Southern India 2012: Day 10 Tue. Nov. 27

We started the day off with a swim in the Kochin Trident Hotel pool. The water was warm and silky and chlorine free. Our breakfast on the patio was a delightful way to fuel our bodies for a long day of sightseeing in “God’s Garden” city. Kochin is located in the province of Kerala. Kerala’s industry is nature ... spices, fishing, coconuts, and sesame oil.

The Dutch Palace built in 1557 by the Portuguese and then given to the Raja of Kochin was our first stop. The walls were painted using tumeric and lime, depicting a classic Indian legend about their god of preservation, Vishnu. One of Vishnu’s descendants was Rama, who was born as a human to show mankind the right way to live. Nature was the answer to all the world’s problems. A good example of nature taking care of us is when coconuts fibers are made into mattresses, which allow the human body to be massaged while sleeping. We learned that turmeric prevents cancer and sesame oil + gram (grains), used on the skin will eliminate wrinkles. There was also a portrait gallery in this palace, showing all the Maharaja’s of Kochin painted in 3D. This advanced painting format, brought reality to the viewer, and it was the artists’ use of light that was the secret to this painting style.

We then walked 4 blocks along a busy street filled with shops of all kinds and many “hawkers” selling everything you really don’t need. We arrived at a very old Dutch Jewish synagogue. It was small and quite barren, with many chandiliers, oil lamps, and a ceraminc floor with a blue and white Dutch motif. We learned that there are only a few Jewish families left in Kochin. Apparently the world took out their frustrations on the Jewish people forcing them to always find a different place to live. The Dutch Jews came to Kochin India to make money on the spice trade. They did well as always because they used their brains to gain fortunes.

A large public laundry was also in this neighbourhood, where only members of the Dhobi cast were permitted to wash, dry, and iron clothes of other people in the area. One washer man was also washing his crotch while washing Kathy’s new Indian shawl. The flat irons were very heavy with hot coals in the bottom of the iron. Kathy tried to lift it but her rotator cuff stopped her so a Dhobi man took over. We saw table clothes from our hotel drying on the grass.

India has many people and many modes of transportation and public transit is very useful and necessary. When riding on a bus, all the men sit at the back and all the women at the front. The women did not want to be too close to the men on these crowded buses just in case the men couldn’t control themselves. Tuk tuk’s (auto rickshaw) are everywhere and we were lucky enough to ride one to the harbour where we witnessed an ancient Chinese fishing technique. The fishing nets are attached to long poles. Ropes are fastened to large boulders and a lever system is created. As four strong men tug on the ropes hoisting the boulders, the net is lowered into the water. In 3 minutes, numerous fish are snagged and the nets are raised out of the water. This process repeated two hundred of times a day. Mallet fish was the primary fish caught.

We left the fishermen and walked past a man mesmorizing cobras with his flute playing this song (try singing this) ... “ on the other side of France, where they wear no pants, and the men wear classes to see the ladies asses”. Most of the men in the streets wear a lungi which is a cloth wrapped around their waste which resembles a diaper. Yes they have underwear on ladies! Soon we came to India’s oldest European church called St. Francis. Vasco de Gama, a famous Portuguese explorer died here. He discovered a route from Europe to the spices in India, has a monument located in this church but his body is buried in Portugal. Strange material baffles hung from the ceiling the length of the church on both sides. The material was soaked with water and the ceiling fans cooled the church as the baffles swayed back and forth.

Lakuma, our tour leader, took us to a carpet/jewellery mall, where our group had the opportunity to spend rupies. Sue almost purchased a 20 thousand dollar necklace but thought she would wait and look for something cheaper at the thrift store in New Hamburg.

Our last stop before returning to our hotel was Santa Cruz Basillica. No one made it inside because the Nazi caretaker had locked the doors and there was a performance happening outside in the 35 degree heat consisting of 20 teenage girls marching and playing musical instruments. Garry said later that this performance was the highlight for him so far.

We briefly stopped at our hotel to shower the sweat from our bodies and then returned to the same part of the city to watch an exotic Kathakali dance drama. This is the traditional dance of Kerala and one of the oldest dances in the world still being acted out. It was a weird mixture of makeup, costumes, music, storytelling and dance. The emphasis was on the eye movements and hand gestures. As the sun was setting on the Chinese fishing nets at the harbour, some of the camera buffs in our group snapped many photos.

We finally returned to our hotel around 8:30 p.m. and had some delicious mini potatoes, freshly steamed veggies and creme de brule. The meat dishes were just too damn hot, kind of like our bug-sprayed bedrooms. We were going to lounge at the pool before bed, but never made it. Stay tuned for our backwater boat cruise happening tomorrow.

marching band