First Stop in "God's Own Country"

---

Traditional Kathakali Performance

Sitar and Tabla Concert

Sitar and Tabla Concert After a short domestic flight out of Mumbai, on which I was one of only three non-Indian travellers and quite the novelty, I arrived at Kochi airport. I came close to death a number of times on the half hour taxi ride into town, but arrived in one piece. Walking with a heavy back-pack on is never fun, but when it's in 39 degree heat and humid as all hell, it's damn near excruciating. And you can't stop either, as the slightest hesitation will draw a throng of touts tryin to convince you to stay at "their" hotel (I used to avoid this touts at all costs, not wanting to pay their commision, but have since learnt that they can take you to some decent places). Luckily I'd booked a little guest house at Fort Kochi (a little island a short ferry ride from the mainland) in advance, and although it was a little overpriced at around $12, it was quite nice.

I ended up spending 3 nights there, just getting my act together and working out my plans. It wasn't a bad little place - a laid back fishing community with a few sights around. I spent the cooler parts of the days looking around at various things (a plethora of cultural/religious sites such as temples, churches, palaces and synagogues) and nights taking in the local cultural entertainment (check out the videos in the top left hand corner). The first night I saw a traditional Kathakali performance, which consisted of elaborately made up dancers using a variety of subtle dances, gestures and facial expressions to convey a rather strange story. Interesting nevertheless. The next night i managed to catch some cricket (never a shortage of fans in India), while the night after I lucked out and stumbled across an Indian classical music concert. The hour and a half sitar and tabla show was amazing, and needless to say, I was very impressed.

The next day I decided to splash out and hire a car and driver for a few days and headed up to the hills.

---

Photos

Fishing Net Sunset
These Chinese fishing nets were introduced by Kubla Khan around 500-600 years ago, and are still used by local fisherman today. This is the obligatory Kochi photo.

Local Fishermen
This harbour was pretty dirty - I don't know if i'd eat fish from here. I did some some dolphins swimming around though.

Morning Ferry Ride
The morning ferry ride between the main town and the island of Fort Cochin where i was stayin. Thought no one noticed me taking this, but they all seem to be loking at the camera.

"Special Tea"
Due to rare/expensive licensing laws, beer has to be served in a tea pot and mug, or hidden under the table.

Comments

[Nicole]

You're quite the writer Mr O'keefe. Beautiful pictures, I'm very envious wish I was there....