Kerala is the state just west of the state I am living in, Tamil Nadu. They sit on either side of the Western Ghats mountains, which allow monsoon rains to dump on Kerala, making it a lush, green wonderland, and dry out Tamil Nadu with the rain shadow effect. Kerala is the most Christianized state (with Thomas the Apostle coming to the region in 56AD according to our tour books) and has elected a communist government. The backwaters are formed by the river Periyar reaching the sea floodplane and widening out as it parallels the ocean for more than 100 kilometers.
Above: A typical, wide backwater canal.
Above: A man uses his bamboo pole to propel himself and cargo along the backwaters. Even houseboats used to operate this way. The addition of outboard motors has caused pollution (both noise and chemical) to increase in recent years. We couldn’t find a houseboat that was man powered anymore. Some boats did have solar panels to ease the environmental impact.
Above: A boys woman, immersed in the canal, is washing clothes and pots.
Above: Our boat enters a wide canal. This canal, next to a large “backwater” lake, actually looks like it was formed by building walls around a large square portion of the lake edge and then pumping out the water inside the walled-in area. The square field was below water level and was used for growing rice. The canal is a waterway between two of these artificial fields.
Above: This fisherman rises early each morning and catches tiger prawns (shrimp) from the bottom of the water ways. He then spends the afternoon in the canals selling his catch to houseboats as they pass by.
Above: You know we bought some prawns. They are HUGE!!! With huge blue legs!!! Yeah, I’m corny.
Above: Just enjoying the ride…
Above: Another houseboat (our looks exactly like this one) passes a tropical Christian church let out in the middle of nowhere.
Above: Ellen relaxing on deck near sunset.
Above: The cruise included meals of typical Keralan style (spicy). Our huge prawns we bought earlier in the day look more like lobster tails!
Above: Cruising the smaller canals the next morning…
Wow, Matt that looks amazing. Those prawns do look like lobsters. I can imagine that was a great meal.
Looks like an awesome day…