Cochin and the Backwaters of Kerala State, India

 We were back in Cochin after visiting just before Christmas. This time we left the city and drove for 65 Km to the "backwater" area of the Kerala State. As usual, the roads were crowded and full of trucks, cars, motorcycles and tuk tuks. We had a pretty wild hour and a half ride to reach the town of  Alleppy, also known as the Venice of the East, where we boarded our canal boat.

The two story canal sightseeing dayboats. You need to be pretty flexible since the second story is reached by climbing a fairly steep ladder.

The smaller brightly painted single story boats like the one on the right hold about ten people. 

The Kerala backwater is a network of brackish lagoons, canals and interconnected lakes, rivers and inlets which contains mare than 560 miles of interconnected waterways. There are 5 large lakes that are fed by 38 rivers. People live on the 93 islands in the large system, although the villages on the islands do not have major services. The city of Cochin is situated on Vembarrad Lake which is the largest lake in India and covers 785 square miles.
After cruising the canals for about 2 hours, we reached Vembarrad Lake. Many large houseboats were visible in the distance.

 The canals have been used for centuries, and the people have developed a system to keep the water fresh for irrigation. The canals are diked so the water is above ground level. People live behind the dikes, and large rice paddies are planted behind the homes. In monsoon season the waters rise even higher, flood over the dikes and water the rice paddies. The the bottom story of the homes are also flooded each year! Newer homes are now being built on stilts to better survive the monsoon floods. At this time barrier gates are opened, allowing the excess flood waters to flow from the canals into into the lakes and toward the Arabian Sea. The gates are then closed to prevent sea water from flowing back up into the canal system, keeping the interior waters fresh for irrigation of  the rice crops.

 Cruising the waterways is now a popular tourist attraction for both local and foreign tourists The boats range from small to large boats for day trips, and elaborate houseboats with up to five bedrooms for longer stays. There are now more than 2,000 houseboats. Historically the houseboat were grain barges used to haul the rice crops from the fields along the backwaters. The modern boats can be rented, and come with at least three staff; the boat captain, a general servant, and a cook who prepares the meals.  Tourist can stay on the boats for anywhere from one night to more than a week. There is also commercial fishing on the lakes, so the houseboats must stop cruising at 6 PM each evening so the fishermen can come out. They can begin cruising again at 7:00 or 8:00 AM the next day.

One of the large houseboats.


Although there are a lot of tourist boats, there are also lots of people using the waterways who live in permanent structures on the canals and work in the backwaters. The private boats are usually long and thin, and are open to the air. Since it is very hot and sunny, we saw lots of people navigating their boats while holding umbrellas!

People with their umbrellas on the canal.


This small boat was not motorized. The oarsman  at the back  was wearing a great hands free umbrella hat!

This catholic church and school was located on an island beside one of the canals. Note the umbrella over the patron saint on the top of the tower! We saw a number of Christian churches in the State of Kerala  beside the highway on the way to the backwater embarkation area.  Our guide informed us that whenever there is a Catholic church, there will also be a Catholic school offering education the English language. The  people are very tolerant of different religions. The main religions are Hindu, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish. 

A closeup of the Saint under his umbrella. At least he won't get a sunburn!

We saw this new Christian church on the mainland on the way to the boat embarkation site. Our guide informed us that on Sunday this church is full to overflowing, and people will fill the courtyard in the front of the church to worship and hear the message!


We stopped for a very nice Indian Curry lunch at a resort on the edge of the canal near the entrance to the lake.



The grounds of the resort were very pretty.

Lots of water and tropical plants.

We have now left India, and will have three days at sea before we reach Phuket, our first port in Thailand.








Comments

  1. LindsayFebruary 14, 2023 at 6:11 PM

    Adalea says "the person with the umbrella hat looked silly"

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam

Image
 Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam. Under the name Saigon, it was the capital of the French Colony of Cochin china and later the Independent Republic of South Vietnam from 1955-1975. On July 2, 1976, Saigon merged with the surrounding province and was officially named Ho  Chi Minh City.   In the years since the Vietnam War, the city has prospered. We have been very impressed with the cleanliness of the city, and all the modern amenities. There are now 100 million people in Vietnam, and ten million living in Ho Chi Minh City. The lovely view of downtown  Ho Chi Min City from the fifth floor outdoor dining deck area of our cruise ship. There are several passengers on the boat who were here serving in the military during the Vietnam War (known locally as the American War). There are many sights and museums dedicated to that period of  history. We have been told by other passengers that sadly, many of these  museums highlight the atrocities t...
Read more

Koh Ma Island, Thailand

Image
 We returned to drop anchor in the waters just outside Ko Samui Island again, but went by speedboat to a nearby island, Koh Ma Island to snorkel. There was some colorful coral and about a dozen species of colorful tropical fish. It was not good as snorkeling in the Maldives, bur was still a very fun day.  Ko Mah Island is pretty but quite hilly, with a lot of steep rugged rocks going down to the shoreline. We parked our boat on the beach and had a nice Thai curry lunch in a casual restaurant on  the beach. There were several small resorts on the sandy bay where we had lunch. Looks like a nice place to relax and look out over the bay. We are now headed to Cambodia.
Read more

Richard's Bay and Hluhluwe Game Reserve, South Arica

Image
 We arrived at the pretty harbor port of Richard's Bay, then immediately took an hour and a half bus ride to the Hluhluwe Game Reserve for our game drive. Richard's Bay is primarily an industrial shipping  port since it has a very deep harbor. Pulp and paper processing and metal smelting is done here, but there are not sightseeing city tours. The modern port just opened in the 1970's. Approaching Richard's Bay harbor. Our drive to the  reserve was pleasant, and the homes by the highway were much nicer in the countryside than those that we have seen in other African countries.  Most had sturdy modern construction and glass windows, with neat yards surrounding them.  The game reserve is very mountainous, and because it is the wet summer season, the vegetation was very pretty and green. We were lucky to see a good variety of animals up close, including the rare white rhino which is not actually white.  A herd of Cape Buffalo. These are very dangerous when the ...
Read more