Dream Cochin Kochi

... just a 90 minute performance! <br><br>The show was a little difficult to follow at first because of the way Kathakali is performed, but it was really interesting to watch. It wasn't like anything I had ever seen before, and I am glad we went to see the show. After dinner, we went to a small seafood place, and I had a delicious fresh grouper and realized how glad I was to be able to eat fish again.<br><br>The next morning, we had a sightseeing day around Cochin with ...

... nights in Kochi at a great home stay (family run B&amp;B) called Sajhome. We had a few days to explore the small Portuguese old fort town which proved to be less picturesque than we were expecting but I found it was growing on me by the time we left (less so for Andy). Unfortunately, Duncan began feeling unwell in Oman and continued to worsen so, as he was bedridden, the rest of us made only brief forays out. One of the evenings we went with Maddie to a ...

... so we just went up. We ate a nice meal, the environment was nice with background jazz music. In the morning, after a goodnight sleep, we went near the river to see the Chinese fishing nets. We were immediately stopped by fishermen on these fishing nets to buy fish and take pictures while pulling up the nets. There were signs saying 'You buy We cook'. That's what we did. We bought a black snapper ...

... The beach was nice, there were no male gawkers there, the water was so warm, the alcohol is cheap, the hippie trance music is awesome. There were bar/cafes lining the entire shore. There was good shopping. i rented a moped for 3 days. Ohhh it was so fun! I think I want one back home...or a motorcycle. Ohh, the sea food is amazing! I tried a lot of different kinds of shellfish and fish. I wanted shark so badly, but ...

... evening at the temple again, but then these 2 Indian guys approached me and asked if i wanted to go drinking. Why not, i thought to myself, so off to the bottle shop we went. The Indians here don't drink like we do, they don't like to sit and savor their drinks, they seem to try and neck them as fast as they can, which is very counterproductive as they also in general can't handle their alcohol. After mixing the whiskey with a tiny bit of Coke and pretty much ...

... are everywhere, always on the opposite bank from the canal. The houses, occasional shops, and hotels are all built on land bridges that are only slightly wider than the buildings. There is water on both sides of the buildings, in other words. The other side is not always wet, however, only when flooded for the rice. The canals are used for everyday living. We saw lots of kids swimming because this was the first day of summer ...

... couple from Oz. We had a great time snapping a zillion pictures, inhaling what I think was biodiesel and taking in the beauty. The scenery change from the high mountains to coconut covered sea level was just spectacular. Arriving in Metypalyum, we realised we all were traveling to same place so here I lucked out with some partners in crime - always good to make some new travel friends especially when you have an overnight train ride ahead. We crammed onto the right train from ...

... The island is fantastic, with wonderful buildings and a really laid back atmosphere - a prefect place to stroll around. The thing that makes Cochin special is the amount of cultures who've made it their home. Traders from all round the world started living here from the 1500's, and each of them have made their mark. Be it the Portuguese and Vasco de Gama square, the Dutch and British with their colonial architecture, the Chinese and their fishing nets or ...

... how light it was what with the use of the levers and what not. They all sing while they lift to keep the pull rhythm. My pull only caught a couple fish, hey I never was much of a fisherman(sorry dad). Then we went to some tourist stores because the taxi drivers get commission if you buy something. NO worries we were paying a flat rate for the day so it was no big deal very nice to see all of the amazing fabrics and jewels. I think India has some of the nicest and most rich fabrics ...

... I had to get away from the rain. I moved onto Cochin, an old spice trading port that has a strange European/Indian feel about the place. Huge sacks of spices, nuts and rice fill warehouses and shops. Weathered, old men with silver moustaches write numbers into clipboards as the younger ones throw sacks up way too high onto trucks. I got a feeling that this is what my part of London must have been like when the docks were in full ...