Our own houseboat in the Keralan backwaters!

So we took a taxi to Allepey an hour and a half south of Cochin and sought out a houseboat to hire. We walked around the boat jetty and looked at quite a few, negotiated a price and within half an hour we were underway for 24 hours! We hired a boat for the two of us that was pretty big. It had two double ensuite bedrooms, a downstairs seating area and an upstairs balcony with chairs and table and big cushions to lie on. You have a chef and the captain with you and you cruise through the canals at a slow pace. It was amazing!

Another houseboat but this is what ours looked like

This is ours with me on the balcony!

Our very own two storey houseboat!

Definitely the best thing we've done so far and although expensive by Indian terms it was worth every penny. We lazed around all day in the blazing hot sun looking at the locals villagers going abouth their daily business. The food was the best we've had in India for lunch and dinner.

A local village

We stopped at a local stall to buy some fresh tiger prawns for dinner that were huge and still alive when we bought them so you couldn't get much fresher.We ate far too much and both had to lie down some more when we had finished! We popped up our mosquito net in our room and slept under that as we'd already seen a lizard and didn't want another repeat of Kathmandu! I would recommend this experience to anyone, it's a MUST do if you get the chance. We could easily have spent a week on there!

John enjoying a coconut!

Finally some sunbathing time

We have now moved on to Kollam which contrary to Lonely Planet's description is not that nice so we will spend the night her and move south again tomorrow to the beach for a few days. Pictures to follow for the South as we can't upload them here.