A week measured in tides

The backwaters reward restraint. A single night on a houseboat is enough; the rest of the time is better spent in a homestay where the canals are narrow and the day is organised around meals.

We took a country boat at first light through channels too small for the larger vessels. Herons, school children on ferries, and men fishing with a patience that felt like a rebuke to how we usually travel.

Kerala is also where the food becomes the itinerary. Ask where the family eats, not where visitors do.