We had to ring our Keralan host, Thomas, the evening before we arrived, in order to get directions. I should never be allowed to be the speaker in such important conversations...poor Thomas was being so patient! The dialogue was going a bit like this...
Thomas: So, your ferry stop is after the 3rd church on the left.
Me: The third boat jetty?
Thomas: No, church.
Me: The third island?
Thomas: No, church.
Thankfully, I eventually realized what Thomas was saying (probably to the expense of his sanity). So the next afternoon we set off on the ferry from Alleppey, looking obsessively at every building along the beautiful palm tree-lined canals to see if it had a cross on it. We eventually found the right church (even after counting schools as churches) and got off onto the island of Chennamkary.
Thomas' directions of 'walk 7 minutes to the right' had seemed so simple at the time, but not when you were walking through a tiny village, surrounding by all sorts of tropical trees, children inviting us into their homes. But we should have had more faith, for 7 minutes later we were stood in front of Green Palm Homes- although we probably would've walked past he we hadn't seen the sign. It looked like an overgrown doll's house, rather than the village hut we had been expecting! And we finally had TOILET PAPER and HOT WATER- this probably made both of our weeks! Sad but true!
This was no bad thing, though; we eventually came to realize that village life in the Keralan backwaters is not all about roughing it. Kerala is one of the most successful Indian states, and we believe that the gap is only going to grow with the progression of its youth. Pat and I visited a little tea shop along one of the canals, and found the little boy of the family to be the English translator between us and his (very cute) parents! A sign of how things are changing. We learned from the little boy that his father was a prawn fisherman, who took his prawns in the basket of his bicycle to Alleppey! The mother was an expert at masala chai- the best we've had so far, - and we tried a very yummy savoury spicy doughnut!
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| The family of the tea shop we stopped off at |
Speaking of children, I have to mention all the schoolkids' obsession with PENS! We first encountered this on the ferry over, when we were literally SWAMPED with about 50 schoolchildren, all wanting pens, chocolate and money! I thought the little girls were cutest, until one cheeky little madam emptied her pencilcase and thrust it in front of me asking for 'coin'! One little girl I fell in love with a bit was our host Thomas' 7 year old daughter. She was obsessed with playing cards, but didn't seem to know any games- so I taught her 'snap', and played with her for about an hour. She was damn good by the end- I had to really watch every card!
One of the highlights had to be the morning walk- a 7am start (ouch) but worth every minute! We saw every kind of tree the island has to offer- cocoa trees, trees with teeny tiny bananas (sweeter than the average banana), mango trees, coffee bean trees...it was immense!
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| Our guide blowing bubbles through a plant! Crazy! |
Along one of the smaller canals, we stopped in the house of a lady called Maria, and had an AMAZING breakfast- a steamed, dense cake of rice with a vegetable curry, then shredded coconut wrapped in rice flour and a banana leaf.
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| Our host Maria standing outside her house |
And of course steaming hot chai! I loved our guide, very funny and interesting- and the most amazing teeth! He was guiding to fund his way while trying to make it as a painter- I can obviously relate to that! On the way back, it was time to try some TODDY- very potent smelling and tasting coconut beer! In the morning, the fermented coconut milk has 10% alcohol, but by the evening its gone up to 30/40%! Sitting in the male-only toddy bar, we had our first taste, despite the disgusting vinegar smell. It was the most bizarre thing- it sort of mixed sweet with sour flavours, then had an extra vinegar aftertaste! Not the best beer I've had, but still a cool experience!
Pat and I hired a canoe out for a few hours in the afternoon. We rowed through the tiny canals in beautifully peaceful surroundings, only hearing crickets and the odd calls of 'Hello!' from fishermen and women washing their clothes in the river. Well, it would have been more relaxing if there hadn't been shouts of 'PADDLE HARDER', and 'KEEP PADDLING', behind me- apparently I have a weak technique! Only joking, it was very serene (especially for me- ha!) The sun was beating down as well, which although it made the scenery gleam, made for hot, sweaty work!
On that unsavoury note, I'll wrap up about our village experience. Quick mention for the food- delicious and plentiful! The banana lassi was a particular highlight! Even though it was a little posher than I was expecting, I truly felt that we got a genuine insight into the simple Chennamkary life- which, to my eyes, seems a very happy one! Our host's wife actually shunned her washing machine for washing her clothes in the river, which I think is brilliant- it just shows living the simple life doesn't have to be forced upon you, it can be a choice. Tomorrow we're on the search for houseboats to head back down the backwaters for a day- fingers crossed we can haggle ourselves a good deal! Speak later! xxxx
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