After the full activity-day of yesterday, today we still wake up relatively early for what I could describe one of the many little adventures we had in India. The plan for today is to jump on the 9am bus that leaves form Munnar and get us to Kottayam (just) after an easy 3 hours journey zig-zagging through the forest down to the coast. The reason behind why we want to stop in Kottayam is very simple: Public Backwaters Ferries (super cheap). Back home we managed to find out that Kottayam connects Alleppey with public ferries which give you an “amazing ride” through the backwaters and are completely unknown to tourists ! Well definitely something not to miss !
View of the Backwaters
Anyway, at ten-to-nine we are on a run, or shall i say on a tuk-tuk, toward the Munnar bus station; because of the Onam holidays the roads are getting crowded here in Kerala and the little ride that just a few days before took us 10minutes has taken more than half-an-hour ! Luckily we get there in time and… how could we have forgotten, we’re India; the conductor tell us that the bus is planning to leave at 9.45am but that its gonna arrive in time anyway. Mmm… right…. With the last ferry leaving at 1pm we both know that once arrived in Kottayam we won’t have much time for chit-chatting but at the end of the day we cannot always expect to be in time taking an Indian bus !
Fellow photographer on the ferry
The first half of the ride ends up to be alright, the hate toward the rally-styled driving of the conductor is kinda of overwhelmed by amazing views that we see from the tiny bus windows. Thick forest, mountains, valleys, tea fields, some house and then more house; the time passes pretty quickly and in a glimpse we arrive in Kottayam ! Somewhere in the web we read that the ferry station is nearby the bus station therefore the 15min before its departure are more than enough to get there, or so we thought.
Tourist boats vs. locals
One tuk-tuk, two tuk-tuks, three tuk-tuks drivers, nobody know that such a ferry even exists. What ?! Now we are starting to be a bit worried, does this idyllic ferry actually exist ? Is it a legend that is passed on from tourist to tourist ? In the mess of the Kottayam bazar at the bus station we manage to find the police station; immediately we explain we’re in a rush and that we want to go to Alleppey with a ferry. Luckily a young policeman greet us smiling and tell us that the ferry that left from Kottayam is not working at the moment since the water is too low… BUT there is another ferry station (smaller one) just 5km or so away from which another ferry is about to leave ! At the speed of light we thanks the man and hop on an a tuk-tuk (obviously only after bargaining for the usual 10INR/km) and off we go.
Some wildlife of the backwaters
Believe it or not, at 1pm exactly the tuk-tuk drops up next to the ferry on a kind of forgotten tiny ferry stop… wow what a trip. It may sounds less stressing telling it now but I can assure you that at that time we felt we were running for our lives ! Anyway, we approach the ferry just to know that the policeman was wrong about only one thing: the departure time. This ferry won’t leave before 1.45pm !!! All the running and stressing for nothing; it is really true India teaches you to take your time and don’t rush things. So we start exploring the surrounding of the ferry stop just to find out that most of the buildings are houses and there are no bars/shops whatsoever apart from a little tiny shop on the corner of the road that looks abandoned. Remember the old saying “Things are not always what they seem” ? Well in that little shop we were greeted like pharaohs, they gave us water, different type of sweets, chips, a little fan and much more than we could have ever wanted !Did a mention the cost ? Something on the lines of 1 euro altogether ! Then around 1.30pm the ferry starts coming to life, people are boarding, bicycles, chickens, some indian tourists and us. In a matter of seconds we’re off toward the backwaters !!!
Families greeting the ferry
The sailing was simply one of the most amazing ferry trips we’ve ever done. By stopping at each little village you get to see street life (or canal life) and the different type of lifestyles that people have. Simply fascinating ! Some people washing things in the river, some others building their boat, the little ones going to school and many other glimpses of life here and there. Not to talk about the wildlife ! At some point throughout the sail, we get to the point where the proper known backwaters starts and we have a full-immersion of birds ! Cormorants, kingfishers, herons, ibises and several more relaxingly fishing over the surface of the water. Then in the background, we finally see the big city: Alleppey ! We have arrived to our destination ! What a trip, what a cultural experience, what an amazingly funny little adventure to do in a good company. It is true, it was around 2hrs and a half on a very uncomfortable seat but hey, it was worth every minute !
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