Backwaters

This colourful building is a school in Kerala, India. The photo was taken from a boat on which we were travelling through the backwaters. The other boat you can see in the photo is typical of the way in which people get around in the area.

We spent two days slowly floating through the Kerala backwaters during a trip to India over Christmas and New Year 1997-98. The backwaters live up to the hype - they're incredibly beautiful, and seeing them from a 'ketuvallam' is the only way to do it. It's almost shamefully luxurious - on board the converted cargo vessels is built a whole superstructure from dried reeds, including a private bedroom compartment with four poster bed (and mosquito netting), a large carpeted seating area open to the water, and a bathroom. At the back is a tiny space where the onboard cook prepares unbelievably sumptuous meals over a tiny fire. In the seating area is a coolbox full of beer. We really need to go back and do it again!

Kerala itself is a very interesting place, totally unlike northern India. For a start, it's much more rural, the pace of life is far more relaxed, it's uncrowded (compared to the north, at least) and lush. The language is different, the food is different, the people look different. It actually reminded me far more of Malaysia than northern India. Another thing that one immediately notices is that towns seem cleaner, people look healthier, roads are better, there are fewer beggars (in fact, I can't remember seeing any). Kerala is an example of communism that works.

Details: Minolta X-500, 50mm lens, exposure not recorded. January 1998, Kerala. Placemark (approximate).