I was on the Overseas Adventure Travels trip to southern
India called Soul of India in January this year. One of the highlights of this
newly revised tip was spending two nights on a houseboat on the backwaters of
the Southern state of Karela. And to use an Indian parlance that I noticed on my
trip, where something can be “like X, but not X," I noticed the backwaters ware
like the Amazon, but not like the Amazon. We left the spice plantation where we stayed in
Thekkady near Perriyar National Park, drove through the verdant tea and rubber plantations, and arrived at
our houseboat in Alleppey after first stopping to see the “loo with a view.”
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| Photos: Jann Segal |
The first thing anyone notices on this part of the
trip is all the local life along the backwaters. It was breathtakingly beautiful - tropical, yet
local, Although we had the two nights where
we could sit by large windows and watch the local scenery and people come drifting
by, as we also drifted by and waved to them, we were also treated to one hour in a dugout canoe, then a half a day on a
larger vessel stopping by and visiting local villages and talking to the villagers. In one village we visited while pre-wedding ceremonies were underway, the groom posing for photos.
Parts of the backwaters look like land due to
the overgrowth of plants in the water, the enormous hyacinth overgrowth which
prevents passage. So while many parts of the backwaters do not even allow for boats to go through, we did see "busses" taking women to work
in the fields (huge water taxis) as we cruised to shore. Other fascinating signs
of everyday life along the water were just as remarkable, such as women washing
their clothes in the water, and then beating them to dry. You could see the attempt
to dry them, but it took a few seconds for the sound waves to travel across the
water to actually hear the pounding, which sounded much further away. On our last morning, I woke up to music from a temple across the
water, and that, along with the sunrises and sunsets we had seen along the backwater, made for spectacularly unforgettable
travel moments.
Trips like
this inspire in us so much more than the local color we absorb and breathe in,
and the photos we are driven to take. In
“edgy” countries such as India and other Third World countries, it is
important, especially at this point in our human history, to gain a more in
depth understanding of cultures and people outside the US. We need to reinforce
the realization that we are more alike than we are different. We too, have
clothes to wash and have needs to get to work. We too, see hyacinths and flowers in our midst
and obstructions in our way. We too,
must deal with what nature puts in our path, and learn to live with it, through
it, and around it.
For more information on this trip and others that will put you close to both nature and locals, contact Overseas Adventure Travels.
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