Dream Boats

After the mountains of inner Kerala state we took a bus to the coastal city of Cochin. We ended up sitting near the front of the bus and had grand views of water falls, jungle, tea estates and our life flashing before us. We stayed at a small hotel in the old part of Cochin called fort Kochi. $7.50 for a night stay isn’t bad, and it had tv, luke warm water and a clean room. We treated ourselves with a fancy dinner, spending quite possibly the most yet on food at $35. On the way to dinner we noticed a theatre that played local Kerala shows. We decided to see the show before dinner and won’t forget the experience any time soon.

In the morning we got up and headed down for breakfast. As it turns out Chochin is famous for it’s backwater cruises and there are day trips and over night trips. We had thought about an overnight trip but didn’t get it worked out the night before the manager informed us that he called on our behalf and a trip was available if we were interested. We debated the pros and cons and decided to go for it. We ate in a hurry and packed up as the car was already waiting to take us to the boat.

The boat turned out to be a very cute little houseboat/straw hut complete with a fan, lights, bedroom and private bathroom. Three crewmembers were there to cook, drive and captain the 24 hour tour of the backwater. We were worried that it might be boring as the boat trip on the lake in Thekkady became pretty uninteresting after the first 10 minutes. We needn’t have worried as it was peaceful and we could stretch out and relax. The food the chef prepared tasted great and kept our bellies bursting. In the evening we docked along side the canal and slept to the wonderful pitter-patter of the rain hitting the water. Ten geckos also provided us with entertainment as they consumed all the little bugs that the lights attracted. This turned out to be our first night in India that we didn’t hear car horns! I really recommend it if you get the chance, quiet, romantic and all around wonderful!