Day 98 - Alleppey to Cochin (Kochi), Kerala, India

Day 98 – Hers.

 

Another travel day and a very early start.  By 6:00 we had washed, packed, eaten rice noodles and steamed bananas and boarded the motor cruiser for the return trip to Alleppey.  Another mad tuk tuk race delivered us to the station for our train to Cochin (or Kochi – the names seem to be completely interchangeable....).

Cochin is spread out over several peninsulas, connected by ferries and a few bridges.  The area around the train station and airport is very modern – chain stores, neon lights, etc. etc.  The tourist area is two peninsulas along in the historic colonial fort area.  We are staying in a Heritage hotel (This one, however, is well refurbished, scrupulously clean and has satellite TV and wifi – much better, thank you....) within a couple of blocks of all the major sights.

We checked in, showered, answered our email and found out the results of the US election courtesy of the BBC, then went out for a walk to explore the Western part of the peninsula.  We saw the Dutch cemetery and St Francis Church – reportedly the first European Christian church in India (1503, I think....) and where Vasco da Gama was buried until his body was repatriated to Portugal.  We left going inside for another day – we got distracted by all the colourful market stalls just down the block.....We saw the Chinese fishing nets and the fish stalls where you can buy fresh prawns, crabs, snapper and some other identified fish that you then take to a corner cooking stall where they will cook it for you.  We wandered through the streets a bit, as usual getting a little lost and then finding our way again, visiting little shops and admiring the gracious colonial buildings – and a brightly coloured Bollywood film set, currently under construction.  We lunched in a balcony restaurant – lime soda and prawn curry, a different kind than I have ever seen before and strolled back to the hotel for a short nap before meeting up with the group for the evening.

 

Day 98 – His.

The drunks of the trip were quiet today. Several of them were moaning about food poisoning and headaches. They seemed intent on blaming the fish they had last night – which seems reasonable – after all it couldn’t be anything to do with the four litres of vodka they stuffed down. Still, at least it kept them quiet and meant the day was actually very pleasant. In the evening we went to see some Kathakali dance.

Actually it was a bit more than that. We were allowed in early to see the actors put on their make up and don their costumes. Then we had a half hour introduction to the elements of the art form (The meaning of the facial expressions and the hand movements) then we had the actual performance. All in all it was superb. However we seem to be caught in another tropical storm. The lightning is making the night almost as bright as the day and it is tipping down – so the walk back to the hotel was a soggy affair. Ah well – a fun day and a nice hotel so the next couple of days here should be quite pleasant.