We arrive in Alleppey which is a major tourist hub on the backwater network.

Our Journey was really smooth and the connection in Kollam was really easy. The journey took about 5 hours in total. When we left Kovalam a fellow backpacker from Holland appeared out of nowhere and jumped into the rickshaw for the journey to Trivandrum (this is where we caught the bus). We got chatting and found out she was also a Christian and we exchanged details.

At Alleppey bus station a boy that looked like Michael Jackson approached us and showed us pictures of his accommodation. He did seem quite genuine so we agreed to see it. It was lovely and set in a resedential part, with only a 3 minute walk into town. We settled in and ventured out to have a look and grab a bite to eat. We fancied a place recommended in lonely planet but it was shut, so we took a rickshaw to another place set in a hotel. It described 'dine by the pool', and the pool was green and dirty and the menu was quite pricey, but the food was edibale. We promised ourselves to try Cream Korner the next day. We returned to our room and relaxed. I(Kam) was getting annoyed by the amount of Mosquitos and falling insects there were, so I decided to take cover under the Mosquito net but the blighters still managed to get through. By the end of the evening our sheets looked like a 1st world war battle field.

We had a lye in and decided to go out to use the internet and try to gauge the prices for a houseboat/punting boat. The town was flooded by students trying to get their exam results so all the internet cafes had queues outside. We gave it a miss an walked around town for a while. At one stage we could hear and then see a group of men shouting and waving banners, we though oh no is this a riot as there were police behind, but I think it was a political march. We went back to our room and decided to go out later to use the internet and eat in Cream Korner. We did manage to get on the net and found Cream Korner. It was disgusting, flys everywhere, filthy tables and didn't have any art-deco feel whatsoever. We ordered a drink and it smelt of horse manure, we left and went back to the previous days eattery. We got a rickshaw back and relxed for our trip tommorrow.

We got up early and found a punting boat for a bargain. We set out on our 5 hour trip. It had a thatched roof and we sat in a row just the two of us and the punter. He took us past the Houseboat carpark and there must've been about 50 boats moared of different shapes and sizes. We felt a bit jelous but our little boat would do just fine. We took a turn and went down a narrow stretch which had trees like willow drapping into the wate. It was so green and lush and the smells were great. We stopped at this little place and got fresh coconut to drink, it was so surreal. Ellie seemed so relaxed and so did I!!! There were communitys along the way, people fishing, Kids bathing, women washing their clothes. We stopped at a restraunt and got greeted by a goat waiter, he led us to our table and we ate some dhal and chappaties. The goat did offer us soem mutton but we said 'NO'!!! We set off back the way we came and like clockwork we arrived back on the 5 hour mark. We decided to get crisps and biscuits for tea and went back to our room and chilled. I did manage to watch the Champions League Final to Ellies disapproval!!!

Final India destination Fort Kochi tommorrow.........................