Day 5 - Kottayam

Got an amazing, air-conditioned night's rest.  I did some laundry in the bucket in the bathroom, not sure if my clothes will ever dry in this hot humid climate, but it's worth a shot.  With only a few changes of clothes, this may prove to be a bit more difficult that I imagined.  We decided to head out to Kottayam, a small town about an hour away by bus.  We took a local bus to the backwater ferry in Alleppey, in hopes of catching a ride to Kottayam.  Once we arrived, the ferry seemed full so we decided to wait for the next one.  Big mistake.  The ferry that appeared as though it was also leaving around the same time was not leaving for another few hours.  And seeing as how schedules are rarely followed anyway, we decided to take a bus to Alleppey and take a ferry through the backwaters back to Alleppey in the afternoon.  It would be a great sunset ride for sure.

 Alleppey Bus Station

Woman on bus.  Fragrant flowers in her hair.

Kottayam itself was rather uneventful.  We walked to a "hotel" (restaurant) where I had the best "butter chicken" ever.  Cooled down with some sweet lime.  Once we left we realized that it was going to be a long ferry back to Varghese's place and we better get something to drink.  We walked up and down the streets of Kottayam and couldn't find any open stores.  I think it was Saturday...not sure why everything seemed to be closed.  Now that I think of it, I vaguel remember seeing a holiday sign.  Everyone must have been on holiday.  In fear of missing the ferry and not having a way back, I ran back down to the dock and Ricky searched a little longer until he found some sodas.  I'm pretty sure he grabbed some chips, also.  He was always very mindful about Brooke and I, always wanted to make sure we had everything we needed.  The ferry arrived relatively on-time (within 30 minutes of scheduled departure!) and we headed through the backwaters.

Off to a pretty good start

Small girl

These are the famous Kerala Backwaters

I was amazed to see these Kerala Backwaters that I heard so much about.  Everything I heard and even these pictures can't show you the beauty that I saw.  Such a lush and green land.  As we were slowly making our way through the waterway I wondered how these ferries that seemed to be about 100 years old could make it through such thick river growth.  It reminded me of pushing a lawnmower through the thickest and tallest weeds that would inevitably cause the mower to stall. I wondered if that would happen to us.  But then I put my trust in India, and remembered they had been doing this for years; they knew what they were doing.

Well yes, it is true they know what they are doing.  But their standards of "working equipment" is a bit different than mine.  As I start to settle in I hear a grinding sound and eventually we are dead in the water.  Literally.  Well we're not dead, but our boat is.  But we have already left the dock, and although it is not far to land on either side, we appear to be in the middle of nowhere.  What's the next step?

For the first 5 minutes no one spoke.  Not the passengers, not the crew, not the captain (if there was one).  Are we waiting for something?  Have they radio'd for help?  What's the plan?!?  I just giggle, still trusting that I will make it home at some point.  Then the crew starts running around, and what is most easily described as roping palm trees.  Once they get one, they start pulling as if they could be strong enough to pull this ferry to land.  As if!  But we inch closer and we get close enough that one or two jump off and start pulling some more.

They disappear and I sit there wondering if they went for help?  Did they just go home?  What is the hell is going on?  It is times like these when knowing the native language would be helpful. 





They finally return with appears to be.....a wimpy piece of plastic.  What is it for, I ask myself.   Why, it is the bridge we are going to walk on to get to land, of course!  Not as bad as I make it out to be of course, but at the time I swore I was going to end up in the middle of the river.

Now that we're safe on land, we start walking.  I say that knowing the language would have been helpful, but I forget that no one was talking amongst themselves either.  It's like this was an everyday occurance, and everyone already knew what to do.   Well I did not.  So I follow the crowd, assuming they know where they are going.  They don't sem the least bit surprised the ferry broke down.  They don't seem bothered at all that their journey has just been doubled in time.  And why should they be?  And why should I be?  I have nothing but time!  So I go with the flow.  We end up at a little chai station where the backwaters join into a larger body of water.

This is the view from the chai station

There is an even more rickety old ferry waiting for us there! How far will we make it this time???

As we wait for the ferry to depart, I realize the crew isn't on the boat. No no, they have decided to take a chai break. In the midst of all of this chaos, they still find the time to stop, relax, and have their afternoon tea. I find their dedication to quality of life remarkable.

Ricky with Chai

 Beautiful Smile

Throughout our journey in the Kerala Backwaters, I saw many villagers doing their daily chores.  Women doing laundry or carrying supplies on their head, men and kids bathing, cows eating.  It was a look at life at a completely different pace than my own. 

Backwaters at Sunset

After a few hours we made it back to Alleppey and after a rainy ride sticking halyway out of a rickshaw made it back to Varghese's place.  Dinner, cards, and sleep early.