Namaste

We met our skipper Tom at the boat jetty yesterday and boarded "Eden" our home for the next 24 hours.The houseboat was two bedroom but we had it all to ourselves. As the boat left the jetty we settled back in the rattan chairs in the lounge and started to watch the world drift by. It instantly reminded me of something from an Agatha Christie film like "Death on the Nile."

There was a big bowl of fruit on the table and I couldn't resist putting the pineapple on my head (it made a great photo!!!) After a couple of hours we moored up for lunch and watched a 3 legged dog eat rice not on the boat but near by. Once we had eaten our fill and the crew had slept a while it was back to cruising the backwaters with the smell of coconut oil wafting on the breeze.

The next 4 hours seemed to drift by so quickly and we soon had to moor up for the evening at a suitable point, which happened to be outside the captains house (he lives by the canals.) The smell of coconut oil had long disappeared but was replaced by the thwacking sound of women beating their washing to a pulp on the riverside. I think Thursday must have been washing day here. The calm water was only broken when another boat came back and gently rocked our boat, we couldn't have been too far from a road as the car horns had returned in the distance.

Our dinner arrived and looked suspiciously similar to lunch minus the poppadums so we tucked into fresh Kingfish, Dal, rice, cabbage, green beans and chappattis. The mosquitos and midgies here are phenomenal and by 8.30 they were everywhere and we had to take cover in our room under the mossie net!!!!

Mel did get to do her houseboat routine so she was happy as it is one of her favourites. We had been cheapskates and decided not to pay for air con which was a big mistake as the room was so hot even with all the windows open and it took ages to get to sleep!!!

This morning we had a small breakfast with dodgy toast so we decided to share it with the fish which was great fun watching them feed right alongside the boat.

We have traded our seafaring legs and are now back on dry land in Allepey planning our next move as it seems to change every few days but it is looking like we are going North to Fort Cochin for a few days before heading inland to try and cool down.

Lots of Love

M & M

xx