We spent a lovely 5 nights in Alleppey, spending two days on the beach and a day exploring the backwaters on a canoe tour with our own personal boat man. The tour included a traditional Keralan breakfast and lunch at the boatman’s house, complete with staring wife, daughters and grandson! The backwaters were a truly breathtaking sight and the canoe allowed us to explore deep into the villages down small canals to view village life. The tour was so relaxing that at one point both Helen and I nodded off! We also enjoyed wandering around the street carnival happening over the Christmas period and risked our lives going on a very unsteady ferris wheel. Helen’s terrified screams seemed only to amuse the men running the rides and not convince them to let us off!
We left Alleppey on Christmas Eve and headed up the coast to the city of Cochin by train, and from there we travelled to Vypeen Island and the tiny beach resort of Kuzuphilly. On arrival we walked on the beach and saw eagles flying in the trees and dolphins swimming just off-shore. It was awesome. The “resort” consisted only of the beach house we were staying at, which meant the beach was pretty much deserted. On Christmas Day we took a trip to nearby Cherai Beach, which was busy with many Indian tourists celebrating Christmas on the beach. Overall Christmas was pretty relaxed, it didn’t really seem like Christmas because it was so hot, plus we would have killed for a turkey stuffing cob!
On Boxing Day we took the ferry over to Fort Cochin, where we spent three nights at another home-stay. Its a small island, possible to explore on foot with a relaxed and safe vibe. We explored the rustic town, visiting the Dutch Palace and Jew Town and we saw the traditional Chinese fishing nets in action, as well as taking the ferry across the harbour. We also appreciated the vast array of Christmas lights visible by night - which made things seem that little bit more like Christmas - despite some of the hottest weather since we left in August. Tomorrow evening we will leave Cochin on the overnight train. We’re sad to go but Kerala is a ’dry’ state so we’re heading back to Goa for New Year and a few celebratory drinks!!
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