We boarded the boat just after 11:00 am and Captain Britos introduced himself to us and his crew. There was a total of three crew members, the captain, a deck hand and a cook. The total length of the boat was just over 15 meters and was equipped with a single Leyland diesel engine. The covered front of the boat had a table and chairs for eating and relaxing along with side seating curving in towards the bow. Heading towards the stern there was our cabin, the crews cabin and finally the galley at the back.
With us settled the engine was started and we set off. The scenery was stunning. Our journey took us through a series of rivers canals and open lakes. At times we would see the Arabian Sea on the other side of a narrow strip of land. We passed many small villages as we cruised. Children would run down to the water to wave and yell, "one pen please". We are now officially out of writing instruments. Women washed the clothes at the side of the river, whipping the clothes against rocks to beat them clean.
The food was fantastic and plentiful consisting of fish, chicken and an assortment of vegetable dishes and rice for lunch and dinner. We pulled up to the side of the river at one point and the captain told us that they had to gather dinner for themselves. They jumped into the water and starting diving under to collect clams. I took the opportunity to jump in for a swim to cool off and then spent some time talking with a couple of children.
As the sun began to set we pulled in to a village on the shore of a lake and tied off for the night. Sue and I hopped off the boat and walked into the village. We have found that when we are in villages the adults stare at us and don't seem to be very welcoming until you smile at them and wave and then that is when you get the love.
Almost all the men in the state of Kerala wear what is best described as a rectangular table cloth around the lower half of their bodies kind of like a skirt. They are worn long and when it gets really hot they fold it up into a shorter version. I was asking the crew about them and they spoke about the benefits of wearing them in this climate. So...the captain and myself went for a walk into town in search of "longkee" for me. I had a choice of various colours and fabrics and decided on a lovely blue striped pattern. I haven't worn it so you can't be calling me a big girl just yet.
After dinner the guys fired up the sattelite tv and we watched Bangladesh beat Ireland. After the game we listened to Kerala music and we all tapped and drummed on chairs along with the music.
What a great day...certainly one of the highlights of our trip thus far.
No comments:
Post a Comment