December 15, 2014. House boat journey end

We had a lovely dinner last night with prawns, fish, lots of vegetables and rice.

After dinner, we docked  next to a house on the levy, where we plugged into electricity.

While the boat was moving, there was a nice breeze.  After docking, they turned on the A/C in the bedroom which made sleeping very comfortable.

This morning, we ate fresh pineapple and bananas for breakfast.  Also, some rice noodles with coconut milk.

We returned to the mooring at 9:00 AM along with the other boats.

Then, back to reality.  Our driver picked us up and we drove 3 hours back to Kochi to fly back to Hyderabad.  Meredith met us at the airport.

December 14, 2014. Toddy shop along the canals

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We saw more men fishing.  

Before coming to India, Meredith and I watched an Anthony Bordaine show about eating in this part of India.  He had eaten in a "toddy shop" and said it was great.  We had looked for one in Hyderabad, but were told that we should wait until we were in this area.  Toddy shops look pretty rough, in bleak buildings where drinkers hang out.  Everyone said we should not go there.  Toddy is a sort of fermented coconut milk alcoholic drink.  In the show, Bordaine said the drink was bad, but the food good.  Our driver said to wait until we arrived in Alleppy to try to find one.   Then, when we arrived in Alleppy, we realized that today is Sunday when they don't sell  alcohol in this state.  In any case, our driver told the boat captain that we wanted to try a toddy, so we docked the boat in front of a shop.  (Assume that they forgot  to follow  the Sunday alcohol ban out here)

These guys had been enjoying a few....

The canal is used for everything....transportation, laundry, bathing, swimming, and irrigation. They had just held a long boat race, and were docking the boats.

December 14, 2014. More houseboat scenes

We made a big circle, slowly traveling all afternoon.  

We stopped at a seafood market and bought prawns for dinner.

These canals flow into a large lake, that flows into the sea.

We saw fishing along the levy of the canal

December 14, 2014. Views from the houseboat

We spent the afternoon watching the canal life scenery.  There are ferries that go up and down the canals, the primary mode of transportation.

There are also water taxis, this one loaded to the gills.

There was a wedding going on and people flocked to this temple...

All along the canal, we saw miles and miles of rice fields.  They flood the fields from the canals after they plant the rice, then drain the fields back to the canals when they are ready to harvest. They call this the Rice Bowl of India.

December 14, 2014. Heavenly houseboat

We quickly got acclimated to the houseboat and being pampered.

We were served a nice fish lunch.

We relaxed in the afternoon.  It was so interesting to watch life on the canals.  This is called Venice of the East.  Like in Italy, the city is connected by canals.  

The houses are built on a very narrow levy, between the canal and flooded rice fields.

The houses flood every year during the monsoon, and the people temporarily relocate for 3 months or so.

December 14, 2014. To the houseboat in Alleppy

We drove about 3 hours down from the mountain through tea plantations.  We went from a cool mile-high altitude to a hot, steamy 1 foot below sea level Alleppy.  We passed through more tea plantations, 

then flooded rice paddies.

Our driver dropped us off at our houseboat.

There are about 800 moored here.  We learned that they used to be used as cargo boats until the 90s when someone thought of tourist houseboats.

Our captain, co-captain and chef greeted us, and gave us a boat orientation.  The main question was how spicy do we like our food.  :-)

December 13, 2014. Spice Village in Thekaddy

After our boat ride, we enjoyed some of the amenities of the hotel.  First we had a drink on our hut's veranda.  The hotel had thoughtfully lit a mosquito coil for us.

Then, we watched a cooking demonstration using many of the regional spices.

We even got to taste the finished product.  Yummy!

Then, we watched a regional dance show.  This one was exceptionally good.

We had grilled fish for dinner at the hotel , and Alexis had a veg/paneer dish with chipatti.

We wish we could stay here longer.  The hotel has many more offerings.....a beautiful pool, excursions, Ayurvedic massage, a cute bar in a safar jungle lodge atmosphere.