We boarded the well-equipped and beautifully appointed four-bedroom houseboat at midday. It would be our place to relax, eat beautifully home cooked meals, enjoy a game of cards and a glass of rum and coke and enjoy the incredible view. We all settled in immediately. Our cook, assistant, and boat pilot arrived shortly after us carrying sacks of vegetables, rice, fish, eggs, breads fruit and two large cakes of ice to fill the two coolers. One was for perishable food and the second one was for all of our various cold beverages.
Once we were untied and gliding through the still waters, any tension any of us was carrying dissolved. Within seconds we all sunk into our chairs to enjoy the day.
It was magical and delicious. The views were incredible all day and into the night. The food prepared in the small kitchen at the back of the boat, just kept arriving. None of us could understand how such large quantities of beautiful, colourful and aromatic dishes could possibly have been created in that small room, yet here we were in the middle of the water so it must have been true.
Between courses there was much rum and coke to drink (the drink of choice since we arrived in India), and snacks that we all brought along to share. The houseboat even stopped at a dock with shops halfway through in case we needed more food!
We tied up for the night just before sunset and our second four-bedroom boat arrived and tied up beside us. We unfortunately had the bad luck to end up on the second boat, which was not nearly as nice, but that was just for a few hours of sleep. By the crack of dawn Marc and I were back on the beautiful boat to wait for breakfast and a morning boat ride back to our waiting bus. Breakfast was as wonderful as lunch and dinner, and we were all really sorry to have to say goodbye to the backwaters of Kerala and our houseboat cruise.
It was an experience that all of us would do again in a heartbeat. Nothing like a day on the water, with nothing but beautiful scenery, cold beverages, good food, and great company to soothe the soul.
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