Cochin, India: Saturday and Sunday


The ship has been adding daily ominous warnings about this part of the trip. First,  it was to lower our expectations. Two nights ago, they warned us about pirates. Today, we have been warned about what to eat and not eat due to health concerns. 

Pirates haven't yet attacked the ship, so we had about a day and a half in our first port, Cochin. Cochin is located on the southwest coast of India. The city straddles backwaters, encompassing the northern end of a peninsula, several islands and a portion of the mainland. To the west lies the Arabian Sea.

As we arrived into our first port, Cochin, we received a lecture over the loudspeaker directing us as to the sites on either side of the ship. I was surprised to see fairly attractive tropical-flavored colonial/Asian  architecture and flora (lots of palm trees). As the ship pulled into the pier, we faced a cement plant - not exactly scenic - and folks flocked down to the pier but were kept at a safe distance by the military police. I was sure that they were tourists who had come to see the ship, but it turned out that these 50 or so folks were from immigration and were soon escorted onto the ship.

We have been to Russia and China but India presented the most bureaucratic systems and paperwork we have faced in our travels to date. We were called by tour and floor to collect our paperwork and to be cleared for immigration. Once called, our papers were reviewed by no fewer than three individuals. All reviews were courteous, quick and pleasant, many with broad smiles, but multiple nonetheless. I have no idea what they were looking for in these multiple reviews as they were cursory at best.

While everything says we are in Cochin, including signs, I really got confused because the guides kept calling it by other names. It appears they now call it Kochi and it is a major port city on the west coast of India by the Arabian Sea and is part of the district of Ernakulam of the state of Kerala, so Kochi is also called by the name Ernakulam or Kerala and the guides call it by all of these things interchangeably, and combined with the Indian accent, I was really confused until I pulled the guide aside and asked him what was the difference in the names. Nothing really...just different names for the same place.

Kochi was an important spice trading centre on the Arabian Sea coast from the 14th century. Occupied by the Portuguese Empire in 1503, Kochi was the first of the European colonies in colonial India. Kochi was the centre of Indian spice trade for many centuries, and was known to the Greeks and Romans as well as Jews, Arabs, and Chinese since ancient times.

There were a couple of tours the first afternoon that many went on: one was a  highlights tour and the other was a highlights with a harbor cruise. We took the one with the harbor cruise. Our ship packed bus after bus of us into this city to tourist sites and the guides did a pretty good job of keeping us from trampling  one another by staying very organized and marching us along with military precision. We took in the Chinese fishing nets and were shown how the current day fisherman utilize these stationary nets to pull in the fish. Then we were brought by the fish market to see the results of their efforts. All the while, we were chased by peddlers selling beads, ornaments, batteries, fans, cigarettes, tiger balm, pictures. 

We visited St Francis Church, first a Portuguese church in the 1500s, then renovated in the 1700s as a Dutch Reform Church and finally converted to a British Anglican Church. We walked to a restroom stop in a lovely, but overpriced gift shop and many succumbed to the vendors along the way. I bought a cheap skirt from a rack on the street that a British woman helped me negotiate and we went on to our next stop-Jew town. 

Cochin Jews are the oldest group of Jews in India, with roots claimed to date to the time of King Solomon (circa 950 BCE). Several rounds of immigration of the Jewish diaspora into Kerala led to an ethnic, but not a linguistic, diversity: the community was divided into White Jews (Paradesi Jews) and Black Jews. It has been claimed that following the destruction of the First Temple in the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BC, some Jewish exiles came to India. But it was after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE that the first wave of large numbers of settlers came to Cranganore, an ancient port near Cochin. Jews of Cranganore were attacked on the pretext that they had an advantage with the pepper trades o they fled south to the Kingdom of Cochin, seeking the protection of the Cochin Royal Family who gave them asylum. Moreover, they exempted Jews from taxation and bestowed on them all privileges enjoyed by the tax-payers.

Today most of Cochin's Jews have emigrated to Israel. however, we were told that of the 5 founding families, only 7 family members still live in Kochi.  The Paradesi Synagogue still functions, and is also a tourist attraction but was close as it was Saturday. It was a very large white building, church like in appearance, set way back from the road. Jew Street, once filled with tailors and shop keepers are now lined with fine jewelry, clothing and "antique" shops. We visited the Mattancherry Palace next door to the synagogue and it was overcrowded and dreadfully hot. For my 10 cents, I could have put my time to much better use shopping. I dragged Doug's sorry butt in the heat to a pashmina shop to spend much to short a time combing through a beautiful selection of cashmere and hand embroidered garments. He was a terrific sport as well as a negotiator. We ended our day with a peaceful harbor cruise before returning back to the ship for dinner and a local show,

Sunday brought a "tranquil backwaters"  tour about 90 minutes from Kochi. As pretty as the area is, I can't get over the trash bags piled high and litter strewn everywhere. it really is a blight. Our whole group of friends got in the same bus and we were again pleased that the bus was in rather nice condition with good air conditioning, Our restroom stop was relatively okay and we arrived on the canal for our journey. We had visions of ourselves languishing like royalty on houseboats, but while we saw many Cadillacs we got mass transport with plastic lawn chairs. As we cruised by these other fine specimens, complete with air conditioning, we took pictures. The trip was rather interesting. Folks were bathing in the water, washing their dishes by the shore, washing their clothes On the rocks, working in the rice paddies and even visited a home. The highlight was our visit to the church. Many of us didn't even want to venture out. Doug and I finally decided to climb off the boat. We were greater by the most poised and articulate group of 10 year olds. They couldn't wait to speak with us and learn about us and share information about their area. They were treasures. One little girl was Maria. She wanted to know who " my husband or partner  was" and wanted to meet him. The boys were typical...giving one another rabbit ears , but being poised enough to shake our hands.

Lunch was at a beautiful resort by the water. It was very hot and humid ( but not as bad as Cambodia). Thankfully, they had fans, which helped to dry off some off the perspiration. Lunch included tandoori chicken, steamed and pan fried vegetables, daal, fish, lamb, vermicelli pudding, ice cream, coconut soufflé, and all sorts of salads and soups. Of course, we sniffed out the gift shop and I found a gorgeous silk bedspread. One of the fellows in the group negotiated with the guide to eliminate the fishing nets and the church which many of us had seen the day before ( by telling him his tips would be higher) and we returned back to the ship earlier than expected and as the ship is ready to sail on to our next port this afternoon. 

Naturally, we couldn't miss a meal with Ken and Ngaire and our celebrity couple (Junalph) in the picture above, went to a magic show and then went off to bed. I can't believe we only have one week left. This is such a great group of people. They are a joy to be with. I wish this trip could go on and on and on...