KOLLAM & THE BACKWATERS

20th - 21st May 2015

On the train from Varkala, we got talking to a lady, and within 5 minutes she had invited us back to her house in Kollam for lunch. We accepted her invitation and after a half hour train journey, we were in the back of a tuk tuk along with her and her husband (normally 3 in a tuk tuk is a push). The husband worked for Indian Railways and their house was situated right next to the tracks. 

We were met with many exotic birds in their front garden, along with 2 cute dogs and lots of fish, in ponds in the garden as well as in tanks in the house. Their nephew said that his uncle used to keep piranha fish too. 

Their daughters wedding had been 2 days ago, so a lot of the extended family were still staying at their house, so we met all of them. And also got to see the wedding dress! The lady we met on the train had been in the army as a nurse, and she showed us pictures of her in her uniform as a young lady. We had a really tasty lunch of fried spiced fish and a selection of vegetable side dishes. 

When it was time to leave, the couple along with their son and nephew came with us to town to find a hotel. They would not leave until we were happy and settled in a room, as they wanted to make sure we were safe. This was a tad unnerving. The hotel wasn't that bad and our ensuite room had a view over the beginning of the backwaters. 

After a walk around Kollam town where I picked up 3 tailors rulers for 60p, we made our way back to the hotel and had a crappy dinner. It really was crappy and we had waited one hour for it. In the morning we tuk tuked to one of our favourite Indian establishments, the Indian Coffee House for a quick breakfast before going on a backwaters boat tour. 

To get there we were tuk tuked to Munroe Island, half way through the journey we had to take the 'ferry' which was actually 2 fishing boats strapped together with a wooden platform across the top for the cars, tuk tuks and bikes to park on. 

It was just us on the tour on a large wooden boat, and we were punted around for a couple of hours. Our guide was great, we learnt how to make rope from coconut fibres, and he managed to find a couple of coconuts which he threw into the boat. A little while later we passed an elderly lady washing clothes in her garden, he chucked the coconuts at her feet and they waved at each other. He later said 'that is my mother' what a good son. The narrow waterways were beautiful and at times we had to duck down in the hull to avoid wonky palm trees and low footbridges.