Sunday, February 19, 2012

Navigating the backwaters of Kerala

After checking out Goa, we took an overnight train South down the India coast to the city of Alleppey, in the state of Kerala. Known as the backwaters, this area is dominated by water through a series of interconnected freshwater canals and lakes. It's also a big rice-growing region (the rice is actually very different from rice we are used to--it's much larger and is very soft), and when you're not looking at a lake or canal, it's most likely either a flooded or dry rice paddy. Villages in this area run along the canal, and often the canal is on one side of the house and the rice paddy on the other. It's an odd sight to see when the paddy is flooded, because you only see a 20 foot-wide strip of land for houses, and endless amounts of water on both sides!

As a tourist, the big thing to do here is rent a houseboat for the night and cruise around the area, taking in the scenery. The boats have evolved in this region--once used as rice barges, then used as homes for royalty, and now all they hold are tourists for day or overnight trips. In the evening we docked at a small village, and it was interesting walking up and down the footpath alongside the canal to get a glimpse of the slow-paced daily life in this unique area of India.

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Don't be fooled by the greenery...there's water under there! Water hyacinth is taking over the backwaters, and if that's not a clear sign of nutrient pollution, I don't know what is. (Reminds me of my former NutrientNet days at WRI.)

















Our houseboat (well, one just like it). This one's using solar energy!
















We shared our houseboat with some friendly Aussies, and the cook made us amazing home-cooked Keralan meals.
















Our driver











Scenes along the way
























Here's a strip of houses with a canal on one side and a flooded rice paddy on the other.















A typical house along the canal
















Walking through the village

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