Expedition NW3, 2014 - Day 0 & 1

The boat that took us from Changanacherry to Kollam

Mr. Biju

Day 0 - We started the journey from Akkarakalam resort near Nedumudi, Alapuzha Dist, Kerala. The powered boat of 15m length had Mr Biju as its helm. After loading and securing the 3 kayaks we headed for Kollam at 630AM. It’s customary to stop at a place of god and pray, we did just that at the Church, opposite to Akkarakalam. 

Champakulam Chruch

Along the canal from Karumadi to Thottapally

The breakfast stop was the small Kappikada, at Champakulam, past the Church that is more than 400 years old. I had made the stop there few weeks back on my practice session from Changanacherry to Ambalapuzha. The morning breakfast at the traditional hotels(Kappikada) is just amazing. They may not look much upscale, but the food is amazing. After the breakfast, we cut the route short by taking the canal at Karumadi that connect Thottapally. The route here is beautiful; was told later that the route via Thakazhi and Edathua was even better. This canal forms part of the Alapuzha-Kollam KWTC (Kerala Water Transport Corporation) twice daily boat service, which is the recommonded mode to explore the waterways. Thottapally is the southern end of the Vembanad lake system; that forms the delta of all rivers of central Kerala. During the mansoon, water levels are high enough for the spillway at Thottapally. During summer the flow ebbs down and the spillway, prevents saline water coming into the Vembanad lake.

Traditional house near Champakulam

Pallana River

Past Kayankulam Kayal

Kayaks on top of the boat

The spiders of the waterways - Kayankulam Kayal

Going past Thotapally, we entered Pallana river that connects to Kayankulam Kayal. Dedging by IWAI(Inland waterway authority of India), was in full swing. Pallana river leads us to Thrikunnapuzha locks at the far south. The stop at KV jetty was sombre on realization that no rice boats made overnight halts at KV Jetty! The early morning Kapaikadas(local tea shops),where gone, as tough an era had ended. These Kapikadas start around 3AM and were serving breakfast at 4 to help the rice boatmen make the best of the tides. KV Jetty reminded about the 2 rice boat men – Arjun and Kasimka. We had called Kasimka to be at Kollam Jetty for the flagoff, on 12th Jan. He could not join as his son was recuperating after surgery. After tea we headed to the locks at Thrikunnpuzha that were open and led us to Kayankulam Kayal.

NTPC loomed large on our left and Mrugan recalled how his Father working for KSEB was deeply involved in the project. We were accompanied by scores of river terns in Kayankulam Kayal and Murgan explained how these birds from the Himalayas make their annual winter trip to Kerala.

Water lillies at KV Jetty, Pallana River.

Crossing the Pulkulungara jetty bridge we saw the sight that cannot be explained. For the next few kilometres on either side of NW3 stood hundreds of Chinese fishing nets. They looked like some monster spider, waiting to pounce on anything that came its way. We were surprised that this landscape was never seen by any of us, even as a picture. Reaching the far end of the Kayankulam Kayal we entered the canal that would take us to Vatta Kayal, passing through Azheekal, Vallikavu and Alamkadavu.

Reaching Alamkadavua Mr Biju advised we break for lunch, as there would be none going forward. We stopped at the Alumkadavu jetty and were reminded by locals how the new bridge that connected to Alappad road had made Alumkadavu redundant. The place looked deserted for the kind of depth it had. People shared how this gateway was connected to the mainland and folks from the seafront would take boat rides early morning to reach Alumkadavu. Roads were the biggest competition to the waterways, though the latter is the cheapest mode of transportation and remain underutilized in Kerala. We were served piping hot rice that was boiled with salt and to our amazement found that no side dish was required to munch it down. The three of us made a plan to visit the same shop, when we got going from Kollam on our trip. We reached Vatta Kayal and Mr Biju showed us the bridge from where Island Express had jumped rail, marking one of the worst rail tragedies in Kerala. Past the Vatta Kayal, we entered Chavara Thodu, a narrow canal (read most polluted), passing titanium mining from sea sand and locals competing with each other to dispose all kinds of waste into the waterways.

Coming past Chavara Thodu we entered the beautiful Ashtamudi lake as each of us took turns to master navigating the boat, which was tricky. Astamudi Kayal was huge and pricked with mangrove forest that jetted out to make the landscape look beautiful. We reached Ashramam Jetty at around 4 and found the Yatri nivas, perfectly placed for our trip next day. The entire place fouled like a puddle of faeces and we realized how true our guess was. We had to now start the journey in this polluted waters and decided to skip the photo/practice session.

Vilakamma Statue near Kollam.

Hotel Ravitz near Kollam.

Day 1 - The openign ceremony started at 9AM, with the arrival fo the Kerala Chief Secretary, Shri. Bharth Bushan. The place stinked of garbage and we had a lot of visitors covering their nose. After the flag off from Kollam Jetty at around 09:45AM and paddled past the famed Ravitz hotel & Vilakamma(Statue) heading towards the Puthiyakavu Central School. As we moved away from Kollam, the water quality improved, dramatically. It took us an hour to reach the school and we delivered the first session with help from Mr. Shafeeq, Head of SEED, Kollam, & Dr. Manoj CN of Pelican Foundation. We paddled on around 4PM for Dalavapuram going past Sambrani Jetty on the southern shores of the Ashtamudi Lake.

Anees!

Ashtamudi Lake beckoned us with the evening sun, getting ready to set and a low tide that made mud flats more of a risk. We were amazed that a lot of mud flats appear during low tide and the channels are filled with fish, may jumping in schools in front our Kayaks. The plan for a shorter route to Dalavapuram (our night camp) made us run the kayak into shallows just over 6 inches. Our effort to cut the journey short by taking a straight line to Dalavapuram ran aground. Our colleague Murugan had to get off his Kayak and push it out of one mud flat where it got stuck, forcing us to follow the red and green buoys of the NW3. He will qualify as the only person who has pushed in both land and water! The setting sun highlighted the mangrove cover in the lake by making them radiant green. There were a lot of birds to observe and document. Reaching Dalavapuram, we had a new challenge.

Murugan;  our beloved "Tipper anna"

A group of hooligans on the west side of the bridge wanted the kayak and threatened to drop stones from the Dalavapuram Bridge; it was chaos as we retreated to the backwaters for safety. We got help from the locals ward member and few elderly locals and pitched the tent right in front of the St. Joseph's Church, Thekkumbhagom, on the eastern side of Dalavapuram bridge.  We were assured that the place was safe and no one dared to bother us. The earlier experienced haunted us and we felt very unsecure at Dalavapuram. One elderly gentleman Mr Joseph, volunteered to drop in and stay with us to ensure safety. We got permission to pitch our tent between the Chruch and the jetty. Frankly, the tent was a bit too small for the 3 of us.

Mangrove forest in Ashtamudi Kayal.

That night we had to be contended with pazhampori(Fried sweet horn banana) for dinner as the neighbourhood meeting lasted till Ten, dimming our chances of finding any Kappikada (local eateries that serves hot food). Our fears returned that night as we were woken up with commotion at the church jetty, we woke up to find local fishermen who had pulled in to secure the crabs they had harvested from the Ashtamudi lake. We were surprised by the pincers these crabs had and also felt sad for few juveniles that were being taken to the market - human greed can decimate nature! When asked, the fishermen replied "If I don’t take them, some else will".  Gandhiji came into focus for his saying - “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”