Alleppey - the Venice of the east

We arrived in Alleppey this afternoon.  We are staying in a restored colonial house near the beach.  It doesn't quite look like Venice here as the backwaters are  by definition a bit inland and Venice has fewer coconut palms.  We will do a reconnaissance mission tomorrow to find a nice houseboat.
We caught up with friends Jane and Tony for dinner last night in Fort Cochin - nice to see familiar faces.
The duty free gin is keeping the malaria at bay....