We arrived in Alleppey around 1:30pm after yet another safe and smooth drive with Mr. Tomy. Just like Munnar to Thekkady, the scenery from Thekkady to Alleppey was picturesque. It made me not want to get out of the car because I was enjoying my surroundings so much.
Our hotel for the next two nights, Deshadan Resort, was about fifteen kilometers outside the city center, which was on purpose. We didn't want to be where everyone else was. We wanted to be in a quiet area, on the backwaters, with as little commotion as possible. It was so removed that Mr. Tomy couldn't even find it. He had to ask at least three different random locals on the side of the road where it was. Luckily, everyone was helpful and kept pointing him in the right direction, one turn at a time. Mr. Tomy had made a comment that this hotel was off the beaten path so at that moment, I got a little nervous that maybe we were too secluded. But after a few minutes down this small, quiet, kind of random, potholed filled road, we passed The Oberoi, which gave us all the confidence in the world that we were in a good location. Funny how a high class brand name hotel can be that stamp of approval you need to breathe. Deshadan, however, was not a high class hotel but it was just perfect for us.
When we checked in, we were upgraded to a superior lake view room, which basically gave us the second floor versus the first floor. And a better view. Hey, we'll take it.
Alleppey's weather was much like Kochi's weather, hot and humid. Very tropical. But this time around, our hotel was comfortably sitting on the backwaters, with a gentle breeze and a decent pool that loudly screamed "come join me!". And we did exactly that for the next two hours. Laid by the pool, bellies full of naan, rice and curry (so attractive, I know) and released enough sweat out of our pores to water a dried out lawn in California.
After our pool session, we borrowed the hotel bikes and rode them around the tiny villages that existed outside of Deshadan's gates.
It was so awesome to see the locals in their everyday life, performing their everyday routines, such as fishing with a net, not a pole...
An adorable shy young kid...
A man taking a photo of Vinny (admirers everywhere he goes)...
Playing a pickup game of Cricket...
Cruising down the backwaters...
A young boy asking me to take a photo of him modeling by the moped...
As the sun set, we decided to make our way back to the hotel because we had no idea where we were and didn't want to get lost in the dark. It was such a good thing we did because as soon as we entered our room and shut the door, it started down pouring. Raining cats and dogs. Lightning and thunder. It was so cool to watch from our balcony as this out of nowhere storm threw its tantrum and then with a snap of your fingers, stopped about an hour later. Just in time for us to walk to dinner and eat yet again.
The next morning we woke up at 5:45am to watch the sunrise. Yes, the sunrise. I know we are always bragging about the sunsets so we decided to change it up a bit. Plus, our hotel faces the East and we were told it was well worth the early wake up call. When I first walked outside and turned my camera on, the lense fogged up as if I was wearing goggles in a steam room. It was that humid. Yuck. To add the cherry on top, I started to build up some frustration because it was a bit on the overcast side so I was worried this incredible sunrise wasn't going to be so incredible after all. Wha wha. Regardless, it was still stunning. The sky went from pitch black to pink and purple in a matter of minutes.
Since it was dawn, that automatically meant mosquitos and I wasn't willing to be their first meal of the day, so I decided to watch the rest of the show from inside our room. But, around 6:55am, it quickly went from a low budget documentary to a multi-million dollar blockbuster film. The sky was magical and the sun was so in your face, I refused to let the mosquitos win this fight. I rushed back downstairs, sat on the hammock and enjoyed the sun actually rising, vibrantly glistening on the water in front of me. Welcome to a brand new day.
After breakfast, we arranged for a three hour boat ride through the tiny canals along the massive backwaters of Alleppey. It was so quiet, so calming. It still fascinates me just how beautiful the south truly is. When one thinks of India, they narrow mindedly think of dirt roads, pollution, poverty and over population (which is definitely accurate more for the north) but very few people even know about what the South can offer in terms of nature and scenery, myself being one of them before this trip.
About twenty minutes into our cruise, we entered Kumarakom, which is a cluster of little islands and sits on the Vembanad Lake, the largest freshwater lake in the state of Kerala. Fresh is definitely a loose term as it did not look too clean from up close. That didn't stop the locals though from fishing for their dinner or washing their clothes or playfully swimming.
Kumarakom is a very rural area and most people get around either on bicycles, boats or foot. If they need to accomplish some errands, they just hop in their canoe and row away.
We did see some pretty neat happenings over the course of our boat ride including a woman washing her cow (look closely at this sequence)...
Colorful houses drying out their laundry...
A man carefully studying me as I carefully study him...
It was so peaceful and relaxing that even Vinny fell asleep on the way back (that's usually my role)...
For the rest of the day, we laid by the pool, swam, laid by the pool, swam and repeated multiple times. Like Dory from Finding Nemo said "just keep swimming, just keep swimming".
Random side note. When we received all of our vaccines for this trip from Passport Health in Los Angeles, they highly recommended we take malaria pills for a handful of locations on our travel list. So we had sixty total prescribed at our local Walgreens but by this point, we didn't have any insurance. Ouch, that left a hole in our wallets for sure. But you can't really put a price on your life. We were definitely hesitant to take them because a variety of people dramatically mentioned what a horrible reaction they had. Nausea, vomiting, hallucinations, vivid nightmares, etc. Well that doesn't sound fun. For weeks, we were going back and forth on whether we take the risk and get sick while on the trip with not so pleasant side effects or take the risk and potentially get sick after the trip with malaria itself. Neither were winning us over. That was until I read an article about a young girl who planned a six month trip to India but had to cut it four months short because she too got sick from the pills, went off of them and then got malaria. Okay, time to swallow these pills fast. Goa was the only place in India that was considered "at risk" and that is our next stop so today is day one and we will need to take a total of fourteen. Two before we head to Goa, five while in Goa and seven after we leave Goa. Seems like overload but don't question the pharmacist. Here goes nothing. Wish us luck.
That afternoon at 12pm, contrary to what some suggested, we boarded our Kettuvalom, otherwise known as a houseboat. This boat is made from local materials like bamboo poles, mats and carpets, coconut fiber, ropes, etc. It was much bigger than we expected being two bedrooms versus one bedroom yet slightly dirtier than we expected too. But then again, we are in India, on a boat.
It was extremely hot this day, of course. And we weren't allowed any air conditioning until after dinner around 8pm. Oh geez. This is going to get nasty. Between my sweat, my sunscreen and my mosquito repellent, I was pretty irresistible. If you are sexy and you know it clap your hands. It was so stale for about thirty minutes but as soon as we started cruising and the wind slowly picked up, I could breath again. Over the next five hours, we sat back, took in all the gorgeous scenery to the left of us, to the right of us, in front of us and behind us and enjoyed life without WiFi, distractions or anywhere to be. And drank coconut water straight out of a coconut...
The grass is greener on the other side here...
Vinny took over the role as Captain for a little...
Then, we ate. At 2pm, they served us a home cooked lunch. At 4:30pm, they served us coffee and cookies. At 8pm, they served us a home cooked dinner. I can definitely get used to this. Everything up to this point was magnificent.
But what we didn't realized was that all houseboats had to stop cruising around 6pm and tie up to a wall with tons of other boats for the night. I was under the impression we slept in the middle of nowhere, on the lake, with no one else around. That certainly wasn't the case. Oh well. When we were all secured to land, we got off the boat and walked around the village to of course, take in all the sights and smells of the locals.
There was a woman who caught some fish, washed it in the lake, then aggressively scrubbed the scales off on the rocks . You go girl. What's a fish without an i? Fsssshhhhh. Definitely a joke that needs to be told in person.
Next we saw a guy climbing a palm tree to grab some coconuts...
Then we saw three guys washing their hair, bathing their bodies and brushing their teeth...
I don't think the houses have running water so everything they do, they do it in the lake.
When light turned to dark, we returned to the boat and laid on the wooden benches in the main area. My head was gently resting on Vinny's stomach, moving up and down with every breath he would take. We didn't say much. We just held hands, on a boat, at night, with no lights on and thought to ourselves quietly, life is good.
As our crew started to bring out dinner, they turned on the lights and within seconds, hundreds of bugs swarmed to the brightness. Good thing I smelled like a dump truck and had my Deet repellent on. Just like M.C. Hammer once said "Can't touch this, oh-oh oh oh oh-oh-oh". Once we finished dinner, we were able to turn on the air conditioning in our room which was heavenly. And although we didn't shower or brush our teeth, we still managed to sleep like a baby. A really dirty baby that is.
When the sun woke up, we woke up. They served us breakfast at 8am and we said goodbye to the crew. Overall, I am happy we did this. It wasn't as cool as I had envisioned since we were held hostage to a wall but it was still a worthwhile and memorable experience.
Kerala treated us very well over the past twelve nights. God's Own Country sure is a beauty. Thanks for the slower pace, the happy smiles, the splendid scenery, the memorable moments and the adoring people. Your state is exactly what the doctor prescribed.
Our plan for the rest of the day is drive back to Kochi, which is about two hours, check into our airport hotel, rinse all of this sweat, sunscreen, mosquito repellent off and chill out until we board our flight tomorrow morning to Goa. I am really excited for some sand, ocean and good vibrations.