The Backwaters

Sorry for the lack of images...having problems finding computers that will down load them ! Please believe me I am still in India and not at home on my laptop making up travel stories from afar !

Well still travelling south in India, I went by bus to Kottyam where I stayed for a night in the persistent monsoon rain. I had began to see the qualities of the monsoon...it seems to send people a bit crazy. Suddenly you can see a range of hats made from plastic bags being worn about town, the animals go a bit wild in the street and people seem generally very excited. The streets are a lot cleaner and people have easy access to lots of water. There were not enough people to run the boat trips from Kottayam so i went to Alappuzha where I chartered a little boat for the day all to myself with a driver. We pottered about the 'backwaters' seeing lots of wildlife (kingfishers mainly, bird not the beer !) but it was the observations of daily life on the backwaters that I loved. People clean, cook, wash, swim, play games, get married and rear animals on the water and the tiny grass verges that sit along side. Its fascinating ! People were really happy to see me and invited us to stop for a brew in the village's we even dropped into a wedding party. I did not find Alappuzha as a town all that interesting but it was laid back and does have a nice beach. I stayed with an Indian Family in their guest house which is defiantly my preference to the hotels for the price.