Braving the Backwaters

Whizzing down the road in an auto rickshaw, weaving through traffic filled with cars, buses, bicycles and even goats, one thought kept repeating in my head, "How is this normal?"  It's an experience that is tough to describe.  It's both fun and terrifying at the same time. 

Obviously everything worked out and we survived our numerous "toot toot" or "tuck tuck" rides, but there were some close calls along the way.  Ironically we did get into one auto accident but it was traveling in an SUV when we got sideswiped by a local bus.  Fortunately it only resulted in a broken taillight and some scrapes of paint left on the side of the vehicle.  The craziest thing about traffic here, along with a few of the other countries we have visited, is that lines on the road mean NOTHING.  I had to stop counting the times I'd look up and see a vehicle barreling toward us as it passed another vehicle and entered our lane.  Sometimes you have to just trust that everything will work out and look at the pretty scenery out the side window.

A jackfruit bigger than my giant head.

Our minor accident occurred yesterday as we made our way to the backwaters of Kochi to see a local village and take a canoe ride down a canal..  After the minor setback we had a lovely afternoon learning about the local life outside of the city.  Our guide was amazing and described all the different plants and fruits along the way and it was just really nice to be in a peaceful nature setting outside.  Kerala, the state of India we are in, is really a nice area.  The fact I found most amazing is that it's got 100% literacy among its people.  It definitely doesn't have the poverty I've seen in the other areas of India I visited.

The canoe ride was a really great experience and something that we had only arranged through a local travel company the day before.  We shared our journey with a cute family of four who were on holiday from Nepal.  The six of us were slowly guided down the shallow waters while sitting in pink plastic chairs situated inside the wooden canoe.  The canoe was very solid and made from a local jackfruit tree using strings made of coconut fiber.  It seemed like they really used every part of every tree and plant in their environment in the local village.  It would have been more amazing had it not been for the discarded bottles, light bulbs and other items littering the banks of the river.  I'm not sure how people can be so Eco-friendly and pollute so much simultaneously.  Whatever the reason, it was still a wonderful two-hour boat ride and a much better experience than the last time I went canoeing.  It was nice to stay dry this time.  Likely due to the fact that I had nothing to do with the steering or paddling of our vessel and only had to relax and enjoy the view.