More about the houseboat cruise

Pottering about the backwaters is one of the most relaxing non-activities you could think of. The day starts with an early breakfast, and Rajeesh excelled himself here. Iddly, appam, toast, sambal, relishes, curd, the unavoidable omlettes and, best of all, banana pancakes with coconut. (Not all at once, but something special every day). An active morning spent watching the world go by is followed by a huge lunch, taken by a bank in the middle of nowhere. The world can be mesmerising, as in the banks and the palms floating by or the lake stretching out to the horizon, or exciting, as in a combine harvester travelling on canoes, exotic bird-life or hundreds of ducks being herded to market by men punting dugouts. In the afternoon a trip is usually planned to get visitors off the boat to allow the crew to clean. This might be to a temple or church, or a trip into town. Back ot the boat for tea and biscuits to begin the hard work of cruising until we moor in a quiet spot to watch the sunset and wait for dinner.
As the sun goes down the wildlife of the night wake up, and some effort might be needed to avoid flying things. The crew know where to moor to avoid the mosquitoes, but there are other things which fly around. The small lizards which live behind the lights do a good job at keeing the smaller creatures down, but occasionally we suffer a huge cockroach, which hunts around the bamboo roof. We are assured that it can't get into the bedroom, which turns out to be true.
Dinner is the usual challenge to the stomach, five curries, fish or chicken, delicious breads and rice.
The cooks on the houseboats of Kerala is legendary, and with Rajeesh we seem to have found a cook who excells even in this company. None of the cooks are chefs by training, just local people who have learnt to cook the local food, which has great importance in the culture. With a peculiar range of allergies I was a particular challenge to Rajeesh, but he rose to it, and above it. The best hotels cannot match his chappattis or iddlies, and the banana pancackes will live on as one of my "exceptional dishes of the world" memories.
By far the worst thing about a houseboat cruise is getting off it.
Below are pictures of Captain Sudhakaran, Cook Rajeesh and Raveendran, crew.