Fort Kochi

---

It was like walking into a convection oven. Our destination within the Kerala region is considered the spice hub of India, with domestic exports going to all corners of the country. We wasted no time getting into the lovely air conditioned airport bus which we rode for 1.5hrs to the final stop Fort Kochi.
It was about 6.30pm, getting dark, and my scribbled directions eventually guided us to our elusive accommodation named Tantraa Homestay. Our host was a short dark plump man named Ragesh. Whilst he was 100% indian, I could imagine him fitting straight into the Sri Lankan cricket team, as I would come to learn, southern indians have different physical characteristics to their counterparts in the north. He showed us to our abode, a ground floor flat with living room, bedroom and bathroom. We declined the invitation to dinner as all we wanted to do was shower to remove 3 days of sweat, and get some decent sleep.

In the morning Ragesh had prepared us breakfast on the balcony, fresh papaya, watermelon, banana, along with boiled eggs, toast, and tea. Being courteous, I drank the tea, and my mind flicked backing to watching travel diary DVDs with Sanjeev Bhaskar (a british born indian) where his acceptance of local tea had resulted in more than one stomach virus.
With full stomachs’, we set off to explore Fort Kochi, we walked north along Beach Road to the local beach, it was mid morning and there were a few locals kicking about in the sand, chained up goats resting in the shade, and one foreign bather, who looked rather sickly. The water did not look inviting with what looked like a fuel farm being built further around the bay. We continued on to the chinese fishing nets, which seemed to be the towns premier tourist attraction, as all the touts were there. Admiring what the local fishermen had on offer, I had to decline the bartering of my wristwatch for a handmade goat skin drum. Past the ferry terminal, we came to a spice wholesaler which was one of our main attractions to Kerala. The variety of spice was impressive and the aromas in the shop were pungent. After this we accepted a free ride from a tuk-tuk driver to a shop which we looked in for 5 minutes to allow him to get a free t-shirt from the shop owner, then he dropped us back, and we started walking back to the homestay. Along this route we encountered our first religious celebration. Tinsel lined the street and a hindu procession was heading down the street pushing a cart with music blarring and ahead of it were guys dancing with long metal rods in their mouths. After negotiating our way past this we got back to the homestay for midday to meet our host who took us down to his church as they were putting on lunch for the locals as it was the birthday of their saint. Being the only foreigners made us get lots of eyes upon us but we quickly learned they were all very friendly and inviting. The meal was simple but delicious and eaten with our hands, the childen laughed at us as we tried to master the finger food technique. After this we loaded up with fruit from the market and returned to the homestay for the day.

Up bright and early and down to the main road to wait for our 8am pickup for the backwaters tour we had booked. After killing 20 minutes chatting to a lovely little old man who pulled up on his bicycle for his morning chai (tea) whilst we waited the bus finally came and we were off. Accompanying us were a few brits, a camp American who looked just like brains off the Thunderbirds (was a nice guy also), and a hippie Brazilian medical student. Our boat was a thatched cabin of bamboo, palm leaves all strung together with coconut rope. Powered by a man and his pole we meandered through the backwaters with its lush green flora. Our first stop was a disused workshop where cockle shells were crushed and fired in a kiln to create lime to be used in construction etc. Large stockpiles of coconut shells also littered the area as these would be submerged in the river for 6 months to swell and expand the fibres, then removed to be dried and the fibres separated. The fibres were spun to create rope, and we were given a demonstration of this at our next stop. This is also where we discovered tapioca chips, delicious, the root of a tall plant, it was cut like chips and fried in coconut oil and salted. Storm saw her first cacao on the tree here which gave her a wide grin. The boat continued on to our lunch destination where we enjoyed our banana leaf curry. The remainder of the tour went around a lake, the Brazilian girl had a go at pushing the boat to everyone’s amusement.
Once home we splashed out on a massage each. Storm went for an ayurvedic medical massage, and I the relaxation massage. Storm got a pummelling from a old strong handed lady which included a eye massage, and I got into my loin cloth and received my first arse massage from a small Indian guy... very relaxing.
To finish off a nice day we found a restaurant and splashed out on some sea food. Shame they didn’t know how to cook it as the prawns were like rubber.

---