2019 India – Alleppey
22nd January 2019
We hired a taxi to take us on the 40-mile drive to Alleppey. As we grew closer to our hotel, civilisation faded away until we came to a long road that ran through empty fields that ended at our hotel Warm Lake Haven. Our accommodation was a little cottage on the edge of a lake. We sat on our balcony with a glass of wine at sunset and let the peacefulness wash over us. 
It was perfect except we knew we couldn’t stay somewhere so remote. We had booked four nights but the hotel manager was very good in accepting we would only stay one night and we did give them a very good review. We found another hotel near the beach in Alleppey. We weren’t intending to swim there but it was good walking along the beach to town at night.
Alleppey Beach Garden was a nice little hotel owned by a German woman who was friendly in a stereotypical sergeant major kind of way. For breakfast she made sure her manager kept us supplied with endless toast and jam. The manager was a very pleasant young man who was instructed to get us whatever we wanted. It was just as well because there were a lot of mosquitoes so I got him to drive me around to find an electric mosquito zapper, my weapon of choice.
That afternoon we went around the area which offered all the boat trips. Normally we booked these things in advance but we knew there would be an unlimited choice. It was lovely walking along the waterways where there were hundreds of boats and I wondered how there could possibly be enough business to go around. We watched workmen sitting on top of one boat repairing the roof with straw.
Next day we went on a boat tour of the waterways of Kerala. My sister had been on a three-day boat tour the year before and said it was good but far too long so she recommended just an overnight stay. We thought hard about it and felt sure that just a day trip would be enough. It was a large boat with four staff and we were the only passengers. 
What a great feeling it was pulling away from the riverbank and making our way down the river. We had our choice of a dozen seats on the large deck or lying down and staring at the sky. Lunch was a huge selection of curry dishes cooked on the boat. It was delicious and as always, far too much. We loved our time on the boat trip but by mid-afternoon we started to get restless and were very happy that we weren’t staying overnight, let alone three nights like a lot of people.
The next day we booked a boat trip which went along the small waterways. It was a long, narrow boat propelled by a man standing at the back with a long pole. 
We started off on the main river and then turned into a large system of waterways. At first they were quite big but the further we went, the smaller the waterways got and in several places, thick weeds had stopped us going any further. We spent most of the time drifting past people’s homes and although I didn’t think they minded, we couldn’t help feeling we were imposing and that the people must have felt like they were exhibits on show.
2019 India
