We have left Fort Cochin a little later than expected and caught a local bus on a bumpy but pretty road south to Alleppey. Alleppey is a bustling market town on the shore of a lake connected by a labyrinth of canals and lakes to villages and towns in the area. We were excited about hiring a house boat - a converted old rice barge - to cruise through the backwaters. When we arrived we found it very easy to find boats with owners willing to hire out their boats. Stepping off the bus from Cohin we were approached by a tout for the house boat within seconds! As it is off season, we looked at a lot of boats and managed to negotiate a good deal. We found a beautiful old barge with a lovely crew, for 2 days and 2 nights we got it for 50 quid. We celebrated that night at a bar (the only one in town!) which was not well lit and had a seedy feel too it. Nik was the only girl in the place - music stopped and heads all turned. A bit uncomfortable at first but fine after a few Sandpiper Beers! Nursing a little hangover the next morning we gathered some supplies and headed to our next boat. The boat was beautiful, a large lounging and dining open area at the front (bow?) and further back our bedroom with the best ensuite bathroom in India! We had opted for a punting cruise and not a motoring cruise so we got a crew of three - Mitesha and Prassad the punters and Anesh our very own personal chef! The boat punted slowly out into the lake. Nikki and I were waited on by Anesh as we lounged around on the boat cruising across lakes and jungle fringed canals. He cooked us an amazing spread for lunch, far more than we could possibly eat though. These is just what we needed - a relaxing break with nothing to do but admire the scenery, do a little fishing and eat lots of great food! That evening we moored on a canal that ran through miles of paddy fields edged with coconut palms - a beautiful spot to watch the sun go down over a couple of beers. The crew tried to get us to drink some Toddy, a local brew made from fermented Palm sap. We had heard numerous warnings that it can make you go blind - like Meths does - so we didn't. That night Anesh again made a banquet fit for 5 kings! He brought the food out an hour after sunset, we had the lights on at the front lounge which was open to let a cool breeze through. Unfortunately the paddy field is an ideal location for a mozzie to breed. With the only light for a mile around the mozzie descended in a swarm and soon we couldn't see for mozzies let alone eat! The Geckos onboard had a field day! We hid in our bedroom equipped with mosquito net until the next morning. That day we did more relaxing and eating whilst punting canals through villages and jungle - saw lots of cheeky school kids who always want 'one pen'! We tried fishing with an improvised rod made from bamboo, dental-floss and a bent pin used left offer lunch for bait. Never caught a thing! Later Mitesha our punter took pity on us and gave Nikki a rod and proper bait. Within minutes Nik had landed a catfish, it was quickly whisked away to the back of the boat. That night we had an oil lamp to light the deck and moored on the shore of a huge deck. Happy to say there were no mosquitoes. We were sad to leave this morning but feeling more relaxed than in weeks, we said our goodbyes to the crew and headed to the government bus stand for our next leg, south to Varkala.