Starting from the jetty at Kollam, we took a boat through the vast inland set of waterways heading north in Kerala. Some are natural as offshoots from vast lakes and some are man made. The journey is slow and takes eight hours before we reach our destination for tonight, a home stay near Alleppy. Lunch consists of banana, cashew nuts and water which is ideal. Cashew nuts are a major produce in this area and last nights hotel was built by a local 'cashew magnate' ! The people on the riverbank warmly greet the boat as it passes with waves and occasionally young boys will swim out towards us. There are plenty of birds to spot, cormorant, egret, heron, kingfisher etc. Kerala is a prosperous state with good standard of living in both town and country. Literacy rates are also very high.