Floating on the Backwaters

Here I am drifting through the backwaters of Kerala on a luxury house boat with a group of amazing people. How on earth can a human be so lucky? Is this my amends for spending the evening praying to the porcelain goddess while surrounded by cavorting bathroom dolphins? The canals are pretty busy with houseboats, water taxis, fishermen in long boats and some fisherpeople in little round woven basket boats.

The canals and islands that make up the Keralan backwaters are man made and the islands are held in place by the roots of the coconut palms and other greenery growing on them. People are washing their dishes and bathing in the canal in front of their houses. It's charming and extremely relaxing. The food is ridiculously delicious and we docked long enough for an ice cream run.

The night remained pretty sultry but when they turned on the AC from 9pm until 6am suddenly it was an Arctic cruise. The temperature outside our rooms was 34C but AC room units were all set to 17C and the fans were set to blast off. I went from being perfectly warm in loose cotton to shivering in a silk sleeping bag under a heavy blanket. Some of our group slept in their winter coats and even my perpetually overheated roomie was cold. At 6am sharp we suddenly were thrust back into the tropics in time to head off for our backwaters home stay on Kainakary Poopalley Rd.

Poopalley Rd. Tee hee. We also passed towns called Poopara and Cumbum. My inner 11 year old boy is amused.