After much hunting and bargaining we found a perfect houseboat. Most of the houseboats or rice barges are covered in a sort of thatch that curves into arches which form the windows. They have one or two bedrooms (some up to 10) a front verandah and a kitchen out the back. There are three staff. A cook, a driver and a guy whos job im not really sure of, he seemed to sit at the back a lot. They are beautiful boats to start with. The moment you step onto them you feel relaxed. There are comfortable chairs a nice dining table. And comfortable outside beds that give you a great view sitting or lying down. We set off around 11am and headed out of the main channel. The driver Captain Sebastian was really cool, asking us where we wanted to go or if we wanted to stop for swimming and where we wanted to sleep. We went through smaller canals and bigger sort of lakes, all the way waving to villagers and watching the padi fields passing us by. In canals water lily’s floated by in clumps as did other water plants. The water was so clean. You could see about 3 or more M down even though the color was green. The water birds standing drying their wings or walking in the shallows searching with their S shaped necks for the perfect little fish to suddenly snap up. The fishermen in long narrow canoes would sometimes grab onto our boat and catch a ride, they would chat to the staff then let go and continue on with their life’s. The banks of these backwaters where lined with very tall coconut palms. Trying to imagine people climbing up so high to get the coconuts while we relaxed on such a beautiful boat made me clear my mind. The water sound, then sometimes the Jack Johnson we put on the stereo made it an audio visual delight. Every moment was difficult to forget. At lunch we had delicious traditional Kerala food, spiced soups with vegetables I had never seen or tasted, grated spiced coconut, fried fish from the water around us, spiced yellow and orange potatoes and cool yogurt beetroot dish, roti and the fat slightly red Kerala Rice. We had a feast in the middle of a lake, then a swim in the clean deep jade green water. Bliss. More cruising in the afternoon watching the world float by, no people to hassle you, nothing to buy, no hotel to find, complete relaxation with awesome views. The sunset was amazing, the sun grew to the size of a 1 rupee coin and turned bright orange. The colors in the sky then sort of transferring to water. A strong peach color seeped into the clouds following a light violet and indigo, more magical moments and the clouds changed shapes, a cow a duck whatever you see. In the evening more great food, thank you Chef. Rich dark brown chicken curry, and a variety of all different Kerala dishes all with that far slightly red Kerala Rice. So good! The evening spent playing guitar watching the moon and the clouds and the silver on the water. As relaxed as you can be. The next morning we got up for the sunrise, awesome again and within two hours we where back at Alleppy wishing we where still on the boat. A rushed goodbye to Yi fan and Clay and I where off on our next adventure.