Day 3: Exploring Kochi

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It was an 8.30 start as Anoop didnt want us to get into town too late and then get caught by the sun.

Today we were shown round Fort Kochi - which includes the Fort (built by the Portugese, then destroyed and re-built by the Dutch). We started with the a rather curious trip round the laundry of Fort Kochi which used to wash all of the military clothing. We've still no idea why we wnt round it but it was quite interesting to see a traditional laundry still in working order - no washing machines and irons heated by coal! Our guide tried to make friends with Chloe by teasing her which she was not impressed by and made her cry!!

After the laundry we went to the Roman Catholic Church that Vasco De Gama was buried in (the navigator who 'discovered' India after Christopher Columbus got lost and went to America). Not very interesting so we quickly headed onto the open water area to see the fishing contraptions and cargo ships - we also glimpsed the dolphins jumping behind the ships which was exciting. We had a go at dropping the nets into the water which was great fun and then went through the catches for the day which was a varied collection from baby shark to mullet, crabs and prawns, lobster and Sea Bass- amazing scenes.

After the fisheries we went to the Mattancherry Palace, a Portugese palace known as the Dutch Palace (odd!). WE had a tour of the palace and our guide showed us the murals of the Epic Ramayana the story of Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva. A great story that involves India, Sri Lanka, demons, Lords and Goddesses. However, the kids were a bit tired and hot by this stage and beginning to fade. So, whilst the palace, held some great pictures, murals, litters, outfits and crowns, we had lost the team and so we moved onto our final site. Walking through the backstreets of Kochi we found mango and other fruit trees before arriving at the Jewish Synagogue. There are only 4 Jewish people left in Kochi so its not used that much and was very small....we didnt stay long before the heat got the better of us and we went back to the hotel. We went back via a ferry across the water and then took a Tuk Tuk at the other end - great fun!

After heading back to the hotel and getting some lunch and a swim we went out to see The Mahabharata: Kichaka Vadham (The killing of Kichaga) a traditional Indian dance. A quite long but hilarious performance. We arrived in time to see the formal make-up-putting on and then were treated to the techniques of non-verbal face acting- brilliant! This was followed by some extensive singing from our host for the event who warbled through a very indian sounding song whilst the 3 actors played out the dance of Kichaga Vadham.

After this dancing extravaganza we went out to dinner at Oceano's which is owned by a friend of Anoop's. Not quite as delicions as the previous night but very good. We had a meal of honey roasted cauliflour, spicy chicken and squid with fizzy drinks (no alcohol served here!), apparently all alcohol was banned by the previous Kerala government and its only slowly being allowed back. We discovered Lucas had lost his sunglasses but luckily Anoop went back t othe dancehouse and found them.. relief! Another night in the Casino hotel before moving on tomorrow

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Photos

The Laundry
The mural of the owner - not quite sure why they insisted we take a photo with him

The ferry
Rather dodgy looking from the outside but did the job!