Day 15: Fri 24 Nov 17 - Thanneermukkom to Marwari Beach, 19 km

Day 15: Fri 24 Nov 17 - Thanneermukkom to Marwari Beach, 19 km - total so far: 992 km

November 23, 2017

19km, fine and sunny, 25 to 31 deg.

Slept well in a cool, aircon room. Got up at 5:30am for a wander around the grounds of the hotel. It’s located right on the lake’s edge and there were plenty of fishing boats about. Breakfast at 7:30am consisted of toast, several Indian dishes, an omelette and good coffee.

Rode away about 8:20am on a short, flat ride to the shores of the Ocean where we completed our “East to West Coast Wheel Dipping” ritual, complete with obligatory group photo. Everyone enjoyed the moment. A coffee and a wander on the beach followed. It was then a short trip in the bus to Vembanad Lake canal where we caught a small boat to our overnight accommodation, a houseboat.

Vembanad Lake is at the heart of Kerala Backwaters tourism with hundreds of houseboats and day-boats (kettuvallams) plying their trade on it. There are also many resorts on its banks. The Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary is located on the east coast of the lake which has certainly become a major tourist attraction. The Lake has been heavily reclaimed over the course of the past century with the water spread area being reduced from 291km2 in 1917 to 227km2 in 1971 and 213km2 in 1990. In the same period almost 63.62km of erstwhile water spread was reclaimed to make polders and to enlarge Wellington Island at Cochin Port. The lake faces a major ecological crisis as a result of the 37 percent reduction of its original area, but as land is obviously more precious than water at this time in India it will probably continue.

A unique characteristic of the lake is the 1,252m long Thanneermukkom salt water barrier constructed as a part of the Kuttanad Development Scheme to prevent tidal action and intrusion of salt water into the Kuttanad low-lands. It is the largest mud regulator in India and essentially divides the lake into two parts; one with perennial brackish water and the other with fresh water from rivers feeding into the lake. This barrier has helped farmers in Kuttanad by freeing the area of salinity and allowing them an additional crop in the dry season. Each year two-thirds of the gates are opened in July to release flood flow. The gates then remain closed until mid-November when another release is generally conducted. The main drawbacks of the structure have been the loss of opportunity for fish and prawns to migrate upstream for breeding, an increase in weed growth in the upstream environment and a severe restriction on the natural flushing of pollutants. The bund has also created ecological problems, primarily, the rampant propagation of Water Hyacinth in the fresh water. The result of which we saw on our cruise.

Over 1.6 million people live on the banks of Vembanad Lake and are directly or indirectly dependent on it for their living. We could see the result of this in the constant smoke haze that hung in the air all around us as we cruised. It’s a shame that all the growing Asian countries are like this.

About 2:15pm the Captain switched off the motor and we drifted peacefully while lunch was served. A very tasty Indian affair, with rice, a cabbage and onion stir fry, veg curry and a whole fish. Excellent.

We got underway after lunch and went cruising. It was so peaceful without the traffic, tooting of horns and dodging dogs, goats and cows. I think we ended up seeing every shape and size of boat imaginable, but they all had a uniquely Indian look about them. The rest of the afternoon was taken up sitting around and catching up with everyone. While we’ve been together for a week or so the pace has been full-on and there hasn’t been an awful lot of time to just sit and talk.

The houseboat pulled over at dusk and hooked up to a 240v power supply which meant that we had aircon in our rooms. It would have been a very unpleasant, sticky night without it.

Dinner was served about 8pm and it included some prawns and fish that Bob and Baz had purchased from a canal-side shop on the way. As normal the meal was Indian and cooked to perfection. You wonder how they produce such beaut meals in tiny kitchens with very basic equipment.

Despite the fact that we hadn’t ridden far today I still hit the sack fairly early. Another great day and an experience that I won’t forget.