I had two of my friends visiting me in the month of February, Sushmitha
and Vani. Sushmitha was my classmate during my MBA days (1998 – 2000)
now residing at Calicut and Vani was her childhood friend in Delhi the capital
of India. Although we’d talked many times on the telephone I’d never
met Vani personally.
A double dekker houseboat
They wanted to spend a day in Alappuzha sight seeing and to enjoy the tranquil
backwaters. The plan was a cruise through the backwaters of alappuzha to spend
some time relaxing and enjoying the secenic backwaters also to give Vani a glimpse
into the day to day life of the people who live in this waterlogged region of
alappuzha. We started our journey by around 7am from the alappuzha jetty in
a small motor boat. ( we chose a small boat coz we were told its most suited
means to navigate through the narrow canals )
vani was very much worried bout getting sun burned and concerned about not
having a solid roof over the ferry !!
It was nice to have a small ferry to ourselves, and nicer to know
that we’d get an off season discount in February…but the loose chairs
on the upper deck were shaky n I decided to just settle on the floor n the others
soon followed suit.
This particular region with its extensive network of rivers all connected
by interlinking canals is geographically a unique place, altitude of places
like kuttanad are actually below sealevel. The marshy lands here and the paddy
fields are believed to be a hotspot of migratory birds. Kumarakom the famous
bird sanctuary and pathiramanal island another famous tourist attraction is
also nearby. Kuttanad is also known as the rice bowl of kerala, and the main
occupation of the people is agriculture and fishing.
The narrow canals of alappuzha
The tour began n we settled down to the palm-fringed and tranquil
backwaters which sometimes lead us to small canals and then suddenly came upon
vast lake like openings only to lead us into another maze of canals…vani
instinctively felt like leaving behind breadcrumbs to find her way back !
As we were gently cruising through the backwaters the scenes on
both the banks began to change, the crowded streets of alappuzha was long gone
and the leisurely life style of the villages began to unfold. We asked the boat
man to take us through a narrow canal rather than through the vast river. And
soon we realized that now we’ve set the course right for our tour.
Single house on an island
All of us had digital cameras and went berserk clicking pictures
of the palms, the big, bold and beautiful houseboats, the under clad foreigners
in them, the birds and the bees, the canals merging into each other and of course,
pictures of each other too!
A duck farmer herding his ducks to the river through the paddy fields
Ducks entering the river
Its amazing to see how a single man manages to control these hundreds of thousands
of ducks all by himself.
The first half of the tour was spent just soaking in our environment, those
awesome trees lining them, the small villages and fields we passed by and oh,
I loved the ”boat-stop” on the way where villagers were waiting
for a ferry to take them to their destinations. We stopped at one or two places
on the way where we were able to admire all the birds n Sushmitha was brave
enough to learn a bird’s name or two and utter it in every alternate sentence
for the rest of the day!! Soon like all crusaders, we were hungry and thirsty
and stopped at a field on the way to eat our bread and butter at bout noon.
The local ferry,
These small country boats are engaged in transporting people across the rivers.
Cargo Transport
This boat here should be a sure case of overloading , atleast that’s
the feeling I get as I can only see a couple of inches difference between the
boat and the water level.
We missed having a music system at the point but didn’t mind loosing
track of time at all ...though obviously we all had cell phones which occasionally
buzzed and brought us back to the harsh realities of life with a thud !
Are there tradewinds out here - i need to find out
An eco friendly mode of transport. This scene proves that keralites are at
the forefront of utilising sustainable energy sources for their travel needs.
Local fishermen on their small boat. These vast stretches of backwaters are
an ideal breeding ground for the fishes and as a result the fishermen often
get catches by their nets full.
karimeen (pearlspot) This variety of fish is a delicacy and is in great demand
in Kerala and other States and is sold at Rs 50-80 per kg.
A view of coconut trees growing in a narrow strip of land that separates the
lake and the paddy fields.
Water lilly in full bloom, it’s a very common sight in alappuzha.
Egrets
I’ve never seen so many birds at one place in my entire life.
Purple Moorhen ( Porphyrio porphyrio ) is usually found near marshy reed beds,
flooded ricefields, etc.
kingfisher
Ground Thrush
A dragon fly emerging from the cocoon.
– words of wisdom –
Did u know that dragon flies lives the early part of its life entirely in water
only coming to the top to emerge from its cocoon. And that it preys only on
mosquitoes and small insects.
The ferry driver stopped again at a small hutment where we were able to laze
around again and have coconut water and delicious tender coconuts and vani had
this brilliant idea of growing a coconut tree in her backyard in delhi
…and she met just her kind of bird too…a gorgeous red-head chick
!
Flooded Paddy fields in the fading light. The setting sun was a reminder for
us that its time to turn back and head towards home.
Even on our way back we saw a number of other birds but the fading light and
lack of time didn’t allow us to photograph any of these. we had to head
back to the mainlands and the rest of the journey we all spend in being lulled
into a dreamy sleep by the smooth waters and partially wished that this day
would never end and partially looking forward to our next great day in this
beautiful God’s own country. Thank you God for letting us in!!
