Houseboat

Note: this and other posts are being sent with a delay as we have not
had data service on our Blackberries since we have left Cochi.

On Thursday, we didn't finish the hike until well after 6, so it was
already getting dark when we set out on the drive back to Mundax. The
road back is a winding mountain road in pretty poor condition so it
would not be fun under any circumstances. Add to this hoardes of Hindu
pilgrims (most of whom are from Tamil Nadu, where land is all flat, so
they think they can drive at the same speed in the mountains) in
rickety old buses often without working lights, and you get a really
bad situation. However, it turned out that our driver, though quite
young, is an expert at handling these conditions. We got back safe and
sound, though a bit shaken (in both the nervous sense and the carsick
sense).

We left Mundax on Friday morning and drove to Kumarakom, the place
where we boarded the houseboat for our backwaters cruise. The drive
over was uneventful but once we arrived we had trouble finding our
boat. After many calls to the booking office and the boat operator we
realized that we were looking at the wrong jetty.

We finally found the boat and let me just tell you it is *beautiful*.
It is an enormous split-level vessel with an authentic bamboo
exterior. It is a two bedroom boat and the rooms are essentially full
hotel rooms with full bath, ac, and comfortable beds. We also have a
living room area with comfortable couches and satellite TV (Tata Sky).
On the top level there is a dining table and a deck area with lounge
chairs where the breeze keeps us cool.

There is a staff of three waiting on us hand and foot. Shortly after
embarking, we were served a beautiful lunch of traditional Kerala
food. Most of the dishes were a bit spicy, but Ellen and Wenjun were
quite comfortable eating it so everyone is happy. It's just after 5pm
now and they have just served us tea. We will have dinner at 7:30
after watching the sunset. I think this is going to be one of the few
times on the trip that all four of us are perfectly content, and it
will certainly be one of the highlights of the trip.

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