Mosquitoes

The mosquitoes in the backwaters are mean.
Big. Black. And abundant.
I suppose that's to be expected on a river in a tropical climate.

So that meant we had mosquito nets in our rooms. They were a refuge.
I never used a mosquito net before. They are surprisingly efficient and I was pleasantly surprised. :)

The cruise with views

One of the best things about the houseboat, is that all I had to do was sit there and the sights and pictures came to me--how nice is that?

In the backwaters, you get to see a lot of things.
I made a list:

Cows
Buffalo
Birds
Backyards
Laundry
Construction
Trucks
Store fronts
Pretty painted houses
Rice fields
Floating plants
Palm trees
Bananas
Fishermen
Reflections
Sunsets

Churches on the canal

There were bunches of churches along the canals and backwaters in Kerala.
I wasn't expecting to see so many, especially at the water's edge like that.
They must have pretty views on a Sunday morning.
They were painted pretty colors.
And some of them had Jesus statues.

One of them is a famous houseboat tour stop.
A Catholic church in Chambakkulam. They claim the church was founded by the Apostle Thomas when he came to Kerala.
I found a Palm Sunday video of the church:

The inside was full of statues and paintings.
Of Jesus.
Of Mary.

Outside had a grotto. I don't understand why Mary is trapped inside a fake stone structure?
Or why another Mary prays to her?
We saw these grottos in several places in Kerala. They are mysterious to me.

The other mystery was the strange pulpit thing.
It came out of the wall as a monster with a snake in its mouth which became the pulpit? What? Why would someone want to preach out of that?
Mysterious.

Churches on canals surrounded by palm trees--it was a new thing for me.

Chinese fishing nets

The Chinese fishing nets of the Kerala backwaters are iconic.

But.

Honestly, I didn't know that until a few weeks ago.
I didn't know they were something I needed to see.
Needed to photograph.
Now I'm wiser.

Since our houseboat trip started in Kollam, more southerly than most trips, we saw a lot more of these fishing apparatus than the tourists who go to Kochi see.
They are amazing gigantic things made of branches lashed together--and all perfectly balanced.

We went down a whole, long corridor of them.

This part of the river even dictated our schedule, because in the evenings, the fisherman come, attach the nets and let them down into the water. Once they do, boats can no longer go through.

Fishermen and their nets at sunset are a very picturesque thing.

River crossings

I am fascinated by this.

From the simplicity of bridges, where you have to cross the river yourself with your own two feet.
To the simple poled ferry for a few to cross over.
Or for many to cross.
People wait to get across the rivers and canals of the backwaters.
To go over just themselves.
With their shopping.
With their bicycles.
And--yes!--with their motorcycles.
Whoa.
Would you dare put your motorcycle on a boat like that?
I wonder if they've lost any...

There are many ways to cross a river.
Cool.

The friendly waving

I was not expecting all the friendly waving we encountered going through the backwaters of Kerala.
Children shouting for my attention, people staring, a few "hellos"--that I'm used to.
Sincere friendliness and waving--not so much.

So it was very pleasant that our first day through the rivers and canals was filled not with people tired of seeing tourists, but smiles.

Smiling is my favorite. :)

Houseboat staff

So our houseboat experience in the backwaters of Kerala was pretty good. Much of that had to do with the houseboat staff we encountered.
Though I should also say that some of the problems we encountered were also caused by them. But I am feeling forgiving--just because of the privilege of being able to experience the houseboat of the south at all.

The front man is the guy who sits in the tiny, hole-in-the-wall office all day long waiting for tourists such as ourselves to happen upon him. His best skill is making conversation while we wait and wait a bit longer. He doesn't know quite as much about the trip as you might hope, but it's handy to make friends with him. Especially when you need a refund for something that didn't go right.

Once on the boat, we were introduced to the three men who would be with us for the next two days: the captain, the chef, and the engineer.

In the promotional material for the houseboat, I read that the boat came with "an experienced chef". Experienced in what, I wondered.
It was his job to make us good meals like this one. And tea whenever we wanted.
I would hear his knife start chopping things up around 5 in the morning, and later good things would appear on our table. Our chef was very enthusiastic about his craft, and thrilled to be able to tell us specifics about each dish.
Getting up at 5am to cook for us must have been exhausting. 'Cause when he wasn't cooking, napping is what he did.

Our boat had some engine trouble, which meant that the second day we were actually transferred to a second boat.
In the switch, we lost our first captain and the engineer and got a new captain and a second chef instead.
The first captain was skilled: he shifted gears with his toes.

The second, not so much. It seems we were a bit of a headache to him.
Okay, maybe it was just the glare on the water while he wanted to be taking a nap like the others were.

I thought it was the engineer's job to keep something like engine failure from happening.
Maybe he was more friendly and likeable than skilled.

Conclusion?
Chef One: recommended highly.
The others? Perhaps they need a second chance for higher marks.