Alappuzha

The day after the wedding we watched the Republic Day parade on TV in our hotel room with Vimal. 

President Modi and President Obama were extremely gracious to each other seeming to be like minded. This nation of India surely knows how to put on pomp and pageantry like no one else, maybe one of the reasons the British were able to rule here for so long as they are pretty good at this as well. 

We then took a bus for 5 hours north to Allepepy the main area for Backwater tourist travel. Kerala is a constant continuation of towns, with minimal distances between each other. Always hearing horns honking constantly with such an array of vehicles, even the odd elephant making it's way along the somewhat narrow highways. It was really bumpy for us as we sat in the back of the bus. Big mistake, not to be repeated if possible. Many of the roads are in dire need of repair. See the ambulance Hilary.

Vimal called ahead and someone met us at the bus stand to take us to our cottage.

Basic accommodation and really nice guys running it, costing $19 a night.

We went out for dinner and met some really nice people on the street. Nakul and his Mom Neeta who joined us for dinner.

They are from a city north of Delhi, in the foothills of the Himalayas. Such wonderful people, so generous with their passion in helping us understand the great differences between states and regions within India.

The next day was a state wide strike and no one was working from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm.

They were striking at the request of the opposition party in power over issues of corruption. 

We bought some fruit and water before going back to our room so we would be prepared.

The next day we couldn't even get a tuk tuk. 

Luckily the guys made us breakfast and helped to arrange alternative travel arrangements.

We managed to get some boys to drive us on the back their motorcycles,  for a nominal fee, to the Allepepy   beach resort where Neeta and Nakul were staying.

We spent a wonderful day at their resort right on the beach. We went swimming and Nukul went in the waves for the first time with Rob. 

We had a great lunch and when the strike was over we got a tuk tuk back to town and all the shops were open again. Can you imagine that happening in Toronto ? 

Sunset swim

No one was on this gorgeous beach. You could see for miles

As you can see Rob is getting a little Budda belly.  He loves the food so much!