We saw men working in rice paddies and learned that apparently a lot of the canals in the backwaters were created; land was filled to create rice paddies.
We saw people using the water for everything imaginable...
Bathing
Brushing teeth
Doing laundry. Lots and lots of laundry was being done in the water; women (and a few men) standing in the water rinsing it out and then banging it on the rocks (I think the banging gets out the dirt?).
The water is truly life in the backwaters; it is used for everything. We were told we could go swimming if we wanted...we politely declined after seeing how much goes into the water.
We just enjoyed watching people living their lives in such a simple way. There were lots of boats, in addition to houseboats, going around. Small little canoes for individual travelers; larger boats for deliveries; and boats for public transport. Some small, just crossing from one side for a canal to another (there were a few bridges around but not many); some larger for longer rides. On all of the larger boats we noticed that men sat in the front and women in the back always. Didn't look like there were markers dividing them; that's just how people sat.
We docked just before a spectacular sunset. After the sunset I lay down for a bit and just looked up at the sky. Living in a big city you rarely see stars...living in a city as polluted as Delhi you never see stars...so it was so nice to just lay down and look up and see all the stars.
Sigh...so relaxing.
Picture time! First we have a small little shuttle boat going across one of the canals. And then you have a woman doing her laundry.
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