Another Day on the Houseboat...

Wednesday, 20th January 2010

The standard tour package of Kerala usually included only one night of the houseboat cruise on the backwaters of Aleppe. We had specifically asked for a 3-day-2-nights cruise for we wanted to have more time to explore the different parts of the backwaters.

Pakdokter woke up early Wednesday morning, in time to catch the rising sun. The canal was so quiet except for the flocks of various species of birds feasting on the dead little fishes thrown away by the fishermen who had cast their fishing nets in the canals during the night.

sunrise at the Kerala backwaters...

dead little fish thrown away by the night-time fishermen...

After another hearty breakfast of Keralan dishes, the boat set out to explore different regions of the backwaters. The boat took us through canals that trespassed a vast expanse of paddy fields as well as canals that had little villages along the water. At some stretches the canals were quite crowded with many similar houseboats ferrying the tourists to the region.

Sandra and Dollah.....

pakdokter's partner scouring for a photo-shoot....

Siti navigating the boat...

some canals had heavy traffic...

a lovely little church....

vast expanse of paddy fields...

the pump-house....

water pumped out from the rice field into the backwater canal..

local ladies crossing the canal in their own row-boat..

enjoying our 'setengahs'.....

We went to the fish and seafood shop that we stopped at yesterday as a few other shops that we looked at did not have much fish or prawns on sale. Ravee bought another lot of sea prawns forthe chef to cook at dinner. He also bought a duck from a duck farm which the chef cooked into a spicy masala curry...

duck curry, chicken masala, curry prawns..

fried bitter gourd, pineapple chutney, beetroot salad,

Kerala rice and chapatis....

Aleppe, the Backwaters of Kerala....

Tuesday, 19th January 2010

We left the Spice Village Hotel in Thekkady at 8 am because we would require about 4 hours to reach Aleppe where we were to embark our houseboat for the cruise in the backwaters of Kerala at 12 noon. We made it in good time and the houseboats were all anchored in a row at the jetty waiting for their respective passengers to arrive.

Our house-boat was the 'Mermaid 11' - run by the Rainbow Houseboat Company. It was a deluxe houseboat with 3 ensuite bedrooms, an upper-deck dining lounge with the satellite TV and the lower deck lounge behind where the skipper of the boat navigated the vessel from.

The boat had 3 staff, the navigator, the cook and an assistant who both helped the cook as well as the skipper.

From the embarkation jetty, the houseboat cruised out into what appeared like the open sea but was actually only a wide lagoon. Further on the houseboat was directed to cruise along narrower canals of the backwaters passing along many paddy fields and villages.

We were served a delicious spread of fish and chicken curry, a few types of vegetables, sambar and chutneys to go with the light and fresh Keralan rice and chappatis.

The cook even made some local savouries to go with masala tea or bru-coffee at about 5 pm. We checked out a local fish and sea-food shop and bought 12 tiger prawns, each the size of a 1-kg lobster, to be cooked for dinner. The chef was ordered to grill the prawns with masala seasoning!

After the marketing we checked out a local ayurvedic spa. Some of us wanted foot reflexology - but they do not offer that in their establishment. It was strictly Ayurvedic Spa and Massages. So we decided not to go through the 'oily' experience.......

We anchored at a quiet corner somewhere in the backwaters for the night and had our delicious grilled prawns for dinner apart from the other dishes that came with the standard menu that was included in the houseboat package.

houseboats in anchor at the jetty....

many different types of houseboats

with different levesl of comfort and luxury...

our houseboat...the Mermaid 11...

the skipper navigating the boat out of the jetty...

the comfortable air-conditioned ensuite bedroom...

relaxing and waiting for lunch...

the upper deck lounge where lunch and dinner were served...

a contented look after a hearty lunch....

disembarking to a local village....

marketing for fish and seafood....

12 kg of giant tiger prawns....

still alive.......!

a local ayurvedic spa centre....

make a choice.....

pleasant evening breeze and many photoshoot opportunities....

anchoring for the night....

sunset over Keralan backwaters...

An Ayurvedic Spa Experience....

Monday, 18th January 2010.

Upon return to the Spice Village from the quick visit to the Periyar Nature Reserve and Park, pakdokter decided to go for a treat at the Ayurveda Chikilsalayam - an ayurvedic spa offerring healing massages ancient Indian style. There were many massage packages to choose from and pakdokter picked one which was supposed to be good for lumbago (backache - what do you expect, at this age! sure to have back problem), sciatica, arthritis and muscle pain. Except for sciatica ( pain from the back that shoots down the lower limbs due to nerve root pressure at the spine) pakdokter suffer from the remaining three, as pakdokter admitted earlier partly due to age and partly due to too much golf and too much sitting in the van for this trip!

Upon registering at the spa, pakdokter was first met and interviewed by an ayurvedic physician who made sure that pakdokter did not suffer from any major medical condition that would be a contraindication for the massage. And the physician complimented pakdokter for being lucky in having a good health. Pakdokter was then ushered into the massage room and had to wait for the masseur to come. Pakdokter has been quite used to being nursed and massaged by young and sweet Thai or Balinese female therapists in Thailand and Indonesia. So while waiting for pakdokter's masseur to come in, pakdokter fantasised and hoped that this time pakdokter's masseur would look like a young Pretty Zinta or Priyanka Chopra. Alas, when the masseur walked in, 'he' was a young man who looked quite like a young 'Anvar Ebraheem' with a healthy crop of moustache....

Pakdokter had to strip and put on a very narrow rectangular piece of loin cloth that barely covered the 'essential' parts of pakdokters precious private regions. The ayurvedic massage used copious amount of ayurvedic oil - coconut oil mixed with various types of spices meant to facilitate healing of the aches and pains. The first part of the massage focussed on the head as you sit up on a wooden stool - imagined your hair being drenched in oil instead of shampoo! The second part involved the body while you lie down on a wooden platform that looked very much like the autopsy table in the post-mortem room! Here too a generous amount of ayurvedic oil was poured all over the body and the massage involve long strokes that start from the shoulder to the foot of the opposite side of the body using the palm of the masseur's hands. The massage strokes were quite vigorous and looked like the movements of a Kalari Payatu martial arts exponent!

This was one massage where pakdokter stayed awake throughout the session - no, not because of the young 'Anvar Ebraheem' - but because the massage strokes were quite vigorous and the slippery body and table kept threatening to send pakdokter off the table/platform. Even the soothing background meditation music/mantra did not put pakdokter into the ususal snooze.....

The massage took about one hour after which pakdokter was sent into the steam chamber for a 15 minute steam therapy. It was like a sauna actually.....you sit up on a stool inside a steam cubicle with your head protruding out at the top as if waiting to be guillotined with the Maharaja's sword. After enough steam and sweating the masseur led pakdokter into the shower room where he rubbed pakdokter's body with dried grated coconut, herbs and spices which soaked up the sweat and the oil from the body. Then he poured pails and pails of warm water to rid the body of the oil and the spices. Once clean, he dried pakdokter's body with a clean sheet of towel. Hmmmm...It felt like pakdokter was a little boy again, being bathed by pakdokter's 'mummy' - but in this case here, by this young and good looking gentleman!

The treatment cost about 2500 Indian rupees - about RM 150 for the one hour and a half of an Ayurvedic experience. Pakdokter's verdict ? Well....its quite difficult to get 'unused' to the Thai and Balinese girls.....

pakdokter chose the whole body massage for lumbago, arthritis and muscle pain..

the steam/sauna chamber...

spices and herbs put up like in a pharmacy...

spices and herbs....close up..

pakdokter's handsome masseur.....

The Spice Village, Thekkady...

Monday, 18th January 2010

After 4 hours of drive down the narrow and winding road from Munnar, we finally reached Thekkady for an overnight stop before proceeding to our next destination, the backwaters of Aleppe where we were booked for a 3-day-2-nights cruise on a Keralan houseboat.

We were not expecting much at Thekkady as it was only meant for a stop-over and a break from an otherwise a very long drive. We were told that there would be opportunities for shopping and a visit to the spice plantations. But what a surprise the Spice Village Hotel was!

This boutique resort of about 40 thatched-roof villas won the Asian-Eco-Resort Award for 2009. In 2008, this award was given to the Six Senses Resort on Koh Samui which pakdokter had visited last year. The Europeans have obviously discovered this corner of Kerala for apart from us, the other guests were mostly a group of French tourists.

The resort has a cool and green foresty feel to it. Most of the trees were of some spice plants or trees and the hotel had taken a lot of effort to label each tree with its name and species. The villas were generously spacious with all the modern comforts.

Upon arrival we were welcomed with cold herbal frangrant towels and cold mint drinks and a local musician played classical Indian music with his violin.

We had a light lunch of various types of dhosa ( thosai) before proceeding to the nearby Periyar Natural Reserve and Park. Due to shortage of time we gave the planned tour of a spice plantation a miss. The ladies wanted to go shopping and some of us wanted to check out the Ayurvedic Spa for a treatment of our tired body.

A cooking demonstration of Keralan cuisine was put up late afternoon. Dinner was a buffet of Keralan cuisines and a performance of Indian Classical Dances was put up in front of the restaurant.

We adjourned to the hotel pub before retiring for for the night.

As an afterthought, had we known it, we would have planned to stay here for two nights. The spice village should be interesting to visit and the Periyar Reserve Park should also be explored in good time. The park covers 700,000 hectares? and is a sanctuary of animals that range from elephants to tigers and many species of birds. There is a huge lake in the centre of the park and there is a cruise on this lake which increases your chances of viewing the animals in the wild.

And you can while away your time quite easily in this very plesant and pretty resort.....

at the check-in....cold fragrant towel and mint drink...

Indian classical music with the violin..

you can learn a lot about spices just

by looking at all these different trees...

comfortable bed, spacious villa...

lunch in the garden...

rawa thosai....
hmm

what a nice way to relax...

buffet of Keralan cuisine...for dinner..

while being entertained by a local beauty

doing the Classical Indian dances...

at the pub for a night cap..

the pub makes you really feel that you are in

in the era of the British Raj....