The first task, however, was to post home yet another parcel, my notes say parcels (plural). I have no idea how I could have accumulated enough to post more than one parcel home considering I'm sure I had posted something home from Panjim only a few days earlier. While we were in the post office I sent a telegram to my brother Robin. I'd never sent a telegram before and it was his birthday. It was probably delivered the next day, but it's the thought that counts, they say.
For some reason (and I'm sure the Lonely Planet Guide explained that this was possible) there was no Alleppey - Quilon ferry leaving the jetty. I can't remember now but it could have been that there was one but it arrived at Quilon too late to make a connection by rail onwards. This was traveling again. The pace was hotting up.
I really wish whoever has my Lonely Planet Guide would come across it and actually return it to me. I wouldn't be cross. I'd be grateful. If I had it I would be able to refer to it to see where we did go. I'll carry on trying to work it out.
Meanwhile the ferry trip was most enjoyable, very peaceful and the scenery and sights of ordinary life on the backwaters were idyllic. It was not made up or put on for the tourists.
It's all very clever. The backwater canals reveal that the lush farmlands which have been reclaimed from the water. It's all very familiar to a person born in the Netherlands. I think I read that some of the reclaimed land is as low as four feet below sea level. The land is protected by dykes. Sometimes the level of the water is higher than the land.
The surface of the water was usually very calm and I think I am right in remembering that we seemed to sit quite low in the water which enhanced the experience. Some of the waterways were very wide indeed.
This man is herding ducks! He really is. He's a duckherd, I suppose. We chugged past and a few minutes later he was out of sight. It would have been fun to have watched him at work some more. You would have to be a bit nifty on a punt to make sure you didn't let any of the little blighters get away. I suppose their wings had been clipped or else they would have flown off.
Look at these people. I don't think it is an outing. I think it is bus. It looks like it might be a picnic. Some of the people are carrying tiffin boxes. I still think it's a bus, though.
Plying our way along these waterways was one of the best little journeys of the whole trip. There were resemblances to the shikara tour on Dal lake some weeks ago now. Above, a man with what looks like a boat full of firewood.
These photos are all a bit blurred. It is tricky to prevent the camera shake as you move along taking pictures of other moving things. That's my excuse. Moreover, the slide film is quite "slow" which might make a difference. If the shutter speed is increased the aperture would probably need to be opened up which might let too much light in. I don't know. The colours are very rich and you can use your imagination to put them into focus. This young boy propelling her enormous narrow boat with a cargo of some palm fronds might have been better if it was in sharp focus. The boy's boat seems to be rather too large for the job, by the way. The house in the background looks like it might be a very peaceful weekend retreat. I'm making a mental note now that it could be worth investigating how to rent one when, one day, I have the leisure to return and dally awhile.
Researches have come to nothing. My Lonely Planet Guide has gone for all time it would seem. This is so frustrating. The problem is that the ferry did not go to Quilon it went somewhere else. I have a note that the ferry we took was Alleppey to Manganachery. The difficulty I am having is that I can find no reference to Manganachery anywhere. I have just Googled the word and there were no results at all. None. That doesn't happen very often.
In the course of trawling the web for some idea of where we might have disembarked, which has included looking at maps, railway timetables, bus timetables and various pages about the Kerala backwaters, it did occur to me that perhaps the place name had been changed. Bombay is Mumbhai, Madras is Chennai. You know. Alleppey is Alappuzha and Quilon is Kollom. Manganachery is nothing, it just has to be wrong because it doesn't come up at all.
When I push the "Publish" button there will be a document on the internet that contains the word Manganachery. My notes say we disembarked there and caught a bus to Trivandrum or Thiruvanathapuram. By publishing this I will put Manganachery on the map even though it doesn't appear to exist.
Note added 29 March 2012: I now think that the place was probably Changanacherry.
On arrival at Trivandrum the notes say we stayed at the Manacaud Tourist Paradise. That place exists.
I bought a postcard of the Backwaters just in case there was a tragedy with the camera. I don't think it is as evocative as my slides but at least it is focused properly.
