Alleppey Beach

In the previous post, I blogged about the Alleppey Backwater. I mentioned that the backwater comes from the rains in the mountains, and it fills the lakes and canals before reaching the sea. This begs the question, how far is it from the backwater to the sea. The answer is not very far, less that 3 kilometers. I think you know what happens next.

The kind folks at G.O.C. holiday Maker  (e-mail gocholidaymaker@hotmail.com) in Kochi set me up at the Alleppey Beach Resort which was a 3 star resort. The prices are more modest here for the average tourist. I talked with the owner, and he said the place is for those people who love the beach, and therefore it's not designed to be glamorous or fancy like the 4 start resorts because the focus is on the beach. I will say that the restaurant is 4 star as well as the service. The fish masala was amazing, and the chappati almost melted in your mouth like a fluffy hot biscuit. You can get a room with A/C or without, and there are different sizes to fit all.

All the room pics are here

As you can see, the room is more basic than the Lake Palace Resort room, but the stay here is much more affordable for those on a middle income budget. Also, it's really not about the room. It's about the beach. So, let's head out to the beach through the resort grounds.

All the grounds pics are here

Once we walk through the gate we are on the top levee area of the beach. Here is a view from that location.

All the top bank pics are here

Only a few meters away is the bottom levee which is only about a meter high down a sandy slope. There were crows hopping around looking for leftovers, and a couple of dogs that were sun bathing. If you sat still in places where the birds went away, the small crabs would come out of their holes and try to find food or do housekeeping on their tunnels. It's always amazing to see how slow and stealthy a crab can be, but when a bird fly's over, it becomes a cheetah back to it's sandy hole. The following pics were taken as I headed south down the beach.

All the day pics are here

There were a few fishing boats going here and there, and I noticed some fishing nets about 30 meters out into the water. You may have noticed that there are no people in the pictures. I would see locals from time to time walking up or down the beach, but generally, there wasn't a lot of activity. Every now an then some kids would want me to take their picture. I found it interesting that they knew I had an LCD screen on the camera because after  I took their picture, they wanted to see what they looked like.

All the people pics are here

Too the north, there is an interesting rusted away pier that I was told was not that old, but it wasn't being maintained after it was built. I actually took these pics on another day, and that is why the surf is much higher.

All of the other day pics are here

As the day moved into late afternoon, I started getting excited because it looked like I might have a chance of seeing a sunset. There were not many clouds, and I was hoping for the best.

All the late afternoon pics are here

As the sun began to set, the fisherman began to pull in their nets from shore. I never saw any large catches, but the occasional fish here and there. Since there were dozens of nets all along the shoreline, I guess all the small catches accumulated to something they could sell at the local market.

I didn't think I would get a good sunset picture when I came to the resort. I was going to be happy to get a few good shots of the beach, but mother nature blessed me with a spectacular show of her beauty which I was more than happy to document with my camera.

All the sunset pics are here

One thing that occured to me as the fisherman were gathering their nets during the sunset was that these people see this spectacle many times during the year. Yet, they too stood and watched the final fiery glory of the sun sinking into the ocean. At that moment, fisherman and tourist, where nothing more than spectators to the end of another day from the centuries of long ago.