Year 3 -10 March 2026- Kerala Back Waters -India

I woke at about 7.00am and got up to write the blog.

It was quiet and there were many birds at rest on the patches of weed around us and a few fish coming to the surface every now and then leaving rings of water which expanded outwards. Few people were up and it was relatively cool. The crew brought me a cup of tea which was nice. The sun gradually came up and the light intensified around the backwater and surrounding area.

We had asked for breakfast at 8.30am and Jules was up by then. We had fruit and curd and watermelon juice. I had some scrambled egg and we finished with toast and honey and marmalade.

After breakfast we sat at the front and enjoyed watching the birds -herons and egrets and cormorants mainly going about their daily routines. We were in such a rural area that there were few people. We set off from our mooring about 10.00am and headed North back the way we came. We were soon into busier areas with canoes and canoe barges carrying goods along the canal. There were then a few more houseboats and we could see the houses along the canal side with different shapes and sizes and colours. We saw various shops and churches and the odd bridge we had to pass under.

At about 11.00am we moored by the shore near an old Church called St Mary’s Basilica which had had a church on this site since 1554. The current Church was constructed in 1730. It was a large Christian Church and had a large altar piece. It was quite garish for a Christian Church but despite this was an impressive church with paintings on the ceiling.

The Church was alongside the canal and so were a number of shops. Jules and I went into one (or we made the mistake of doing so) and well – it took some time and we ended up buying some wooden elephants which were nice and a wooden tray for me and some other presents. Jules then went into another shop (another mistake!) and we bought a bowl and some tee shirts which were fun.

By this time it was lunch time so the crew slipped the mooring and set off again and Jules and I had a great lunch underway going down the canal with all sorts of local traffic as well as other houseboats. You could see life going on beside the canal with building materials being unloaded from barges ashore and being carried on the head and others carrying stones or other cargo to where they were required.

We stopped again about 3.00pm and got into a small boat as we were to go down the small channels off the canal which were manmade but which meant many more properties were on the water and that the locals could get around more easily by boat.

We set off and had to go under a concrete low bridge having to duck down. The little channel was about 14-16 feet across initially and people moored their little boats outside their houses. There was a range of wealth here too with some large stone houses and others having run down shacks. We saw lot of women fishing by the bank with just a stick rod (piece of wood) and line off it with bits of bread it seemed for bait.  They would bash the water with the stick and then put the line in and throw a few crumbs of bread first. There were some men fishing too but mainly women. There were people washing in the water and also washing their clothes and one was brushing her teeth and washing her hair. We continued along and came to an area where the housing thinned and we could see the fields of red rice growing either side and they were harvesting it with what looked like small combine harvesters. We saw children walking along the banks returning home from school looking neat in their uniforms. There were a number of women in their saris walking along looking very colourful and elegant. This little trip which took an hour gave us a real insight into local life off the canal. There were other boats giving tours and many of the lady occupants had umbrellas up to shelter from the sun.

We returned to the houseboat and got underway again but stopped within about 20 minutes so we could visit a local fish shop. It was small but sold freshwater crabs, prawns and Kingfish and Red Snapper. We did not need to buy any but it was interesting to see.  

We then headed North up the canal and the light began to fade. Jules and I showered and dressed for supper. We finished off the Champagne first and then came to a bank at the edge of the canal to spend the night and we watched the sun go down over the Palm trees on the opposite shore with lots of birdlife flying around.

We then had our supper of vegetable soup, a tika salad, a local freshwater fish and then a prawn curry with a vegetable curry and okra curry with lemon rice with cashew nuts in it and some Chapati’s. This was followed by an Indian desert which tasted a bit like rice pudding. It was delicious and far too much food and we left quite a bit but they do not anything less. We then played dominoes before retiring to bed.

The crew will set off at 8.00am tomorrow to return to base for 9.00am where we are to have breakfast as they prepare the boat for the next guests.       

The picture of the day is a bunch of ladies walking along the narrow channel off the canal with the fields of red rice behind. of the backwaters.

Need/Opportunity Year Three

In year three I will be going from Thailand to Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and then on to Mauritius, Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK. 

I am looking for one crew from Mauritius/ Reunion Island to Cape Town (mid June to end of July). If of any interest do email me.

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com