March 20th:
In our second port in India, we ran head long into Indian immigration regulations and lots of red tape. We originally cleared Indian immigration in Port Blair several days before, but we had to go through the entire process again. It was required to have a face to face inspection with immigration authorities with passports, visa’s and port passes. After nearly an hour to process passengers and crew, we were able to leave and start our tour of the canals of Kerala.
The canals are about 75 kilometers east and inland from the port. After an hour and one half bus trip, we boarded a launch and had a very pleasant tour of rural southern India. While still poor by western standards, this area was not congested, not loaded with beggars and sidewalk sellers of post cards, and trinkets, and the people seemed to be much happier with life.
Princess did a great job, each bus had their own launch. There was plenty of room. Everyone that wanted a good seat on the top deck got one. The photograph below of the MB Brothers 3 was our launch.
Once we entered Arjun Lake, we encountered numerous house boats available for rent. There were several hundred of these boats on the canals and lakes in the region. Some very large, with two decks for large families, others like the one pictured below were set up for one couple.
The canals are the source of water for farming, for washing (clothes and bodies) and in one case we saw, for brushing your teeth. Our Indian tour guide assured us that all the residents get access to fresh clean drinking and cooking water, one wonders.
Some of the sights of life along the canals were very interesting.
As we were leaving Cochin, we passed the famous Chinese Fishing Nets along the river estuary heading to the Indian Ocean.
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