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We began the backwater part of Kerala in Kollam, an unexciting place with a friendly feel. We organised a tour on dug out canoe type vessel, expecting a three hours of Keralan canals and water ways. As it turned out the time on the boat was just about an hour the other two were on the bus going to and from the tiny hamlet where the canoe was. This seemed fairly wasteful as Kollam is itself situated on a picturesque part of the water ways. It was however an informative little trip, seeing the tiny industries coconut fibre rope and fish farming, and a good way to meet other travelling types. Probably the most memorable bit of kollam was a dinning in Allspice restaurant, which is a type of American diner place for both western and Indian food. We ordered the rudest sounding dish on the menu, a compilation of everything Indian from Dhal to paneer tikka. It was indeed Indian food made rude, with ridiculous colouring and enough salt to put me in a state of shock.
Moving North we caught a ferry to Allepey, the centre for backwater houseboats. The trip was scheduled to take all day but as we spent the morning relaxing on deck we learnt of a famous Ashram that the ferry stopped at after lunch. An Ashram is usually a place set up by a person with a religious following as a place to teach or heal their followers. It also works as a retreat, so that people can stay for a very low price as long as they abide by the rules and help with 'housework' and administration. It was possible to get off and have a look around, only if you did so it meant staying the night, in order to catch the following ferry the next day. As we had no time schedule and we're interested to see what goes on in such a place we decided to stop. This as it turned out was no ordinary Ashram. Set up in a secluded spot, on a narrow strip of land between the backwaters and the sea it is the
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