Da Boatman's Tired (aka Danual Labour)

We finally dragged our sorry selves off of the beach and made it to Alleppey to do a houseboat tour of the maze of canals and backwaters off the coast. In the end we decided to take a canoe tour, since the houseboats are too big for all but the main water thoroughfares.




We met our guide, Saji, at the hotel and took the public ferry with him back to his house, where is wife was making us brekkie (puffy rice pancakes with mild green potato curry and boiled eggs in a spicy, oniony, red sauce...DELICIOUS!). We did a little tour of their house, which was under construction with the addition of a couple of extra rooms. They expected to be finished in about a year, since they build bit by bit whenever there's a little extra cash for supplies and labour. The kitchen was the most amazing part. It was off the main house. Dirt floor with a thathed lean-to roof. No fridge, no gas stove, no small appliances (it's possible to cook without a SlapChop???), just a cooking fire and a couple of pots. We had looked for a place with a kitchen in Varkala, but our idea of a kitchen don't mesh up well with the Indian versions. In the end we just wanted a fridge and a kettle but even that seems unfathomable.
The tour was really relaxing...just being paddled around the village while we lounged on (new!) cushions under a canopy.

Life in the backwaters is very simple, but it seems like a really friendly and close-knit community. After an hour and a half of touring we made a little chai stop and Saji sent us to look at the rice paddies (an elaborate ruse to get us out of the boat so he could relax for 15 minutes). After all, the guy who booked the tour for us promised that we 'could look at the calm village air'...so we did. Along the way, a goat started to eat Ana's pants. I think she quite enjoyed it, and thus did a traditional goat honouring dance.



Back in the boat, we set off paddling again. Soon after, Saji told me that 'the boatman's tired' and put me to work with a child sized paddle. We passed several other boat tours, and I seemed to be the only white guy paddling. No issue; it gave me something to do as well as an appreciation for how much work these guys do paddling our lazy arses around. On the way back home we ran into Saji's 6 year old daughter, Angelina, on her 3km solo walk back home from pre-school. She jumped in our boat and we were off again...



All together a pretty good day. The backwater tour was fine. Relaxing bordering on boring, but it was da boatman and his family that really made the trip. Upon return to his home, we had a delicious lunch with 6 different curries (again...the dirt kitchen...amazing) and got a taste of bollywood as Angelina kept us entertained with her sweet dance moves.