We are sailing...

Unfortunately Claire didn't have time to finish the last post otherwise she'd have been locked out of the hotel, a little like The Crystal Maze, so I'll explain the pictures now.

We travelled by bus down to Alleppy and stayed there for a night with a plan of getting a house boat for the next night. All the boats were out for the day when we arrived so we couldn't look at one to see if it was what we were expecting so we had to book one based on photos shown to us by a travel agent. We were a little sceptical but when we got down to the boat in the morning our decision was made, it looked amazing. It had a little bedroom with an ensuite shower and toilet, a small seating area just in front of the bedroom with a recliner-type-area just behind 'The Captain'. There was also a top deck with a couple of chairs and a table and a kitchen out the back.

We were given a coconut by our on-board chef when we boarded and set sail (outboard engine) at 11:30 and had the most relaxing 24 hours of our trip so far. We cruised for about two hours through the lakes and canals of what is known as the Kerala Backwaters before mooring up for lunch. Our chef and captain served lunch on a banana leaf and we relaxed and watched the other boats and canoes go by for a couple of hours. We then cruised until we reached the village in which our Captain lived.

We took a walk round the village which included crossing a couple of 'bridges' made from palm trees, it was just a trunk across some water. It was pretty hairy! We then came back to the boat and had dinner and a couple of Kingfishers. I decided this wasn't enough and asked our chef if we could get any more in the village. Unfortunately they didn't stock any beer but did have some fresh 'Toddy', palm beer, which was really strong. We played cards and drank toddy and then went to bed leaving our chef to sleep on deck.

In the morning we were served breakfast and then headed on back to Alleppy. It was a very expensive treat, thanks Jo, but it was the most amazing and relaxing 24 hours.