EC-Rider Travels

Sanjit had suggested we might take an early morning boat ride to watch the sun rise and the backwaters come to life. So at 6.30 we were down at the water edge to be met by a beautiful shikkara (an open boat with bamboo seats – not fixed I don’t think!) and its charming boatman, Sanju. It was just Analida and me, accompanied by tea and coffee in beautiful white china pots – only quite practical, but very kind. We headed off, to where, we were not too sure, with little English and information from Sanju. The hotel is situated at the widest part of Lake Vembanad and looks out to a sea of water with the exception of a rather nice looking little island just to the left of us, which we later discovered is a bird sanctuary.

As we left, the sun was coming up and numerous little boats were heading out, most with just one fisherman, though sometimes two. It was the most blissful sight. Just next to the hotel are a number of Chinese Fishing nets, but again these were not operational at this time. We headed across the lake passing a number of other hotels along the lakeside and hundreds and hundreds of birds – herons, cormorants, darters, egrets and rather charming purple swamphens. Several eagles flew over looking for their breakfast, and there were a number of the most beautiful kingfishers and masses of swallows and pretty little bee eaters sitting on the lines and posts in the water. As we got close to the village the water became full of the most amazing weed with a rather pretty hyacinth blue flower interspersed with gorgeous bright red water-lilies.

We left the lake and entered the narrow channels of the true Kerala backwaters. It was now about 7.30 and everyone was waking up, washing in the river, cleaning their teeth and getting ready for work. There were a number of amazing looking houseboats at the mouth of the lake, I think the majority for tourists, but some were homes.

We saw children on bicycles on their way to school and their parents on their way to work, possibly to catch the river bus which passed us a couple of time. The river divided into smaller channels lined with colourful (pretty scruffy, tumbledown) houses, many without running water, but most with electricity. Outside almost every house, is an area cleared of weed leading to the steps of the house, on the side of which is a huge washing stone.

It was a bit of a challenge getting through the ever thickening weed, with Sanju’s naked foot attempting to clear the way, just in front of the propellers of the little outboard. There were hundreds of ducks and ducklings everywhere, as you know my absolute favourite, though I fear their prospects were not too good, as there is a lot of duck on Kerala menus. The weed eventually beat us and Sanju had to reverse a long was back up the river and we then returned the same way.

By this time, clothes washing was in full swing and lovely ladies were scrubbing and whacking their clothes on their washing stone and rinsing them in the the river water ….. Washing up was also going on and some of the older generation were into the full ablutions. Everything seems to go into the river, how they get anything clean and always look so immaculate, I can’t imagine!

As we went back into the lake, there was a series of posts in the water, on the top of almost every one of which was a cormorant or a ……

We were home by about 11am in time for a very late breakfast – nothing seems too much trouble here, the service and staff, though I think somewhat depleted are exceptional. Analida had the first of her massages so I decided to come and sit by the two pools and write this….

I believe I mentioned before the strange way crows seem to ‘rule the roost’ and seagulls seem to be totally absent. Well the same is very much the case here. The crows have completely taken over, there are hundred of them everywhere, as cocky as anything and making the most unbelievable noise, jumping on the seats and in and out of the pools and screeching at the top of their voices. I don’t believe I have seen a gull, since I have been here, there don’t appear to be any other birds around the hotel. It is slightly creepy and reminiscent of that horrific Hitchcock film, The Birds 😱

In the evening we went on a second boat trip, this time in a very wobbly, narrow canoe, luckily being paddled by another charming boatman not us. We went for a short ride along the edge of the lake again seeing lots of kingfishers and bee eaters and on our return one of the Chinese nets was being pulled up, which was exciting to watch. Concerned that there was only one man to pull up the huge catch, I thought we may need to help him. But luckily not ,as we saw him walk gingerly up a very unsteady gang-plank to reach his net. He had taken a remarkably small net with him, but sadly this was quite big enough as there were just a handful of fish about the size of sardines, which after showing them to us, he threw back. Perhaps this is why they are not being used so much any more.

The mud-crab was perhaps not the best suggestion. Mud crabs were off so with huge apologies, I was offered, sea crabs. I was then given the choice of how I would like them cooked and decided just grilled might be the simplest/safest option. What I did not realise is that they had no tools to get into a crab – the cheese knife being their best offering. The crabs were little and the shells quite soft, but it was a bit of a challenge! But tasty, if a little shelly!