although a bit aggressive, like most Indian hotels, with the a/c.

Sunset through the fishing nets

16th December – To Kerala

Bethan broke up from school on Friday and we flew with Indian Airways to Kochi on Saturday. The flight took less than an hour but despite the time constraints they managed to serve us a delicious hot lunch! I must remember to book an Indian veg, as opposed to a European veg meal on our BA trip home in the summer. With a bit of luck it will be significantly more palatable.

Sree Krishna in the make-up room

On our arrival we were met by our driver and the tour company representative who took us to our hotel, the Taj Malabar, on Willingdon Island. We had a couple of hours to settle in, then we were whisked off to see a Kathekali demonstration. Kathekali is traditional and highly stylised dance form practised only in Kerala. We saw the dancers applying their make up (a rather lurid green in the case of the person playing Lord Krishna) and were then treated to a 45 minute dance demonstration.

Sree Krishna resisting the charms of the demoness

We returned to the hotel at about eight o’clock and with Bethan tired after a hectic end of term and the travelling, opted to avoid formal eating, and had two excellent pizzas delivered to our room.

Christmas in Kerala

After all the disruption of the last year we decided to treat ourselves to Christmas on the beach! As we had only been in India for four months we decided not, as many ex-pats do, to return to the UK and spend a couple of hectic weeks visiting family and friends and braving the British winter, but to spend at least a fortnight in Kerala.

We had no internet access for the first couple of months in India and therefore no way to book our holiday independently. Jeremy, from John’s office, recommended we use Ravishankar from Orchid Travels to plan our trip for us. He was probably more extravagant than we might have been, rejecting anything below a four star hotel as, “not suitable for madam.”

In a couple of weeks he had put together a comprehensive sixteen day, four centre holiday, which included sightseeing tours, a safari, backwater cruising and the services of a driver throughout. It was rather more than we had planned to spend but part of the reason we’ve come to India is to see as much as we possibly can and, this time, we’d do it in style!

And here's a European I met....

Family group at Shravanabelagola

As a fair-skinned child in India, Bethan is something of an rarity and attracts a huge amount of interest. We're usually OK in Bangalore - there are enough Europeans around us not to appear such an oddity. However, the moment we leave the city she's the centre of attention.

At Belur Temple

The opening approach is usually a pinch on the cheek accompanied by, "Hello Baby!" After this she is often dragged into the centre of a family group and asked to smile for the camera. We have explained to her that she doesn't have to have her photograph taken if she doesn't want to. She complains that it can get a bit boring but she really doesn't want to disappoint anyone. We are a little concerned that, when she returns to England she will be rushing around asking family groups if they'd like her in their picture!

With the children

Posing for serious photographers!

Household staff (1)

As Europeans in India we are expected to have staff. We have a driver and a maid. Our maid is a local girl called Kadeeja - I'm not sure of the exact spelling in English, but neither is she. She works for us for four hours a day, six days a week. She sweeps and mops the floors daily, cleans the bathrooms, does the ironing and prepares our evening meal.

Kadeeja is an excellent cook and I can't really see the point of taking up cooking in a big way ever again. She obviously feels my house is too bare and not filled with appropriate ornamentation because whenever she has money over from buying food for the week which costs about £2.30 I get presented with something new for the house. I am now the proud owner of a neon green vase full of artificial flowers, a blue glass dessert bowl with matching dishes, dolphin wind chimes and today I received a pair of peacock feather fans. I am still wondering how to dispose of them all tactfully.

Having read a number of books about the household pecking order and how the driver is essentially the top dog in the household and how we should never allow the maid to ask the driver to do anything, we were initially very careful about creating and maintaining the hierarchy.

Such advice is completely lost on my staff. The driver seems happy to do exactly as he is told by Kadeeja, runs errands, gets called back to give her a lift home and last week I found him sitting in the car shelling peas for her. So much for the staus quo!

Take out sweaters from shelves.....

The Bangalore edition of the Times of India warned today about the dangers of cold weather. Apparently dotors "caution that the change in the weather and the sudden dip in temperature will lead to cough and fever." The temperature is now as low as 16 degrees at night. The paper advises readers to, "Avoid going out in cool weather without warm clothes as you might catch cold and have a running nose" and, "Cover your ears to avoid infections."

I am sitting here at 8.30pm in shorts and a T-shirt. Perhaps I should run and get my thermals!