Kerala, Part 2
To continue from our last blog, we greatly enjoyed our stay above the clouds at the hill station of Munnar. The chilly air was a welcome relief from Chennai’s heat, although we found ourselves longing for fleece jackets, which is a first for us in India! As we were packing up to leave Munnar on Wednesday evening (Sept. 30), we turned on the TV, hoping to find an English language show for the kids. Instead, we found ourselves riveted to a local news station, which was showing footage of a boat accident at the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Thekkady. We learned that a tourist boat, carrying 80 passengers on a wildlife-viewing cruise around Periyar Lake, had capsized, killing 41 people. It is not unusual to read about road and rail accidents in the local papers, but I often pass over them without much thought. This incident hit home for all of us, since we were scheduled to pass through Thekkday on the next day of our Kerala vacation.When we arrived in Thekkady on Thursday afternoon, the mood was very subdued, with all the stores closed, many of them displaying black mourning flags. Our driver told us that all activities in town were cancelled, due to the tragedy on Periyar Lake. So we left early Friday morning, after a brief stop at one of the nearby spice stores. In addition to its tea plantations, this hilly area of Kerala is known for its spice gardens, where cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla pods, and black pepper are grown. I bought a few spices, though I was most excited about purchasing some locally grown coffee, to replace the Nescafe in my Chennai apartment!
Our next stop was Kumarakom, where we were scheduled to take a houseboat trip along the backwaters. 
The three-person boat crew greeted us warmly with jasmine flower garlands and fresh coconuts (the coconut milk had a surprising taste – more salty than sweet). The next few hours were spent in complete luxury, as our boat made its way through the backwaters, passing huge groves of coconut palms, other houseboats, men fishing from small docks with nets, and flocks of white birds skimming over the water. After a delicious lunch of fish curry (a specialty in Kerala), we passed the time playing cards and “Indian rules” Scrabble (Tamil and English words allowed), and snacking on coffee, fresh pineapple, and fried bananas. When our boat docked in the evening, we were served freshly-caught prawns for dinner and one of the crew found a nearby cable among the palm trees to attach to the boat’s flat screen TV, so the kids could watch a movie.
Although we were warned the mosquitoes could be vicious, we barely noticed them, especially since our bedrooms had AC. In fact, we’ve had worse luck with mosquitoes on camping trips in Wisconsin!
In the morning, when the boat resumed its travels, we saw vignettes of local life: women washing clothes, dishes, and children (!) in the river, ferry boats taking men to work, and children walking to school. As we drew nearer to the town of Alleppey, we saw more and more houseboats – it was a traffic jam on the river, though without all the constant horns!
The three-person boat crew greeted us warmly with jasmine flower garlands and fresh coconuts (the coconut milk had a surprising taste – more salty than sweet). The next few hours were spent in complete luxury, as our boat made its way through the backwaters, passing huge groves of coconut palms, other houseboats, men fishing from small docks with nets, and flocks of white birds skimming over the water. After a delicious lunch of fish curry (a specialty in Kerala), we passed the time playing cards and “Indian rules” Scrabble (Tamil and English words allowed), and snacking on coffee, fresh pineapple, and fried bananas. When our boat docked in the evening, we were served freshly-caught prawns for dinner and one of the crew found a nearby cable among the palm trees to attach to the boat’s flat screen TV, so the kids could watch a movie.
Although we were warned the mosquitoes could be vicious, we barely noticed them, especially since our bedrooms had AC. In fact, we’ve had worse luck with mosquitoes on camping trips in Wisconsin!
We docked at mid-morning, and were taken to our final destination – the Maria Heritage homestay in Alleppey. Homestays are quite popular in this area of Kerala, and they consist of historic homes, decorated with traditional furnishings, and feature home-cooked Keralan meals. Our suite was truly luxurious, featuring a balcony with a hand-carved wooden swing, overlooking the palm tree groves and rice paddy fields. We lazed away most of the afternoon, though James got to try his hand fishing in a tank of water channeled from the river and he caught eight fish! 
As with the houseboat, we dined on Kerala specialties, including more fish. In the evening, we could hear a sort of “jungle white noise” of insects and birds outside our windows, and we even saw a few large bats! The only downside to our stay was our 4:00 a.m. wakeup call the next morning, as we had to be in Kochin at 6:30 a.m. for an early flight back to Chennai! It was hard to come back to all the traffic, noise and heat of Chennai (still a reliable 90 plus degrees!), so we have already decided to plan our next getaway as soon as possible!
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