Birds Flyin' High...: A Taste of Kerala: Fort Cochin

It had been quite a busy few days so Becky and I were excited to head off to Kerala for some serious relaxation.

Our first stop was the historic, sea-side town of Fort Cochin, which I really loved. Yes, it was still hot (more so even than Bangalore) but the sea breeze was welcome and the atmosphere was much slower and more relaxed. We were staying in a really nice home-stay, which had a lovely outdoor terrace on which we sipped our welcome cup of tea and felt generally rather content with life.

Heading out for a late afternoon walk, we encountered a number of children on their way back from school. They were all very excited to see us, calling out hello and asking our names and where we were from. After wandering through the main streets and making a couple of quick purchases from the amazing shop, Fab India, it was time for a refreshing drink! Becky and I bonded a long time ago over a shared love of good wine, so it seemed only right that we should try out one particular restaurant which offered a tasting flight of wines from the up-and-coming Indian wine industry. However after one glass we decided it was a bit too hot for all that and went back to the Kingfishers!

The next morning we took an auto-rickshaw over to the "Jewtown" areas to visit the 400-year old Paradesi Synagogue. There were numerous spice shops as well as the usual handicraft shops in this area and all were fronted with signs claiming that they were “hassle free". This is almost unheard of in India and had resulted in some inventive new sales tactics! One guy approached us and had quite an extensive conversation with me about my travels, then said goodbye, and it was only when we returned from the synagogue later that he re-appeared and asked whether I might be interested in looking in his shop... almost like it was an after-thought! Another guy pointed at the sign, then put his finger to his lips to demonstrate his silence, then slowly pointed the way into his shop!

Spice Shop in Jewtown

After (mostly) resisting the urge to buy anything we visited the nearby Jain temple. Many people were worshipping here, which involved paying their respects before a series of idols around the temple, banging a gong, lighting candles, doing a series of salutations in front of the main shrine, whispering prayers or mantras and then pouring some rice on a block in front of the shrine, tracing a particular pattern in it and placing a coin in the centre. I have no idea what any of this meant but it was very beautiful to watch!

We then discovered that it was high tide, which is the perfect time to visit one of Fort Cochin's most famous sites: the Chinese fishing nets. These, huge spiderlike contraptions are lowered into the water, and then heaved up using a series of counter-weights and the strength of 4-6 men. Unfortunately there was quite a bit of litter in the water and it didn't seem too clean, so it was no real surprise when the nets kept coming up empty! After seeing us watching for a while, some of the local fishermen invited us to give them a hand pulling in the nets and amazingly there were actually a few fish in our catch! (Call me cynical but I suspect they were planted!)

Chinese Fishing Net

Pulling in our catch (clearly the guy on the left of the photo isn't pulling his weight!)

Next we headed to a cute little café called Teapot where we enjoyed a delicious fish moile (best fish curry I have ever had!) and a blueberry cheesecake (cheesecake is Indian, right?) before returning to the home-stay where we had arranged to have some mehndi (henna design) done on our hands.

My mehndi

That night we went to watch a Kathakali performance. This is a play where the story is told through a series of very precise facial expressions and hand movements, accompanied by singing and drumming! We arrived a bit early to watch the intricate make-up application but only stayed for part of the show, as it was dragging on a bit and we were starting to feel thirsty! Heading back to the Chinese fishing nets we found a small fish stall where you could buy fish and have it cooked at a nearby shack. Three king prawns and a grilled fish later and we were ready for a final beer at an ocean-front bar, before heading home to bed.

Kathakali performance

The next morning I was up bright and early at 5:45 am to see the sunrise (India has strange effects on me!). It was a really nice time to be out and about - of course there were already plenty of people going about their business, but it was a lot more peaceful than usual. Men were gathered at the tea stalls, drinking chai and reading the newspaper and chatting. I headed down to the Chinese fishing nets again and for once there were no tourists and just a few fishermen hauling in the nets, and others arriving in boats to sell their catch. People - presumably from the local restaurants - were gathered on the shore and they auctioned off the fish as it was hauled in.