A Video Premiere!

I’d like to start things off today with a So Long London Video Premiere Extravaganza! or SLLVPE! for short. That’s right, I’ve made a video… it’s a sort of peaceful, ambient documentation of the nature and wildlife we’ve met in Kerala’s backwaters so far. I also recorded audio from one of our boat tours in Munroe Island on my phone, and that is layered on top of the music; you can hear the insects buzzing, birds chirping and sometimes the boat creaking, brushing through undergrowth or our boatsman walking around. I hope you like it.

With that out the way, here is a big spoiler alert: Munroe Island aka Mundro Island aka Munroturuttu aka Mundrothuruth is not what you or I would consider your average island. It’s not in the sea (generally a precursor for islands) but is instead located 10km inland, nestled between a series of canals and a massive lake.

It is an unbelievably beautiful part of the Keralan backwaters, a series of canals and lakes set back from the coast. The network is vast and you can travel quite long distances in Kerala on it if you so choose. Most tourists go to Alapphuza (formerly Allepey) which is basically the capital of the backwaters. There you can stay on big houseboats which lumber slowly along. Sadly, these houseboats are highly polluting and noisy, and such is the popularity of Alapphuza that there are way too many of them, apparently spoiling the intended serenity and connection to nature that a backwaters trip is all about.

So, we’ve opted for Munroe Island, a less travelled (but now up and coming) alternative. It sits where the Kallada River meets the immense Ashtamudi Lake. We LOVE it here.

Day 5 – travel to Munroe Island

I won’t bore you with details of our lunch and the sitting around and waiting in Varkala, because it wasn’t that fun other than the copious amounts of masala chai consumed in the cafe. I will tell you, though, of our train ride. It wasn’t hugely exciting, but we were proud to have navigated the train system for the first time. They weren’t particularly helpful at Varkala Station, merely nodding us through when I showed the ticket and when I asked for more info about the train just sort of pointed generally at the large station. However, we eventually established via the various train apps I’ve downloaded and a couple of helpful bystanders where we should stand for so that we were at the right spot for our carriage when it arrives, and that all worked great – the train arriving just 5 minutes or so late.

We found our way to our seats in AC Chair class (basically first class) and the seats were comfy and there was room for our backpacks on the racks above us. We sat and read some of my mum’s diaries from when she and dad visited India (and Asia more widely) for 18 months or so in 1977. She’d found her diaries from Kerala and sent pics of them over. It’s so funny how many “big arguments” they seem to get in pretty much every single day. There comes a point when it’s not them, it’s you, guys…

We arrived in Munroturuttu in the dark, around 7pm, after just a 45 minute train journey. Everyone walked off down the platform in opposite directions, some directly across the tracks in front of us, but there was no bridge in sight and the entrance was on the other side of the rails. We soon realised that we had to cross the tracks.

At our hosts direction, we simply had to tell a rickshaw driver that we were staying at Vishnu’s and we were off. 15 minutes later we were dropped at the end of a narrow wooden bridge and the rickshaw driver gestured to it and left, so we crossed over and recognised the little huts that were Munroe Nest Homestay. A few other guests were at the dining area drinking beer and chatting over empty bowls of food. So we dumped our stuff and joined them. We were given a delicious veggie curry, tasty rice, fresh pineapple and beer. Actual bliss.

Day 6 – Munroe Island ft Pezhum Island and Panayam

After a difficult night’s sleep, I was up at around 7am and decided to leave Billie softly snoring and venture out into the beautiful porch and watch the wildlife go by. It’s immensely lush and green here, the water included, and our homestay sits right in front of a tiny shallow canal that’s crisscrossed with little bridges that you can only just fit a pushbike down. There’s trees of all sorts all around and the canopies were bustling with birdsong, there was plenty to watch.

We were fed a breakfast of idiyappam, steamed rice noodle nests with fresh coconut on top. They came with a veggie curry – all homemade by Vishnu’s family. His incredibly cute five year old daughter Nalima (probably spelt wrong) introduced herself and comes out dressed in various glamorous outfits from time to time, and has loud debates in Malayalam with the other young child across the bridge – each standing on their side and gesticulating as they seemingly argue something. I also found endearing her simulating bird calls for fun – she was pretty good!

We’d heard that cycling around Munroe Island was good as it’s largely flat and not too big. Vishnu sent us a google maps route (very well organised) with a few stops on it. A French couple from the previous night had also given us some tips as to a further island we could visit and explore if we had the energy and wanted to cross a railway bridge, so we planned to incorporate that too. He lent us his bikes which were quite frankly awful, and off we went.

It was immediately hot work. Both bikes were too small, and we could only turn the handlebars so much before they hit our knees. They were also both stuck in one, quite difficult, gear and had uncomfortable seats. Mine made this loud crunching sound like bones breaking from time to time which was incredibly unsettling. We powered on.

First stop was Munroe Mocktails Homestay, where we assumed we were supposed to get a refreshing drink. We had homemade lemonades sitting on a bench across the street and as he was making them asked if we wanted them spicy. Yes please! They were purple, came with a chilli on top and were unbelievably delicious and refreshing with a perfect kick.

Our next stop was about 20 minutes away and was a little viewpoint. We had to ditch our bikes as the water came well over the level of the path and we carefully walked across the very slippery section, praying I didn’t go over with all my camera gear – it’s the kind of thing that happens to me – we came out the other side unscathed and the path eventually led to a little spit of land with water all around us. It was very picturesque.

Onwards, and over a big bridge to a tiny island called Pezhumthuruthu (thuruthu or turuttu meaning island), which held a Hindu temple that was a stop on the map. It wasn’t saying much to us, and it was at this point we either turned around to take a different route back to the homestay, or be adventurous and cross the railway bridge onto the next island. It wasn’t dangerous, really. There was space to walk alongside any trains that would arrive and a few other people were doing it. They’re building another car bridge parallel and there are big cranes in the water as they build the foundations for it, quite impressive. As we snapped this, a train came by us, relatively slowly, and wooshed past us powerfully, blaring its horn. We could see people looking out the windows and sitting in the open doorways. It was super long and must have taken about a minute to go past us.

We carried on and cycled around the streets of this new island / area (Panayam), which seemed less accustomed to tourists than even our off the beaten track Munroe Island, but we were met with smiles, waves and questions like “what country are you from?” shouted after us. We were cycling completely randomly, so decided to head to the shoreline where a temple was marked on google maps, thinking it would at least be a nice view of Ashtamundi lake, and a chance to see some birds. It seemed that temple was in full flow, and lots of people were around the area in colourful clothing, seemingly leaving the temple. I thought there might be a bit of disapproval as we were both in shorts and it was very much not a tourist area, but everyone was smiling at us still. We decided to cycle onwards past the temple to the coast and made out a ferry ahead – they waved for us to get on and when we asked them, found it went back to the previous island we were on, right to the foot of the railway bridge we had crossed. We had to go back somehow anyway, so jumped on board and paid the 20 rupees fee each (about 20p) to be ferried across with a van, a rickshaw driver, two mopeds and a motorbike. A couple of young Indian guys were super keen to chat to us and came over eagerly and nervously, smiling and asking questions and telling us about the local area. It was heart-warming stuff really.

With it now being a seriously hot midday, we headed back towards our homestay, stopping for a delicious lunch of paratha with egg masala curry. Each curry was served in a tiny bowl with a single boiled egg, but we had loads of paratha (the best bread we’ve had yet, all flaky and buttery) and the tiny curry pots went a surprisingly long way. She also gave us coffee and a bit of homemade cardamom cake (rock hard but so delicious) and the lot cost £2.50.

The last shlep back to the homestay was arduous; the sun was really out, we were sweating buckets and the icing on the cake: saddlesore bums from the bikes. Their final insult to us. My goodness, I could hardly stay on it another moment so much was the soreness. But we made it, and slumped on the bed, under our fan – a trend is emerging here – on the bed under the fan is a real recuperation zone. I remembered back to when we’d planned to go on a nice long bike ride each morning while we were here and laughed scornfully at our naivety.

The day was not yet done – sunset was approaching and we decided to go on a bit of a photography walk – see if we could see some birds and find some nice bits of canal. WELL, we found both, including a long awaited kingfisher who I snapped with relish. He even hung around long enough for me to get a nice little video too…

Billie had the other camera and was taking amazing pictures of the canal in the sunset.

Day 7 – Munroe Island ft. Perugalam Island

Today, walking would be our mode of transport. Our bottom bones could take no more cycling, that much was clear. Over a breakfast of idli (savoury rice cakes) and sambar (heavenly curry, a bit like dal), we cornered Vishnu and asked him about a bit of the map that looked quite interesting to us that we knew nothing of. There seemed to be some buildings right in the bottom corner of it, but otherwise appeared simply green on google maps. He said “ah yes, this island is very nice”. So it was another island apparently, despite appearing to be completely attached to Munroe Island on maps. He explained where to cross the railway bridge, and that we’d need to use a government ferry service to get on the island, and then that at the other end of the island we could get a ferry that came back to the south of Munroe Island, therefore creating a nice loop for us to do, with a couple of ferries involved. That ferry was scheduled for 12:40, so that was our deadline to get there. Armed with that info and an encouraging smile from Vishnu we set off.

It was immediately very, very hot and quite exposed. We were determined though, slathered on another layer of sunscreen, and kept moving. The scenes were already beautiful and peaceful.

We eventually reached the government ferry which was just a man in a canoe with a big stick to drive it. He was on the other side and shouted if we wanted to come across, to which we gave the affirmative. He made his way over and we were joined by another ferry-goer to cross. We had arrived now on Perugalam Island.

Now this was much more off the beaten track than I think anywhere we’ve been, maybe ever? But very much had a community, immediately lots of homes and plenty of people working either building, boating, carrying things and the like. We felt more out of place here, but everyone was perfectly nice and returned smiles and waves as we passed. One woman carrying a big sack of rice caught up with us at one point and asked us a few questions and we had a nice chat. Twenty steps further on and she caught up with us again and asked if wanted to come in for tea, so we did! We arrived at her mother and father-in-law’s home and met her cousin’s two young children who were very sweet and funny. Apparently very naughty too! We were given fresh bananas which they grow there in their garden and she made us delicious sweet black tea. With the entire family in attendance on the porch, we heard about our friend’s life and work, how she was raised in a town, trained to become a nurse and then moved here to her husband after marriage. She loves the nature, peace and quiet but doesn’t appreciate the 2+ hour commute to Kochi for her 12 hour shifts nursing. She wants to move to Germany but isn’t sure why and finds the language impossible to learn. She asked us questions and gave us tips as to how to navigate the rest of our walk. It was so, so lovely and we left with bananas forced into our bag, to them all waving us goodbye and the father-in-law saying in Malayalam “ask them if they like it here!” which she dutifully translated laughing – we assured him it was brilliant, of course.

We waited at what looked like a bus stop by a small stone jetty for our ferry to whisk us back to Munroe Island. It cost 10p each. We were deposited quite far south on the island and it would take about an hour to get home, so we got a rickshaw to have some lunch over halfway home, which was as usual SCRUMMY. We had thali and mine came with a tiny fish curry.

Replenished, we walked the final 20 minutes home – overall a 5 and a half hour excursion in quite serious heat, we got the coldest of showers and hid in bed for a couple of hours, because our day wasn’t done. Next: the sunset boat tour. Our guide? Vishnu.

Well, it was stunning. Peaceful, relaxing, meditative and the light was just amazing. The boat moves near silently through the water, occasionally creaking or, slightly more dramatically, crashing through a bush that Vishnu didn’t quite manage to navigate round in time. If you weren’t paying attention losing an eye wouldn’t be unfeasible. We came across little bridges across the canals that you either have to lie down in the boat to go under or, a bit more fun, climb onto as you approach, and then climb down the other side as the boat passes under – though this is only possible on smaller bridges.

There were lovely birds to be seen, but I was busy mostly filming my BAFTA award winning YouTube video seen at the top of the post, when not simply soaking in the ambience. We hardly saw any other tours…

After navigating the canals, the way opened up into a large open body of water – Ashtamudi Lake. Here, we found other boat tours, as this was the go-to spot to watch sunset. We realised we’d arrived at the viewpoint we’d travelled to by bike yesterday, and found people sitting on the end of the pathway there to watch sunset by foot. It was lovely, a deep red. Vishnu then took us back to the homestay for another fabulous never-ending dinner and a couple of cold beers.

Day 8 – Munroe Island

Our final full day in Munroe, and we were up at 6am, meeting our trusty guide and now good friend Vishnu for another boat tour, this time it was sunrise. We wanted to do this one because A: the first one was incredible. B: you get more birds at sunrise and you know we love us some birdies. On the bird front, let me quickly pose a theorem to you about birds. Munroe Island is set in this ENORMOUS area of backwaters – undeniably the perfect place for a bird to live. Birds flock here in their droves to be in this veritable bird paradise. That said, it’s absolutely massive, and so they could easily be over there in that massive bit of jungle rather than next to you in a tree. I generally find that in places that there isn’t much habitat for birds, if you find a good bit – like a park with a lake in it or something – the birds are pretty much always there because there’s nowhere else to go. It makes sense to me, and explains why you aren’t constantly surrounded by the rarest of birds constantly in these kinds of places. That said there were a LOT of kites.

Anyway, the light was fantastic at sunrise – better than sunset by our reckoning, and lasting longer too. Vishnu took us on a different route and we stopped by a workshop where women were using a big machine to turn coconut husks into rope. Just two threads are intertwined to make an extremely strong bit of rope. They use it to make boats, boat related equipment, in house-building, furniture-making – any number of things. It’s actually brilliant how much they generally live off the land and use every part of everything around them. Palm leaves are used make sweeping brushes, or woven into thatched roofing for example. We love a bit of sustainability.

We got into a bit of a hilarious pickle after watching the sun itself rise from the horizon. Vishnu was leaving the Ashtamudi Lake area via a bridge, but the water was higher than yesterday due to tides (it meets the sea, so has tides and is partially saltwater). By going to the front of the boat and sort of ‘lifting’ the bridge, the boat went deeper and squeezed under the bridge. Under we went until the back of the boat reached the bridge and, due to the front being pushed down, was higher in the water and wouldn’t go under. Vishnu made disappointed sounds like “ah” and “hmmm”. He was smiling at us through the very small gap – it was quite hilarious.

We backed out and he shouted to some guys on the bridge he clearly knew who looked at him and made a big act of it being too much effort to help, but soon three of them were on the boat and we were under again, this time with men on the back and the front, pushing at the bridge from below to squeeze us under. After lots of grunting and fairly worrying noises of pain, we appeared at the other end triumphant with Vishnu roaring like a lion, fairly literally. The men all climbed back onto the bridge and we applauded them and took a selfie.

We arrived back at the homestay, had breakfast and Billie had a nap to catch up on sleep. The rest of the day was spent watching the canal go by with our books, nipping out on our bicycles for a mocktail with Vishnu’s mate, grabbing lunch and walking down to see sunset from the sunset point, which was idyllic. We also tried Toddy, a fermented coconut based alcohol – about 8% – from a local toddy shop. We got half a litre for £1.30 and shared it in a sweltering, poorly lit empty room with plastic chairs and a table. It was nice, but the ambience blew, so we necked it and headed back home.

Day 9 – leaving Munroe Island

We were up early, and it was with genuine sadness that we got in our rickshaw and said goodbye to Vishnu, who after shaking my hand turned it into a brotherly clasp and winked at me wistfully. It was incredible and we’re worried we might have peaked the whole travelling thing too soon, it’s going to be hard to beat, is Munroe Island.

Join us next time as we travel by train to Kochi, colonial port town with big Portuguese and Dutch influences. This is more of a cultured stop as we’ll aim to take in some artistic performances, museums, art galleries and perhaps brave the water metro to travel further afield. See you next time!

Pics that didn’t make it: