Ferry Through the Backwaters of Kerala, India

12-10-2018

India

backwaters, boat, india, kerala, photo journal, photos, travel

6 minutes Read (About 961 Words)

My second stop in India was in the far south, where I went to the state of Kerala and spent some time in Kochi and Alleppey. This area was so different from Delhi, there was greenery and palm trees covering every inch of the countryside and overall it felt more relaxed than the bustling New Delhi. I took my first train in India and ended up on the wrong train, but it actually worked out better in the end and I got to take a ferry through the scenic backwaters to see some of Kerala’s famous countryside.

At 5am I took a train from Kochi to Alleppey, where I was going to go to see the famed backwaters. It was almost completely empty, which is not what I had expected for a train in India, but I guess it was so early and not a very popular route. Nobody checked my ticket anywhere and I just stepped on what I thought was the train, and I ended up on the wrong train.

I frantically started searching online with my spotty 3G connection to figure out what train I was on and reroute myself before I ended up somewhere too far away. I got off in a small town called Kottayam because it looked like I could take a public ferry from there to Alleppey, where I had meant to go. I got to the ferry right as it was about to leave.

The view from the boat was incredible, we were headed down a misty river before sunrise.

As soon as the sun came up, the landscape lit up drastically and turned an almost complete white, it was beautiful!

As we went I saw people getting up from their houses along the river/lakes and begin their day fishing or farming.

There were palm trees lining every bit of land not covered by water.

The ferry I was on was mostly used by locals to get around between the patches of land. My boat quickly became packed with kids going to school. At each stop we'd pick up about 20 people, until the boat was completely packed to the brim. I was starting to worry about it capsizing under the weight.

Got to Allapuzha Beach, and it reminded a lot of Huntington Beach back home. It was big and wide and pretty empty. There was a lot more trash and debris in the sand though compared to back home. Also spotted a long abandoned pier jutting out into the ocean like a rusty spine.

Walked along the beach a bit until I was soaking wet from sweat... It was REALLY hot and humid. Saw about a million crabs who would scurry out of holes in the sand and into the water as soon as they spotted you coming.

I figured it was time to go back because it was just too hot and I was not dressed for the weather, I was wearing pants and a long sleeve shirt (to protect against mosquito bites). Headed to the train station, had to cross some tracks to get back.

Back to Kochi, where I was staying. The walk to my hotel was extremely run down. I had to walk through a lot of construction and everywhere looked like it had been hit by an earthquake. The sidewalks were all destroyed and in disrepair. I learned only after I left Kerala that it was due to a recent and terrible flood that hit this area and put large parts of it underwater.