Allepey - Slow Kerala backwater boat tour

Somewhere on Lonely Planet's list of 10 things you need to do before you die is to take a houseboat along the Kerala backwaters in Southern India. We did the next best thing, taking a 5-hour rowboat tour, just the two of us and the driver / rowing guy (costing 500 Rs, or $11). It was a rainy day, which was good because it wasn't too hot or crowded, though it also meant the villages were a bit less active than usual. We saw lots of jungle, villages of people fishing, doing laundry, getting married (at least it seemed to be a wedding), rice paddies, and lots of houseboats. It was a nice, relaxing ride though I wouldn't rate it as a must-do - it is not too different from a boat ride along any river or lake in a natural setting.

A row of houseboats about 1km from the city, waiting for high season and throngs of tourists.

Villagers bathing. I'm sure they don't mind being watched, otherwise I guess they would have to move.

Typical riverbank in an area without villages or farms.

Our driver was really nice, and found a couple flowers for Sue to put in her hair. He especially liked orange flowers, or maybe thought it's her colour - 3 of the 3 he picked were in shades of orange. Anyway Sue looks even better than usual with flowers in her hair.

During construction season clean fill needs to be moved, and the most convenient way to do it seems to be by longboat.

Same with tractors, though those take up more than one boat.

We passed by what was possibly a wedding, where we saw more people in a minute than in the rest of the 5-hour boat ride.

The next day we took a 2 hour ferry to get out of town, where we saw many similar sights to the rowboat at a fraction of the price (30 Rs or 65 cents per person).