A punt ferry transporting its cargo in heavy rain. You can stay marginally dryer standing up in tropical rain than sitting down in it - marginally
Kerala has had a democratically elected communist government for much of its recent history, and (maybe consequently) its literacy rate is higher than that of the UK, there is also a marked lack of the poverty seen in much of India. This makes it an ideal tourist destination within which the 'Backwaters' form a key attraction. They stretch some 200 kilometres in the form of a series of lagoons, rivers and canals which lie between the sea and the mountains. The 900 kilometres of shallow water allow visitors a close view of both human and other life.
Kerala is wet. The average rainfall in this long narrow south-west Indian state is over three metres. The reason is that Kerala is defined by a mountain range (Western Ghats) which runs along its border and which raises the moist air coming from the Arabian Sea to a height where it precipitates over the state, giving a rainfall that is similar to the west coast of Scotland, and roughly three times the Indian average. Photography seeks to paint with light; heavy rain defeats this end, the quality and consistency of the photos here and on the next page suffer accordingly.
The view ahead from our tourist launch
The average monthly temperatures in Kerala range from a high of 29 to a low of 27...
...so the discomfort from rain is not like that in a colder country. Shelter is more optional
Children on the banks seem to keep up...
...enthusiasm for the passing curiosities...
...less so adults making for shelter
The almost stationary and shallow water makes punting safe and punts the norm
Another longboat with a variant on the cabin, otherwise similar to the one above
Relatively useless in these windless places - sail assistance
Another wet watery view of a waterway
Cargo of palm leaves on a punt
The rain stops for a little, umbrellas disappear, colours emerge from hiding, and life seems easier. What appears to be a combined shelter and small shrine sits on this pier
A two punter boat
Larger boats moored to another pier
The prow of a much larger long boat - rain soaked
Long boat pulled up from the water onto the bank
And another moored by the bank
A long boat speeding down the waterway, prow up, umbrellas up, other people's annoyance up. Strict speed limits help protect the banks from erosion
The effort required to shift several tons of sand even in calm water can be guessed from this shot of a man putting his whole weight behind the pole
Through the murk of the rain maybe you can see that these two men are bailing out their boat; a task verging on the Sisyphean in such weather
...and a punted vehicle ferry
A punted passenger foot ferry...
The Morris Isis was still in production in India into this century, here one is being propelled by three men on a ferry constructed from two punts
Most boats are shipping goods around the waterways: side view of punter...
...front view of the last punter
Two men packing sandbags for one of the defensive walls
Part of a sea wall protecting the lagoon from the open sea, the waves of which can be seen over the wall
Within the lagoon the water is less flat than in the...
...canals, but still manageable in light canoes
Rain
Trailers...
The next page has
the Chinese lift nets of the 'Backwaters' as insect art.
The next page is
entitled
'Emergence'.
Or go to the contents of the Mosaic Section.
The last page was on the waterways of Cao Bắng in Vietnam
Some boats in southern Scotland
A page on boats used on inland waterways in Vietnam
