Day 161 - Happy Thanksgiving!

No turkeys were harmed in the making of this post. That's because we spent Thanksgiving tooling around on Kerala's backwaters in a Kettuvellum, or traditional rice barge. The boats are made of wide wooden planks sewn (that's right sewn) together with coir rope.

Kerala's backwaters extend for miles. Somewhat similar in structure to the Chesapeake bay, the backwaters are a mix of fresh and brackish water peppered with islands. As on the Bay, most people who live here make their living from the water. We passed sand barges, fishermen, and clam harvesters. Interesting, very few of the clams are used for eating. The shells are the main resource, used primarily to make calcium carbonate. They also dredge up the river for sand, which makes for some interesting sailing for some of the barges we saw floating by.

Those who do not ply the water rely on the coconuts that grow on every patch of land. In terms of versatility, Coconut palm rival the peanut. The water is drunk, the meat used to make oil, soap, eating, cooking, dried, etc. The leaves thatch the houses and Kettuvellums, husks are used for fuel or carving, and the coir is used for everything from rope to mattress filling. When the tree is 70-100 years old and stops producing coconuts, the wood is used to make fine furniture.

We stopped for lunch on an almost deserted island. Deserted but for a very vocal kitten who we suspect got all the leftovers - the mews that punctuated our Thanksgiving dinner vanished when the pots of leftover rice and curry went back into the kitchen.

We have a lot to be thankful for this year. We hope you do too.