Kottayam to Alleppey (Alappuzha)

Fri Aug 8. After yesterday’s successful skirmish in Alleppey I thought that things couldn’t go as easy today, but the very loose plan worked perfectly. Getting up at a reasonable time I was out of Cochin on the ferry to Ernakulam at 11am. On the long walk along the waterfront I could see the faint spider like outlines of the Chinese fishing nets in the distance, and the leafy tropical shore of Fort Cochin. These are the sort of times when I bid my farewells to the places that will always remain among my special memories.

A rickshaw carried me the rest of the way to Ernakulam Town railway station, with no fuss about the cost of the fare. An express train took me to Kottayam in one and a half hours and then another stress free rickshaw took me to the ferry jetty. Just two minutes from the jetty are a couple of fairly new hotels which would have cost at least a 1000Rs a night in Cochin, but here in this sleepiest backwater of the Backwaters it is less than half that price. So I am staying at the Comfort Inn and eating at the hotel restaurant next door. So now in a perfect position ready for the masses who are already invading Alappuzha, for the 56th Nehru Trophy Boat Race. As planned a while ago, I will be getting on the 7.15 ferry to Alappuzha and then, by 10.30 I should have stowed my bag in the left luggage room at the railway station, and then it’s off to the races. One small piece of information about Kottayam is that here in 1952 Pandit Nehru, the first PM of India, took the trip down the Backwater to Alappuzha and suggested holding this annual event.

During that evening at the Kottayam jetty I was just looking around when a well dressed guy standing by his car gave me some useful information. I had already asked about the ferry time at the hotel, but this very well spoken informant gave me a time 15 minutes after 7, instead of 7am. Not really thinking about it too much, for various reasons, I believed him. The next morning at 7.05 I was told at a tea shack that the ferry had left and the next at 11.30. It’s not hard to imagine how I felt. I knew that for some reason of his own, this misinformation was meant to prevent me from getting the govt run ferry. ‘Govt’ is the key word here, I think from what I learned about this very affordable service, it was probably the reason for the deceit because there are elements who want it cancelled so that the privateers can take it over, given the background of a fast expanding tourist industry in Kerala.

Once again my philosophy that everything is possible in India was justified when the tea stall owner had an idea. Being the day of the snake boat races there were a lot of companies attending, promoting their various products. The one leaving from Kottayam half an hour later was to be a boat hired by AMAR toothpaste, on which of course room was found for me and my bag.
Problem solved.

So it was that AMAR dropped me off very near the start of the 1.4 km course. I must admit that I wasn’t sorry to be back on dry land as the 15 or so AMAR employees were becoming increasingly drunk on that small overcrowded launch with its badly beaten drums and dancing toothpaste boxes. One of the culprits for the state inebriation was a stop at a Toddy Parlour. Toddy is a white milk like drink made from coconut which I think is more intoxicating than they chose to believe and after having a glass of this surprisingly refreshing, slightly bitter, drink I could easily see how easy it must be to imbibe more than one intends.

The day was a hot one but I felt that I would have to find one of the prime spots I had seen two days earlier and stay put. When the racing finally began I was already feeling somewhat exhausted from the sun. Each race consisted of 4 boats of mainly two types; 50 and 100 seaters. Like any other large sporting event, a commentator gave a constant update on the progress of the boats while the crowds roared encouragement.

The sight of 4 of the larger boats ripping through the water neck and neck, amid clouds of spray from 400 hard thrashing paddles, was indeed awesome. The heavy wood on wood thuds of the rhythm beaters standing near the middle of these long sleek vessels and the long practiced chants from the crew made it all an incredulous sight to see. The last final ended and it was time to get to the railway station and onwards head north to Mangalore, through Goa and to Mumbai. The day at the wacky races will be another of those memorable times of this trip around India.