India’s South: The Unforgettable Backwaters of Kerala

The laid back state of Kerala hardly felt like the India we had come to know. It was tropical, chill, no one was in any hurry and the fashion here was unlike the modest looks we had seen up north, well for the men rather – Can we talk about short shorts?

The peace of the backwaters

Men in short skirts

We arrived to Kerala by plane from Jodhpur to Mumbai to the district of Kochi and then took a late night taxi for an hour down to the Kerala backwaters of Alappuzha (Alleppey). There are really only a few things to do in this place: 1) Get the most amazing massages: Ayurvedic massages that uses oils and focuses on your pressure points to “heal” your energy 2) Practice yoga or meditation 3) Eat the awesomely flavorful southern Indian cuisine that includes masala dosas, grilled fish or huge prawns and finally 4) charter your own bamboo house boat overnight. We participated in the later. Finding a boat was super simple. We woke up, made a call, they picked us up so that we could examine our boat, and within an hour we were out on the water. It was a bit of a splurge but we had our own boat and crew of two who would drive and cook for just us. Out we went onto a river in the backwater.

Our two bedroom, two story boat, just for us

Our bedroom

Off we go! Our welcome fresh papaya juice in hand.

So happy!

The backwaters are composed of a network of waterways, inlets from the sea, and estuaries of over forty rivers, lakes and natural canals connecting coastal towns.

Beautiful backwater canals

There we would be followed by many other houseboats. And some of these houseboats were HUGE. With over a dozen bedrooms, holding large groups of families and friends. Some were also pretty lux and tricked out with huge stereo systems, flat screens with satellite TV, and fine dining rooms with chandeliers. I can only imagine what the bedrooms looked like. We also saw a few boats with guests laid out on a massage table getting a massage while on board. While it was a super touristy thing to do, we noticed more Indians on vacation than any other tourist. They came from Delhi or Rajasthan and they liked to escape to the south too from their busy cities.

Many, many other houseboats

Huge house boats

Double deckers

Backwater traffic

We made a stop at a local fish shop located on the side of the river where we purchased some additional food for our chef to prepare that night. The fish were fresh and enormous.

We took the HUGE prawns

And a coconut

Soon after we had lunch.

Fresh fried fish, just caught by our cook

Getting messy. Is there any other way to eat Indian food?

Later on the boat we plugged in the iPhone, played tunes, played cards, read and napped our day away on the water. We secluded ourselves from our crew and went on the top level of the boat where we laid down, danced to music, and looked out as the sun set. I loved our peaceful and fun times up there.

Playing cards

Taking in the luxury of not doing anything

Sharing the upstairs bunk; and yes we wore the same outfit that day

Laying down, having fun

Wind in my hair, top deck

Aaron dancing it up

Sun setting

Awesome views; but storm is a’comin

Nothing to do but chill

When night hit, so did a storm and the boat quickly transformed from an open air vessel to an air tight one in minutes. Still, candles were lit and our table was set for our several course meal of spicy fish, rice, appam and tropical fruits. After dinner we chatted with our crew and went to bed on the open water, listening to the thunder and rain.

Dinner; so many courses! There are our bought prawns; grilled up

In the morning we woke up and were treated to breakfast. Again delicious it consisted of papyas, eggs, rice and curries. After breakfast we soaked up more of the sights and Aaron convinced the captain to let him take the wheel. By afternoon, our ride had sadly come to end.

Breakfast, again so many courses

Aaron playing captain

Last views

Houseboats and villages on the way back

We disembarked and caught a tuk tuk to the train station to head back to Kochi. Our time in Kerala was exotic, relaxing, romantic, unforgettable and far too short. One day I will have to go back to go to one of those one week spa retreats.

Short trip, unforgettable moments

Kerala Tourism’s cool poster advertising the backwaters