Kochi

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Kochi used to be an important port, it's now a naval base and a big tourist haunt. It's a series of islands and peninsulas all connected by ferry and a ferry trip for the two of us for 10 mins cost less than 10 cent. We had a cool experience here. We had gone to a maritime museum which had excellent exhibits and models and on our way back around the coastline the fishermen were working at the Chinese fishing nets which line the harbour here. We were standing fascinated, watching a group of men work together to pull up the cantilevered nets. Much to our delight one of the men hollered for us to go out to the nets to join them. Out we went stepping from the beach onto a pile of sandbags used to make a gangway over the water up to the nets. These nets are suspended from arced poles and require at least four men to control them. The men start working at 6am and finish for the day at 2pm. After introductions and much handshaking, we were shown the fish they catch - pufferfish, angler fish etc Then we got the chance to pull on the ropes and help to raise the nets. There were boulders attached to these ropes to act as a counterweight and the nets are raised every five minutes or so. When we had the nets pulled up we crossed a wooden plank to see the catch - one wee solitary fish! They told us that during the tsunami of 2004 an oil tanker broke up just off the coast and that has had an adverse effect on the fish stocks. It was great to meet such friendly people and an amazing experience.

Whilst we were here, Karen was keen to see some traditional Keralan art forms. We went to a show and saw a mix of dance, theatre and martial arts. The first dancers were not a patch on the dancers we saw in Mamallapuram. The martial arts and the theatre was good. Karen really enjoyed the Theyam and Kathakali theatre performances. (Karen's happy, I'm happy.)

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