On the morning of New Year's Eve, Mahesh bundled us into his mighty Jeep, and carried us into town to meet our pre-arranged taxi to the Kerala backwaters. Hoping to avoid bathing our luggage in the thick layer of dust that covered the trunk of our driver's Hindustan Ambassador, a model which was once India's ubiquitous sedan, we loaded our bags into the forward passenger seat, only to learn that we would be sharing the ride with a young couple from Finland. The Fins turned out to be worthy conversationalists, and we apprised one another of our recent adventures for the first half of the journey. Conversation eventually faltered, and the driver, hoping to enhance the already daring thrill-ride he was providing us with, inserted a CD of early nineties techno into the Ambassador's aftermarket sound system. Having studiously avoided both raves and DJ culture, I'm not sure why all the tunes were familiar to me, but I suspect that movies and advertising are at least partially to blame.
Arriving at the tour operator's compound, we loaded our now dusty cloth duffle bag (one of those quilted jobs) onto the houseboat which, from what I can tell, was technically a large punt. At about 8,000 rupees ($175) per night, the backwaters trip was by far the most expensive thing that we did in India, and it was well worth it. I would love to go back sometime to spend multiple nights on the boat, and Bill has indicated that the prices are a good deal lower in the off season.
The brackish backwaters alternate seasonally between shrimp farming and rice paddies, and have a dark, reflective quality that gives the fecund tropical landscape a pleasing bilateral symmetry. We trolled along quietly, our motor-less vessel propelled by a pair of boatmen wielding impressive lengths of bamboo. At one point, the forward boatman's pole became lodged in the bottom, and went whap-whap-whapping down the side of the boat until the aft boatman was able to rescue it for him. This, and a bit of pre-party sound system calibration around the marsh, were the only (minor) intrusions into what was a thoroughly relaxing and enjoyable experience.
Vanessa and I were reminded very much our own favorite non-profit as we skimmed along, surrounded by alternating combinations by reeds, flowers, palms, houses, villages, canoes, birds, children, chickens, trains, cattle, passing Fins in their own extremely well appointed punt, and of course, the water itself. Lunch time brought another pleasant surprise, as our crew brought out huge portions of excellent, almost vegetarian fare-- in fact we ate all but completely vegetarian in India and, as I've said before, thoroughly enjoyed every meal.
That night we sat on the deck listening to dancing and drumming in the distance, watching the occasional bright swirling of flashlights and small fireworks on the shore. We'd brought a bottle of good champagne from the Dubai airport duty free and, decadent infidels that we are, managed to drink half the bottle between the two of us. The boatmen found the bottle tipped over on the deck the next morning and, after checking with us, one of the crew adopted the now empty bottle as a decoration for his home. He'd given us a tour of his house the night before, and we'd been surprised to see that his mantle was already adorned with the box from that very same bottle of Veuve Clicquot, in addition to a few other Clicquot cartons of unknown origin. We felt honored to be welcomed into our host's home, which was full of interesting found and handmade objects, including hand carved models of a cruise ship and an electric guitar. He also had a whole gang of very relaxed looking pigs under his care.
The Kerala backwaters are not so different from those in Quintana Roo or, if you squint, Petaluma, but to my knowledge neither of those places offer such a restful overnight experience on the water. If you ever have the chance to go, do so. Try to opt for a punt rather than a motorboat, as backwater tourism is big business in Kerala, and keeping the number of outboards to a minimum will help preserve this stunning spot.
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