Kochi orientation day

don’t know where to start, so I’ll begin at the very beginning:

Breakfast at hotel
Coach to Kochi fort, which is not a fort as we know it , but the inner town, which was once fortified.

Visit to St Francis church, originally Catholic (Portuguese settlers) now Protestant (English /Dutch). Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama was buried there, but his bones were later transferred to Portugal. His tomb is venerated but empty. I saw some commemorative tablets to notable Scotsmen.

Visit to some highly painted Tata trucks, which are privately owned. You can climb up into the cab and pretend to drive!

Visit to dhobi (laundry) where other people’s washing is done by hand by self employed members of a particular caste. Washing is hung out to dry in the sun, and then pressed with very heavy irons, some of which are charcoal-fired.

Visit to Mattancherry palace, portraits of Maharajahs. Built around a central courtyard. Three different temples on the site.

Visit to Chinese fishing nets, where we helped catch one white mullet(!) by hauling a huge net. Fish market: tuna, tiger fish, white mullet, black pomfret. Cats by harbourside, man teasing cat by miaowing to call it, then dangling a fish in front of it.

Visit to synagogue in Jewish quarter. It’s the oldest active synagogue in the Commonwealth, but only one member of the residential Jewish community survives. The synagogue stays ‘active’ because of the participation of visiting Jewish males, who make up the quota of ten.

Shopping opportunities! I bought a blue topaz ring in a diamond setting! My first diamonds! Let’s hope they are forever. Elspeth bought a tree of life design wall hanging . We enjoy bargaining. Also bought some knick knacks and a £5 white blouse: most of women got one!

When we got back to the hotel Elspeth and I went to a local ‘Pure veg’ restaurant for a masala dosa, then had a swim in the hotel pool. About five minutes later, we went out again to the government liquor store, which is a nasty looking place spread out over two floors, with warning notices plastered everywhere. You have to ask for things from behind the counter. I had a quick look round, then left. Didn’t fancy paying £11.70 for a bottle of wine! Cyd, one of our group members, bough twelve cans of tonic in another shop, and I bought her some stick on tattoos. Elspeth found a decent corkscrew at last! We’ve been clanking around with our bottles of Duty Free, even before we entered the Dry State!


The walk along ‘Princess street’ involved passing some sari-wearing models posing for a photoshoot outside historic buildings. We were then taken to a theatre for a demonstration of Kathakali make up and dance. The facial gestures used to display fear, disgust, etc, are very intricate and involve fantastic maxillo-facial muscle control. Unfortunately a very tall white male, who was evidently a VIP visitor, sat two rows in front of me so I couldn’t see much. It was an amazing show, though.

We went back to the hotel and some of us had a drink in the special banqueting hall set aside for us. We were not allowed to drink in the restaurant. This was a bit odd as there were only five of us in a vast room, being waited on. We also have to take our own alcohol aboard the houseboat tomorrow.

The rest of the evening was spent packing and repacking our cases. I’ve reached the stage where I would like to ditch about half the stuff I brought from home!