Day 4, and another mode of transport, another aspect of backwater life.
Another single traveller, Michelle, and I teamed up to book a ‘village’ tour by canoe, a six hour trip which was worth every penny of the pricey 700 rupee price tag.
Lull, our guide, (exhausted from his first dawn 6 hour shift) rowed us out at noon from alongside the lake, and within minutes we were drifting along tiny narrow passage ways, past banks just wide enough for a tiny shack before descending into rice fields.
An hour later, we stopped at one such shack, where the family ‘offered’ us chai –though in fairness it was only the usual 10 rupees-the long wait due to the women literally milking the cow for us! The animals are tethered along the narrow bank, chickens, cows, goats, and friendly kites who sat low in the trees and surveyed us whilst we drank the delicious, and certainly fresh, tea.
On we drifted, watching kingfishers, stopping to drink coconut milk, and chatting about England (and our bunions-middle aged English women abroad!) until we stopped to walk across the banks to islands even further afield, away from the narrow canal, divided by clay walls built high above the paddy fields.
One family kindly invited us to sit, use the washroom and drink more chai…without any payment-the elder women love having their photos taken, and women want their babies photographed everywhere.
The sun set through the palm trees as we glided back into Alleppey, and despite being forgotten by the taxi supposed to collect us and having to flag down a passing rickshaw in the dark, it was the most perfect day.
Another single traveller, Michelle, and I teamed up to book a ‘village’ tour by canoe, a six hour trip which was worth every penny of the pricey 700 rupee price tag.
Lull, our guide, (exhausted from his first dawn 6 hour shift) rowed us out at noon from alongside the lake, and within minutes we were drifting along tiny narrow passage ways, past banks just wide enough for a tiny shack before descending into rice fields.
An hour later, we stopped at one such shack, where the family ‘offered’ us chai –though in fairness it was only the usual 10 rupees-the long wait due to the women literally milking the cow for us! The animals are tethered along the narrow bank, chickens, cows, goats, and friendly kites who sat low in the trees and surveyed us whilst we drank the delicious, and certainly fresh, tea.
On we drifted, watching kingfishers, stopping to drink coconut milk, and chatting about England (and our bunions-middle aged English women abroad!) until we stopped to walk across the banks to islands even further afield, away from the narrow canal, divided by clay walls built high above the paddy fields.
One family kindly invited us to sit, use the washroom and drink more chai…without any payment-the elder women love having their photos taken, and women want their babies photographed everywhere.
The sun set through the palm trees as we glided back into Alleppey, and despite being forgotten by the taxi supposed to collect us and having to flag down a passing rickshaw in the dark, it was the most perfect day.
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