We arrived in Cochin, India early in the morning. It is a clear day but humid and promises to be typically warm. Our tour today is sponsored by our travel agent and Virtuoso.
When we arrived at the dock we were greeted by an elephant and a local folk drum core dressed in costume. Our travels took us to the city shore where we saw fishing using Chinese designed nets that have been in use for centuries. The fishing is so good they can catch them from shore. Then we visited the oldest European church in asia as well as a synagogue built hundreds of years ago by portugese jews who settled here to escape the Spanish inquisition. We walked around the area and shopped in some of the many stores near what is called Fort Cochi.
It got really hot and we were glad to get back in our bus and head for lunch. Lunch was at a beautiful hotel on the shore. We had lunch outside under tents near the shore. It was typical Indian fare but prepared to be on the mild side. Chris enjoyed it, but I didn’t, which was just as well since I’m not exactly starving on this trip.
There was local folk entertainment while we were eating and we also received some gifts of small statues. After lunch we wandered around the hotel and relaxed. We were back on our ship by 3pm and enjoyed our showers and rest before dinner.
Compared to Chennai, Cochin is a well developed and clean city. While it had many street vendors and people trying to sell you stuff whenever you got off the bus, there were no slums evident and all the areas we visited looked reasonably neat. According to our tour guide literacy in this Indian state is nearly 95%, which is dramatically higher then the rest of India. Also, apparently its people are wealthier because of the lower tax laws and their heritage if international trade and residents. The traffic was as bad as Chennai and crossing streets is an adventure.
Chris wore a sari to dinner after spending a couple of hours practicing how to tie it with instructions I printed from the internet. She got many compliments at dinner from both guests and female waiters. Tomorrow is a formal night and Raj ball so tonight was practice with one of the less expensive fabrics she bought. After dinner both of us called it an early night because of the day we had outside.
When we arrived at the dock we were greeted by an elephant and a local folk drum core dressed in costume. Our travels took us to the city shore where we saw fishing using Chinese designed nets that have been in use for centuries. The fishing is so good they can catch them from shore. Then we visited the oldest European church in asia as well as a synagogue built hundreds of years ago by portugese jews who settled here to escape the Spanish inquisition. We walked around the area and shopped in some of the many stores near what is called Fort Cochi.
It got really hot and we were glad to get back in our bus and head for lunch. Lunch was at a beautiful hotel on the shore. We had lunch outside under tents near the shore. It was typical Indian fare but prepared to be on the mild side. Chris enjoyed it, but I didn’t, which was just as well since I’m not exactly starving on this trip.
There was local folk entertainment while we were eating and we also received some gifts of small statues. After lunch we wandered around the hotel and relaxed. We were back on our ship by 3pm and enjoyed our showers and rest before dinner.
Compared to Chennai, Cochin is a well developed and clean city. While it had many street vendors and people trying to sell you stuff whenever you got off the bus, there were no slums evident and all the areas we visited looked reasonably neat. According to our tour guide literacy in this Indian state is nearly 95%, which is dramatically higher then the rest of India. Also, apparently its people are wealthier because of the lower tax laws and their heritage if international trade and residents. The traffic was as bad as Chennai and crossing streets is an adventure.
Chris wore a sari to dinner after spending a couple of hours practicing how to tie it with instructions I printed from the internet. She got many compliments at dinner from both guests and female waiters. Tomorrow is a formal night and Raj ball so tonight was practice with one of the less expensive fabrics she bought. After dinner both of us called it an early night because of the day we had outside.
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