India Day 6: Yoga, bikes and kayaks

Woke up and made the short 15 minute walk to a local yoga shala for our first practice since Kochi. It was easy to find and the teacher was waiting for us outside the shala which was up a metal staircase with views of the surrounding mangrove forest. 90 sweaty minutes later we felt stretched out and at peace with the world. It was Hatha yoga for those who know about these things and cost 1000 rupees each.

Glowing, we headed back to the homestay for breakfast and chatted to the group about the start of the day. Vijeesh has bikes for hire, no idea how much they are but we took a couple for a spin around the island, calling in at a repair shop on the way to tighten the chain (50 rupees) and the juice shop from yesterday. This time he even turned the fan on for us.

We had no route planned so just pootled about, went over our bike treads a few times and even found the local Munroturuttu train station before calling it a day due to a bit of saddle sore. Bikes were fine though and the roads pretty safe. Plus the locals wave as tou go by. What a place! Did 13km in all!

Lunch was mor home made curry and very tasty the we relaxes until 4:30pm when the final activity of the day started...kayaking! We had a double kayak which was a bit hard to steer but we did well and it was a fun activity. Vijeesh led the group of about 10 and took us on yet another route into the backwaters.


We stopped after about an hour for a ramble into the wilderness. Vijeesh pointed out birds as he always does and told us that the large grassy area we were in used to be rice paddy fields last year but climate change is having an effect on the environment and it's getting harder for farmers to afford the high prices that growing rice requires. So, Kerala now imports a lot of it's rice. Sad days.

Back to the kayaks for the journey home. A 3 hour kayak was a long time, but with any fitness level you should be up to it. And kayaking is one of those activities that most people can do without the need for training.

Finished the day with another excellent home cooked dinner, a chat and then bed, ready for the next part of our adventure tomorrow.


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