A Short Boat Ride In Kerala

The India Diaries

At this writing I’m on an 80 foot deluxe houseboat on the Bampa River in backwater Kerla, India.    I’m having a rum and coke and cruising the rivers in the state.  It’s almost impossible to explain how amazing it is.  This boat has a crew of 4 including a cook who knows his way around in the kitchen.  I just bought some huge prawns to be cooked for dinner that were so fresh you could have set them free.  Now we are heading with another couple of boats in our group to spend the night on a secluded place on the river.  The River is actually 9 feet higher than the surrounding rice fields and one of the true wonders of the world.    

It’s been a crazy few days.  I spent the last couple of night jammed in a metro sweat box hotel without any AC or comforts in Kochi.   I have to say that was not my favorite place at all.  It was cool to see the chinese fishing nets that were used on the island but it would not be a place I would return to.  

The night before that were spent high in the hills on a coffee plantation names Glenora.  It was a very quiet and magical place.  The views of the surrounding mountains were amazing because everything was so green.  It was near a wildlife park that was home to wild elephants and tigers.  I needed the silence of those nights to recharge my system for a bit.  There is so much life here in this country it’s hard to believe that anyone could rest.  I am traveling with an extraordinary mix of travelers who understand what they are looking at and perhaps why they travel.  I wish Americans could and would travel more and like this.  Maybe we would understand that joy and kindness are not exclusive to hour own cultures and that tolerance in religion, nationality, beliefs, life and love are  goals that every human being should strive for.  

Tomorrow is the last day of the year and it looks like it will come to me before some of you.  It’s the on the far side of the world time table thing.  I hope I can post and wish all of you a wonderful new year and say good bye to one of the most eventful years of my life.  Namaste.