Indian Venice

The town of Alleppey is built on canals, like Venice or San Petersburg, and surrounded by coconut trees. It’s nice but it could be even more charming without grime. Indians use the canals as a dump and the water is full of plastic bottles and all kind of rubbish. Some of the waterways are narrow and only small canoes can sail on them but others are wide and huge ferries and fancy houseboats sail overthere. Some bridges cross over the narrow shady canals but you can also pass to the other side by canoes, paying only a few rupees. The place, in spite of the grime, is not bad. The problem, like all the touristic places in India, is the people. You cannot walk two steps without being asked by someone “sir, do you want a boat?”