Tourists Ho!

We've grown tired of being beach bums and have decided to become tourists again. There are only so many times we can walk around this small area looking at buildings.



It's been awhile since we were on tour but since there is really no beach in Kochi to laze around on and there is no sit out at our hotel fo us, we needed to keep ourselves occupied with more than a round of restaurants and coffee shops,(of which there are few), so we booked a tour.

Our tour was described as lasting 7 hours - 10 hours later when we dragged ourselves back to our little homestay we were tired and just wanted to rest. We had booked the backwaters tour through the homestay - a theoretical three hours on a small canoe and four hours on a converted rice boat with lunch included. The three hours on canoe did happen, but the four hours was only two with lunch provided on a little island, but that was no problem as you will find out. First here's Geodie on one of the small canoes, which are being poled along by a man standing at the back.

The three hour portion of the tour was along some small tributaries of the larger waterways in the area. We poled past small houses, jungle areas, and beautiful plants hanging over the water or floating in it, like waterlilies, hibiscus and banana plants. Our first stop was at a rope making village along the way. It was a fascinating look at local industry. The women in the villages all work in cooperatives making rope from coir which is the fiber inside coconut husks.

First the husks are soaked in water for six months to soften the fibers and get them ready for spinning. After the fibes are dry they are delivered to the women who work together to make the ropes. Where we were there were three women working together, one operating a spinning wheel mader from a bicycle wheel, and two creating the ropes. The process is really amazing - the women have huge mounds of fibers held in their skirts and after attaching a small amount of the fiber to the wheel, they begin walking backwards, while the husks intertwine, almost like magic, pulling itself from the mounds. The work goes fast; while we were there the women must have made about half a dozen hanks of rope. The rope is finally collected by the coops to be made into coir mats, or larger ropes, and other craft work. And they get paid once a year - talk about faith!




After the visit to the rope village we went on to a spice farm where we were introduced to many of the plants which produce the spices for which of course India became famous in the first place. We saw pepper vines, nutmeg trees (mace comed from them too), bay leaf which I first identifed as clove because the aroma of cloves was so strong. The guide told us it was also called allspice which I have certainly never heard before - the allspice I know is a berry, so I learned something new I guess.

Here's another view of the narrow waterways.



From the waterways we went back to the transport van and were taken to another area where we were picked up by the houseboat - which of course isn't a houseboat since it doesn't have bedrooms, but it did have seats for us to sit and enjoy the view as we were poled along.



We had lunch first though. It was served on a little island in the river, and done properly for south India - on a banana leaf. And this time I managed to get a couple of pictures for you. Note Geordie's fingers.




Our boat tour only lasted two hours which was actually good, since we were being poled along and the progress is slow to say the least. Our poler used a 20 foot pole which he first dropped into the water,then pushed against it to propel us as far as possible and then continued pushing, walking down the prow of the boat until he had run out of pole when he started the whole thing over again. His arms and legs are obviously very strong. We were all ready to go home when he finally pulled in next a bridge where we found our vehicle waiting and got to drive back - a bit less than an hour's drive.

Next Day!

We weren't finished with touring you know. Yesterday, Wednesday, we decided we would walk to the Raja's palace and Jew Town which are next each other on the far side of Kochi from where we were staying. The palace was built by the Dutch and given to the Raja of Kochi to appease him when they came to take over. It's not a very exciting palace although it does have remarkable frescoes painted on the walls. These frescoes illustrate the fables and stories of the Mahayana and other significant books of Indian mythology. There are no photos for you since photography is not allowed, but I must tell you that one of the highlights is a very clear fesco of Krishna pleasuing eight women at once - using his six arms and two legs!

From there we made our way to Jew Town. The Jews of Kochi have a very long history. According to the history presented in pictures on the walls of the small museum in the synagogue they arrived after having left the Temple of Solomon, some 500 years BCE. Another story has them arriving in Kochi in about 100 BCE. In any case they were given land and even a crown providing them with rights to the area from the local raja. Unfortunately the population was decimated when the Inquisition arrived from Portugal in the 1600's. There is still a small population here though although it is certainly not growing at all.

On the tower of the Synagogue is a clock with the numbers written in what I presume is Hebrew.


Again no photos were allowed inside but I was very impressed with the number of crystal chandliers hanging from the ceiling along with blown glass globes which would hold candles. The building carries a strong sense of history perhaps because it is to us something so incongruous in India. I did get a picture of the gate outside the Synagogue which shows two menorah.



From the Synagogue we went to walk in the neighbourhood. The streets here are full of spice warehouses and the aroma of ginger and other spices is strong in the air.








There are also lots of shops selling the usual tourist claptrap, just like every other market area where tourists congregate. We did buy something though - a bag of pepper corns, and a tube of toothpaste made by Himalaya Products, which contains Neem extact from the Neem tree which is what the locals use to brush their teeth.

This has been a long blog, and again I've managed to put in lots of pictures. I'll leave you with two more tourist images, one with very personal meaning for me. We went for a walk in the evening and along the way discovered Addy's Restaurant, which was housed in a building built in 1776, the same year as The American War of Independence. But what made it personal for me was that Addy was my father's middle name! It's rather an unusual name I know, and for my father was a name passed down in his family. I discovered some years ago when I did a little genealogical research back in Newfoundland that the name was the last name of a Methodist minister - and that it was common practice for families to use a name such as that as a token of the esteem the minister had in the family.




Of course we ate dinner there last night and I must say the food was excellent. So good that we may go back there tonight for our last evening meal in Kochi.

And finally - on our walk we came to a small beach where we found a man selling fresh squeezed orange juice. We decided we needed some refreshment, so we had the man squeeze some for us. Another man, a local was also enjoying a glass - he paid 10 rupees for the pleasure - we paid 25. That's what we get for being tourists!