Falling in love with the backwaters

Friday 15 Nov

‍
Up early and excited about our new potential home in Fort Cochin, we grabbed some cash from the ATM, which is oddly part of the church and convent complex. Next stop was to arrange mopeds so we could hop on the ferry to Vypeen Island and bike to the beach.

Jamie rocked up to the cafe where I'd been asked to wait whilst he and our pushbike guy rode off to get peds. I rather inelegantly clambered onto the bike, and we went up to the fish market, something which we both hoped would become a daily occurrence. Before making any purchases, we visited our happy man at the local eatery and grabbed a couple of chapattis, a piece of bread fried in ghee, and a beef curry.

We have now both become accustomed to eating whatever is available in the local town bar, even if it is curry for breakfast. In truth, we’re actually quite enjoying it and use the fact that it’s a super cheap eat as a cover for the fact that breakfast without chillies just doesn't feel right anymore.

At our fish stall, our man was happy to see that we actually were back and it wasn't just a ploy to get some discount. We selected our tuna and paid £1.50 for the whole massive fish. Having limited kitchen facilities, we asked him to fillet it—leaving us two huge pieces of fresh tuna.

We dropped off the tuna with Elizabeth, the wife of Henry at our homestay, called Kevin’s. It’s all a little confusing, but it works. Elizabeth is kindly keeping our fish in her fridge, meaning it’s always super fresh and we can enjoy it for dinner.

Beach bags packed, bike fully fuelled, and we went off to Vypeen. With only a handful of days’ experience of moped-ding under his belt, Jamie boarded the vehicle ferry like a pro. The ferry to Vypeen took about five minutes and cost 7p for the two of us and a bike. Bargain.

Whilst busily taking photos, I missed something really special. Next to the boat, a dolphin played in the waves as we cruised across the bay. Jamie saw the whole thing as it bobbed up and down but couldn't get my attention above the sound of the engine.

Another tricky manoeuvre off the boat, and we were on the road to Vypeen. Luckily, directions were simple: turn right, straight for 28 km. We dodged potholes and oncoming vehicles, missed the turning for Cherrai Beach but found the harbour. It was about midday by now, and the stench of fish was disgusting. We quickly exited and got back on track.

The beach road ran parallel with the ocean and stretched for miles. We spotted a "beer parlour" and stopped to rest our aching, saddle-sore bottoms. We had a good view of the beach from the bar and decided we’d try to get to the end, which looked remote and had no other tourists (not that this part of the beach was in any way overrun).

A few kilometres down and to the left, the trees cleared, leaving a stunning view of the backwaters. Palm trees and sectioned-off areas of water stretched on for miles. Egrets waded, and cormorants dipped into the pools of the backwaters. To the right, the beach continued to stretch out, and the road became a little more treacherous, so we took a left and all of a sudden were weaving down the small lanes that separate the backwaters.

I can't describe how beautiful it was. Photos don't do it justice, so you'll have to use your imaginations. Boarding the water were small houses, miniature temples, and palm trees. We thought this would be a perfect setting for our first proper Keralan food experience, so we asked some locals for their top tip. Their directions sent us back to the road and to a hotel canteen.

The fish was cold but super tasty. The fish curry was hot, and the total meal with a drink and a chapatti was 60p. I’m not even sure if it’s possible to get the produce for less than this, as the bottled drink probably cost 30p alone!

We headed back to the beach, stripped off, and paddled. We’d both got so excited by the backwaters that the beach now paled in significance, and we hadn’t even laid in the sand to dry off before we were back exploring again.

We got stuck behind a bus of very excited school kids who spent the entire trip waving at us. We turned a corner, and the backwaters opened on both sides, giving two huge expanses of water, which we were now driving through the middle of.

In no time, we were at the ferry and back on Fort Cochin, shopping for dinner. We’d opted for tuna marinated in garlic, ginger, chilli, lime, coconut oil, and soy. Some careful planning and pre-cooking went into this meal, which ended up as an over-coconut-oiled, burnt tuna disaster.

We ate what we could, binned the rest, and resigned ourselves to some cooking lessons before we ruined any more perfectly lovely fish.

‍