Canoes and coconuts in Allepey, Kerala, India

Date: July 9, 2009
Location: Sona Heritage Homestay
Accomplishments: Seven hour canoe journey through small canal channals, villages, and rice paddies.

At 10:00 a.m. a man arrives in a flower print skirt on a motor-bike.
"You ready for village tour?" he asks spotting us waiting on the patio.
"Yes!" we reply excitedly, always ready for the adventure to begin. WE follow him for five minutes walking to the end of the narrow road where it meets with the channel-way.

Slim waterways outlined by coconut trees...A strip of colorful houses are held up on a narrow strip of land in between miles of rice paddies and the canal. Its like a neighborhood street, except for instead of a street there is a canal, instead of a car, every family has their own wooden canoe parked on the curb. Women and men
come onto the street-canal way to wash their clothing, bathe, and rush their teeth. Bright blue and green king-fisher birds fly above. Picturesque, I feel like I am on the Discovery Channel or on National Geographic Documentary film!