Above is a quick photo re-cap of our overnight train ride down from Mangalore to Alleppey. (click on the photo to enlarge). After 24 hours of travel Chris and Annie managed to get sick by the time we got to Alleppey - Chris unfortunately got it a little worse.On the bright side, it turns out that the cure for India belly is 2 days of meditative bliss on the backwaters of Kerala. In fact, so spectacular we had to get another blog up right away. 2 days on our little rice boat cruiser provided more opportunity for gorgeous picture taking then anywhere else we have been so enjoy!
Now, there is a catch to this blog. Our new beloved friend Eric has a gorgeous Nikon D60 with a 300 mm. The first set of pictures are pictures that Chris took with his camera. its up for a vote, do we invest in an SLR or stick with our Canon point and shoot G9. Help us decide!!!!
Here is our driver drinking tea.
The roof of our boat.
A bridge under construction... likely will never be finished since bridges infringe on the benefits of tourism brought to the region by the boat tours.
Rice and bananas.... what more can you ask for.
A duck herder... you can just make out his ducks in the top right corner.
Eric checkin' out how it feels behind the wheel. Drivers use black umbrellas to shade themselves from the sun. Elena and Annie are sitting behind him at our dinner table.
If you look closely, this little boy has a Canadian flag on his pocket thanks to Kyla.... all the kids wanted them!
And now for our camera.....
Instead of road signs they have backwater signs... this is where our journey initially began.
The lake area where we felt like we were either on the moon or in some futuristic movie where space shuttles looked like boats.
People who live and work along the water are usually pretty good at staying out of the sun.
At our first stop we checked out a local church. Christianity is big in Kerala. It was interesting to see how the familiar church was combined with Indian tradition and artistry. There were no seats inside, you sat on the ground and the Christian images had a touch of Hindu flare.
Shot off top deck - boat roof included.
Eric on the upper deck of the boat.
Elena with her turn on Eric's camera.
Kyla with a pout to show Claire how much we miss her! Claire really wanted to do the backwaters tour but we were tight for time.
Our dinner table on main deck where we were served the best south indian meals we have eaten to date. It is pretty sweet to have your own full time cook.
Our boat docked for the first night.
Mark contimplating the meaning of life.
We like sunsets and palm trees.... hopefully you do too.
One of our favourite places to hang out was the bow of the boat... it was incredibly peaceful to watch the water go by.
Chris drivin' the boat.
Eric and Mark longi wrapping on the top deck of our boat. They were experts by the time the cruise was over.
Two guys in the crew... the regular driver is the one holding Eric's camera. he looks innocent enough but when we saw the pictures he took they were mostly blurry shots of women from behind.
Another bridge destroyed just enough for the boats to pass through.
What?? Did you think coconuts picked themselves?
Washin the truck... looks like the wheels will be extra clean.
Passenger train, like the one we were on, crossing the river.
Another boat down the canal.
Chris and Eric on the bow. One of the few times they weren't observing the backwaters through the lens of a camera.
Rice paddy with white scarecrow flags.
Eric, Elena, Annie and Chris posing on the main deck.
Elena and I doing what we do best, relaxing with beverage in hand.
Annie getting her last shots of the day.
Second night we dropped anchor in a lake area of the backwaters.... full moon and all. ....sigh.
The hallway on main deck. There were 4 bedrooms along here, each with fan and ensuite bathroom.... we were really roughing it.
Heading back to dock.... we were sad the cruise was only two days.
When the boat tour was over, we were especially sad because our group of 7 was to become a group of 5. We said good-bye to Kyla and Mark while the rest of us spent the day busing down to a nearby beach resort town... Varkala.Cafe Del Mar.. where we ate 5 meals out of 6 and watched 3 sunsets. Can you say, stuck in our ways??? We just had a good thing going!
Outside our room, the ever so regal and ubiquitous 'ambassador' taxi,.
Our squishy cups and bowls we bought from MEC. Perfect for wine nights.
Check out our indoor/outdoor bathroom!
We got rooms side by side. So cute.
Varkala beach. Known for its redish cliffs.
a local god....on the other side of thee tree was santy claus
palm fringed beaches....
shops selling more touristy crap than you could ever dream of....but there were actually a few nice Tibetan jewelery stores with nice stuff which we all frequented...much to our pockets dismay.
Laughin at Cafe Del Mar.
As it got dark we could see a city of fishing boats appear on the horizon, seemingly out of nowhere.
Now we are heading up to a wildlife reserve on the east side of Kerala. Bye for now and hope you enjoyed hanging out on our boat with us.
xoxo - The Indo-Canadian Gang
