The word on the street was that anyone spending time in Kerala should take a backwater cruise, preferably an overnight one (or longer) on a houseboat. Seriously, every time we told someone we were going to Kerala this was the advice we got! So we paid attention, and booked ourselves a night on a houseboat.
At our request the boating company arranged for a cab to pick us up from our hotel and deliver us to the boat. On the drive over we saw an elephant cruising along the side of the highway!
We saw another one later on, on a smaller road. It really is pretty amazing to see elephants just out and around, going about their day!
Around 11am we arrived at our home for the night.
We were an hour early, and I wasn't sure if we'd be allowed on, our would be hanging out on the bank with our luggage. I needn't have worried, though! They let us on the boat right away and gave us each a fresh coconut beverage. It was hot, and the drink was much appreciated!
Then we checked out the boat, and enjoyed the view.
Robert even had a go at the wheel.
And then we were off! We saw a cool shrine
and lots of beautiful back water scenery.
It was so relaxing and beautiful! We hung out on the deck, the kids wrote in their journal (though they'd surely tell you that journal writing is NOT relaxing!)...
After an hour or so we docked for lunch. And man, what a lunch!
It was unbelievably delicious. All Keralan style food, which is full of coconut! Yummmmmm. We stayed docked for a bit after lunch while the crew cleaned up, and the kids ran around on the deck and played a game with spell scrolls they made.
Then boat got going again. We read Harry Potter, and saw more gorgeous bits of backwater Kerala.
There was a lovely sunset, which was accompanied by a friend banana and coffee snack.
And followed by a lovely dinner!
Now the downside of our houseboat extravaganza was the sleeping. We'd arranged to have an extra cot so that we'd have room for all of us. There wasn't one. The bed was also full size, not queen. But there wasn't much to be done at that point, so the kids and I squeezed into the bed, and Robert slept on the short couch. I should say "slept" because he didn't do much of it. Neither did I. The kids slept great however, and I guess that's really what matters!
The next morning we had an unremarkable breakfast, two cups of coffee, and were met at the dock by a taxi to take us to the airport. We got there in record time (our driver was the most aggressive we've yet had in India) and spent a dull 5 hours waiting for our flight home.
I gotta say, it was really nice to fly in to Bangalore. It felt like coming home, and I was happy to see the city, and especially our neighborhood, again.
Thus ended our Kerala adventure. It was magical and fantastic, up to and including the part where we returned to Bangalore. Which makes it pretty much the perfect trip :)
At our request the boating company arranged for a cab to pick us up from our hotel and deliver us to the boat. On the drive over we saw an elephant cruising along the side of the highway!
We saw another one later on, on a smaller road. It really is pretty amazing to see elephants just out and around, going about their day!
Around 11am we arrived at our home for the night.
We were an hour early, and I wasn't sure if we'd be allowed on, our would be hanging out on the bank with our luggage. I needn't have worried, though! They let us on the boat right away and gave us each a fresh coconut beverage. It was hot, and the drink was much appreciated!
Then we checked out the boat, and enjoyed the view.
Robert even had a go at the wheel.
And then we were off! We saw a cool shrine
and lots of beautiful back water scenery.
It was so relaxing and beautiful! We hung out on the deck, the kids wrote in their journal (though they'd surely tell you that journal writing is NOT relaxing!)...
After an hour or so we docked for lunch. And man, what a lunch!
It was unbelievably delicious. All Keralan style food, which is full of coconut! Yummmmmm. We stayed docked for a bit after lunch while the crew cleaned up, and the kids ran around on the deck and played a game with spell scrolls they made.
Then boat got going again. We read Harry Potter, and saw more gorgeous bits of backwater Kerala.
There was a lovely sunset, which was accompanied by a friend banana and coffee snack.
And followed by a lovely dinner!
Now the downside of our houseboat extravaganza was the sleeping. We'd arranged to have an extra cot so that we'd have room for all of us. There wasn't one. The bed was also full size, not queen. But there wasn't much to be done at that point, so the kids and I squeezed into the bed, and Robert slept on the short couch. I should say "slept" because he didn't do much of it. Neither did I. The kids slept great however, and I guess that's really what matters!
The next morning we had an unremarkable breakfast, two cups of coffee, and were met at the dock by a taxi to take us to the airport. We got there in record time (our driver was the most aggressive we've yet had in India) and spent a dull 5 hours waiting for our flight home.
I gotta say, it was really nice to fly in to Bangalore. It felt like coming home, and I was happy to see the city, and especially our neighborhood, again.
Thus ended our Kerala adventure. It was magical and fantastic, up to and including the part where we returned to Bangalore. Which makes it pretty much the perfect trip :)
1 comment:
I'd try a day or two of this!
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