p.r.bullen - travelogue

Part 5: Cochin & Home

After a night in Alleppy, we caught the bus to Cochin, and ran into two young Brits who'd been on the boat with us. I chatted with the guy (standing) and Aingeal with the girl (seated). Got a good laugh when, talking about backpacks, I commented that I'd had my knapsack since 1977 (talk about "value for money"!) and he said ruefully that he was BORN in 1977! Ha ha! Don't know if he felt young, but I certainly didn't feel old. Had a good talk about Indian music, jazz and "techno" (It's all over London, he says. Horrible stuff, if you ask me. Can't be that good: MTV-Asia doesn't play very much of it.)

In Cochin, we were staying at the Bolgatty Palace Hotel, on an island in the middle of the Cochin harbor. We were in a little bungalow on stilts, with our own porch overlooking the harbor. a private view, with none to see us except the ferries that passed by every 20 minutes... Ahead of us, we could see three levels of development: to the left, Willingdon Island, created when they dredged the harbor to make it a deep-water port, with a huge ship docked on the far side. Straight ahead, Fort Cochin Island, with palm trees and little houses with red roofs, what you might call historical Cochin. To the right, an island with apparently no development of any kind at all.

First off, we again confirmed our onward reservations, getting to be something of a habit, and then checked out a recommended bookstore. Paydirt! New and used -- and with the tourists who pass through there, quite a selection of used books indeed. We bought books aplenty. Then, on to Fort Cochin Island, to see the sights.

After three ferries, we finally landed just next the Chinese fishing nets. With these, the square net is held up at its four corners by a large X-shaped bunch of wooden beams (logs, really). The center of the X is attached to one end of a large fulcrum, and hangs out over the water. The other end of the fulcrum is on land (or, over the platform, if the net has been set up offshore), and has a large number of rocks tied on as counterweights. To lower the net, one fisherman clambers out towards the X while the others release the fulcrum from its tether, and down she goes! Let it sit for a while, then the fishermen (about 6 or 7 in all) pull on the ropes to lower the land-end of the fulcrum, and the net is pulled up out of the water. The contraption is not perfectly balanced, but is designed so that it will naturally lower itself into the water -- but it's not too far out of balance, or the fishermen couldn't tilt it the other way. These were apparently introduced first by Chinese traders then again by the Portuguese.

We strolled up the beach, past all the nets, and eventually turned into Fort Cochin itself, finding our way first to St. Francis Church. Next to the church is a large green, with a hot cricket match underway. It looked like something from England, the village green, the cricket match, the onlookers under the large shade trees, the church in the background. The church itself was nice enough as churches go. It was where Vasco da Gama was buried for 14 years until they moved his body back to Portugal. On to the Santa Cruz Basilica, a small cathedral. A wedding ceremony was underway.

We walked and walked all through the center of town. Like the villages we drove through going down to Cape Comoran, it was all very tidy. In Kerala, people seem to keep their property clean and dispose of trash, more than in northern India. Lunch, then it was off the Mattancherry Palace. As palaces go, not a candle to the one we saw going to Cape Comoran, but this place had the most amazing series of murals featuring scenes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharatya, almost all in a very good state. These have to be seen -- as far as we know they're are neither coffee-table books nor postcards of them. They are a world treasure.

Around the corner is the Jewish Synagogue. Now down to 20 people, this community dates itself back to the destruction of the 2nd Temple by the Romans and the Diaspora! The Synagogue itself is a relative whippersnapper, dating from the mid 1600's. Fascinating bit of history.

From there, we went to a Kathakali dance performance at the Cochin Cultural Center. That's the dance where the dancers are incredibly painted up with little props to make their jowls really big, and wearing elaborate head-gear and costumes. The hands really DO tell a story, as a form of sign language using hand and facial gestures is used. First, an explanation of the language of the dance was given, and then a tale from the Ramayana was performed. This is an incredibly stylized and formal dance form designed to tell a story more than anything.

The next day, we took it easy. More books from that bookstore, to prepare us for the trip home, then back to Fort Cochin Island, checking out the Synagogue again and picking up an inlaid teak chest after much haggling, and back to Bulgatty Island to just take it easy. The next day we just relaxed & took a walk around the island until it was time to go the station.

The trip home on the Kerala Express took 53 hours (not bad, considering it was scheduled for 49 hours: I'd expected about 6 hours behind and we were only 4! We read huge amounts. A. was sick with a cold, unfortunately (we were both lucky in that regard: no serious upsets as so many travelers get here). Most of the carriage was full of 6 Keralan families (all the fathers worked together, for Kerala Tourism Dev. Corp.), going up for a 2-week holiday in Delhi & environs. They were a cheerful bunch and their kids remarkably well behaved. Finally, 21 days after we left, we got home before dark and had a nice spaghetti dinner.

Well, that's about it. There's lots I've left out -- innumberable little details and things, but the broad sweep of the holiday is as shown. Hope you find it interesting!

Part 5: Cochin & Home