Thursday, March 17
Alleppey to Palm Lagoon/Kollam – Boat Ride
We loaded our bikes and climbed aboard our ferry at 7 am this morning. The Kerala backwaters are thousands of kilometers of sea water rivers and channels in the low coastland area. I admit to taking over 300 pictures today – the scenery was like nothing I’ve ever seen. Here is a picture of my root beer ride getting loaded on the boat before we set sail:
Here an early morning view across the water to the shore:
Houseboats line the shore and waterways – here is one heading towards us:
Fishing boats galore line the shores as well:
We passed through a “channel” of old Chinese fishing nets like we were sailing back in time:
When I get home I have many birds to identify including this large fishing bird:
Near the end of our ride we entered a large lake area with many sailboats – they were enchanting:
Because our boat was too large to go under one final bridge, we had to transfer to a boat on the other side of the bridge. That meant our bikes too. We each grabbed a bike (any bike) and carried it up a set of concrete stairs, across railroad tracks (stopping for the train that interrupted our transfer), down another set of stairs, and on to the other boat. Here is the train that passed by on our way.
We arrived at a wonderful hotel location where Jan and I have a float house room. What a welcome surprise!!!
