Fort Cochin, Kerala, India
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Our trip to Cochin was 4 hours long by train. We really couldn't see much out of the window because of the torrential rain.
It also brought back memories of the Indian trains!!!
When we arrived it was again to tremendous rain - yes the monsoon was here!
There were hardly any taxis or tuk tuks as normal. And everyone who got off the train was waiting. However we were soon spotted by Johnson and he quickly identified us as tourists and I guess sensed money. So we took advantage of that and jumped in.
Everywhere was flooded
Chinese fishermen
As we had no accommodation booked, we relied on him to take us to some places and help us find the best place. After a few no-no's we ended up at Orion Holidays which is a beautiful villa and spotlessly clean. One of the nicest places we have stayed anywhere in India. £10 a night including breakfast - bargain.
Fort Cochin is the area we are in and it is geared for tourists. Lots of little cafes, nik nak shops and street food. Perfect. A great place to while-away a few days.
They have the 'very famous' Chinese Fishermen here. Very different from any other fishing we have seen.
And the famous Keralan Dancing - Kathakali Dance. We went along early to watch the dancers applying their make up first which was fairly interesting. They then reappeared later in full costume which we have to say was fairly impressive. The dance itself relies on facial expressions to convey mood and intentions. So after what felt like an eternity of a demonstration, the dance got underway. If we hadn't had a transcript of the story, then we don't know what we would have done as they do seem to know how to drag things out. But on the whole we enjoyed it.
We really like this area of Cochin and will come back later in the week.
On Tuesday, we are heading to the hills of Munnar and the tea plantations
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