Day 9 - Kochi

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If you want to see something bizarre and hilarious, please check out my video on this blog.

This morning, I decided to try an Ayurvedic treatment which originates from this region, called Kerala. The therapist applied hot herbal oils onto my head to begin the massage, and then showed me to a wooden table where she poured medicinal herbal oils on my limbs with sweeping gestures to improve circulation. I felt invigorated and ready for an afternoon of sightseeing in Kochi...that is, after I showered twice to rub off the oils marinating my skin so the mosquitos wouldn't eat me alive!

We spent the majority of the afternoon exploring Kochi. It is a coastal city, and one of the chief trading cities for spices and gold, dating back to the Phoenicians in 700 BC. In the 15th century, the Portuguese took over the spice trade & brought missionaries to convert the local people. A large Jewish community moved to Cochin in the mid-15th century to escape the Spanish Inquisition - the settled in an area now called Jew Town. In the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company controlled Kerala out of Cochin until the British took over in the late 19th century. The region’s vast natural resources have attracted people from all over the world, and you can see the influences from China, the Middle East and Europe. (Steph, the historian, wrote this part.)

Kochi has a tropical climate - much like South Florida with palm trees everywhere and amazing seafood! We visited one of the oldest functioning Jewish synagogue in Asia, built in 1568. The temple is elaborately decorated with crystal chandeliers and blue/white ceramic pattern tiles imported from a Jewish community in China. While we were in "Jew Town", we stopped in an embroidery store and met the owner, Sarah Cohen, who is one of the 11 Jews still living in Kochi (most moved to Israel in the 1950’s).

One of the most bizarre/interesting parts of our day was watching the classical dance show of Kerala called Kathakali, based on Hindu texts. The characters wear extremely heavy makeup and costumes - using only isolated eye movements and hand gestures (mudras) to express the stories. During the demonstration of the eye movements, I couldn't stop laughing. I thought the performer's eyes were going to pop out of his head! You'll see what I mean when you watch the video which was only a glipse of the performance.

Tomorrow we wake up early to drive 3 hours each way to the Ashram where we'll visit Amma, the famous "hugger” guru.

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Comments

[tracy cox]

massage
hi, i am interested in finding out the name of the place that you had your massage at? i will be in cochin next month and would love to have one where you went..it looks immaculate! thanks so much~ tracy

[Liz from FL]

Ayurvedic place
We went to our hotel, Le Meridien in Kochi. It's very clean and supposed to be one of the best treatment centers here.

[Chad]

the truth about the eye dancing
Liz: Great to see that you are all having a great time. As to the eye dancing, it is really a public display of what is going on inside that guy's head. They implant a microphone just behind his eyeballs and that drumming sound on the video is the actual sound coming from inside his head created by his eye movement--it is quite astonishing. There's another guy in that same dance troupe that can administer elephant pedicures using only his eye movements. Did you not see that one? Just kdding, of course; just wanted to make sure you were still laughing. Be safe and have a great rest of the trip. We'll see you when you get back. -Chad, Natalie and Henry.