Houseboat for the night -- Kerala

Wednesday, January 28

We slept in today; I must say it was nice not to have to pack up immediately. Our agenda until noon : R&R (followed by more R&R on our houseboat, scheduled to pick us up from the hotel at 12:30).

We hit the pool after breakfast, then took a canoe ride around the pond. A gentleman from the hotel paddled while we relaxed. His name is Thomas and he told us he’s “RC.” Roman Catholic. The term cracked me up; "are you RC too?" Could be a commercial for the soda.

I decided to squeeze in a head and neck massage before we boarded the boat, as I’d been told it’s a 15-20 minute experience. As has been the case more times than I can count here, the receptionist's infromation differed from the the spa program. Plus I had to fill out a medical form and have my blood pressure checked beforehand. And the woman before me showed up late for her treatment…

Anyway, it all worked out; I did get the 30 minute massage, again having to strip down to be oiled up. Lovely ambience/facility but I preferred the more rustic experience of the first ayurvedic massage (may I hasten to add that I'm NOT complaining about this experience; I'll take a massage anyday!).

This time I started out sitting nude on a stool, getting my scalp rubbed with oil, then moved to a lovely wooden massage table to have my back, arms, neck and shoulders oiled and rubbed down. Fabulous. After a quick shower to get a layer or two of oil off we skedaddled to check out.

Our boat was waiting near the hotel room so kids hopped on and got the grand tour from our three crewmen while I handled hotel paperwork.

Marvel Cruise #4 had a couch/lounging daybed up front, right behind the captain’s seat. Then came a sitting area with comfy chairs, dining table/chairs, narrow hall with windows on one side, master bedroom/bath on the other. Further down the hall was the kitchen and stern.

Our captain -- a barefoot, swarthy guy with big green umbrellas close by for protection from the sun -- got the boat moving, and we spent an hour or so peacefully cruising along a lovely wide waterway, wherein we saw people canoeing back and forth, washing clothes and dishes, fishing, bathing. Along the way were churches and temples; at times we heard hymns and chanting. Many birds – including kingfishers and eagles -- flew overhead. The water was peaceful with lovely ripples and reflections, lots of lily pads.

After an hour or two of sailing we dropped anchor for lunch: tons of food. Rice, vegetable dish, three different salad type dishes, fried fish (which was fabulous and caught earlier in the day from the same water on which we sailed, according to the cook).

A bit later we got moving again, the captain holding his big green umbrella as he perched on a wooden chair and steered us through the backwaters. Mid-afternoon we had a tea and fried banana break (again I’ll go for the plain old banana – no frying or steaming required.)

Unfortunately, amidst all this paradise, Claire became very ill. Poor kid rowfed three or four times. Fed the fish, I guess.

When we docked for the night – late in the afternoon – we walked to the village with one of the crewmen (got plenty of attention from the inhabitants along the way, asking where we were from and if we had pens. I wish we’d brought a few boxes! We saw cows, goats, dogs and chickens, kids playing in the water and more "housekeeping" activity along the water. Like being in someone's front room, peering in as they go about their nightly chores. We could smell dinner cooking as we strolled along the water's edge, where a stone wall separated water from a path that was full of activity, much like streets in the towns are here. Social space, selling space, space for ablutions...

We walked to the village market in search of apples and carrots (per Ava’s request). She’ s been hit and miss with food on this trip. We found what we needed, Claire got sick again and we took an auto rickshaw back partway to the boat (until it got too narrow and a footbridge prohibited its crossing).

We had another good meal, again too much food – fried chicken, rice, flatbread – unfortunately I was the only eater.

No more houseboats for Claire. And one of the crewmen said some people stay on these things for 3, 4, even 7 days…

Sunset was spectacular, as were the evening sounds, water, crickets, frogs, birds.
As we got ready for bed I noted that our crew had on the thin short dhotis men wear to bathe in the canals here. No doubt they were doing the same before bedtime. They slept on the deck, under mosquito netting, while in the master we had an air conditioner, thankfully. We all slept well, anchor down, in a very quiet spot.