The second day of our time on the backwaters in Allappey we spent mostly just lazing around and relaxing. We started off the morning with some swim time, and then floated all over the backwaters like we did the day before. For lunch we stopped on a little peninsula where we enjoyed watching some local fisherman bring in their hall for the day. They showed us how they catch fish by throwing in a big circular net with weights on the end, and then how they pull it in in such a way that the fish get trapped. I’m not sure what they use the tiny fish they catch for, but it was pretty interesting to watch.
We had to laugh because in the morning all this green “sea weed” came in with the tide and was basically enclosing us in the little bay we were in.
One of the kids picked this beautiful flower for me. I loved it and it reminds me of a little Iris.
Morning dip time!
Here we are at lunch with the local fishermen. They got us down a coconut to try as a gift, and so we returned the kindness by offering them a paper plate full of American candies. It actually caused a bit of trouble though because our guides and boat drivers thought we’d given the fisherman one of THEIR plates. In any case, a bit of an argument ensued and voices were raised, until it was discovered that the paper plate was OURS and that we’d given it to the locals.
Here are some of the fish that the locals had caught that morning.
After each cast, each of the kids would help collect the fish and loved showing off the fish they helped untangle.
After our little fishing excursion we were invited back on the boat for our noonday meal. Our awesome boat drivers had made us a very traditional kerela meal (that is usually served on special occasions and holidays) and my oh my was it delicious. Adam and I discovered that he is more of a “North Indian” cuisine type guy, but I have more of a taste for “South Indian food.” I literally loved everything they served me the entire trip but Adam only thought it was so so. He was SO ready for some American food and I felt like I could eat the South Indian food forever! I loved it! And we all loved that we were served on Banana leaves. Very traditional here in India. Don’t let the forks and knives fool you either. We mostly eat this in true Indian fashion with our hands, but our hosts were always very thoughtful to bring out silverware in case we wanted to use it.
