Bharat Hotel Kochi

... A super-sized electric iron was used for shirts.<br><br>We were a little worried about how our clothes would look when they came back, but all was well.<br><br>As we were driving back, Kip spotted a guy sitting on the ground with four small baskets in front of him. A crowd was just leaving. She recognized him as a snake charmer. We negotiated a payment and he sat down and started to play his flute. One by one he slowly ...

... fishing nets along the beach operated by a system of pulleys and weights. It is thought that 14th century Chinese merchants probably first brought structures like these to India, hence the name. They gave us a demonstration although they only fish between 6am and 12 noon when the tide is at its highest. From here we made our way back to the ship. We both thorooughly enjoyed our tour here and the guide was excellent as have all our guides.

Sending a postal order Background: accommodation gets booked up quick at Goa over the new year period so we try to book ahead but were told to ensure the booking we needed to send a postal order - simple? No way! Read on..... What happened: Arrive at the main post office in Fort Kochi at 3pm and enquire about sending a postal order. We are told that postal orders can only be sent between 9am and 2pm (although the post office is open a further 3 hours ...

... and took our breath away. Waterfalls and a meandering ice blue river were the only breaks in the thick carpet of green foliage stretched out far below us. After 20 minutes however the visibility was becoming poor and we could see a huge dark clouds rolling through the valley towards us. Trotting back to the jeep the thudding dollups of rain increased in verocity. Worrywort Keith flapped about getting wet and sat dripping in the foetal position as the guide ...

... washing etc. We get a glimpse of four fishermen, accompanied by their toothless wives and carrying ancient nets, swim across the riverbank and get out the other side, chattering loudly all the way. These people are tribal and totally rural, they look nothing like their city counterparts. Next we get off at a village to see how coir rope is made from coconut fibre - i'll never vacantly wipe mud off my feet on the welcome mat again ...

... and the Saints are all very ornantly done with lots of colors and TONS of statues, just like the Hindu temples. It was also interesting to witness the devote Indian Catholic in the church today walking to all the statues touching thier feet. Indian Cultural Difference - Feet Touching: As a sign of respect to elders and authority, people reach down and touch their feet.

... dishes because of the rancid coconut oil taste. So they gave us names of places to go to that did not serve basik tasting food. It was raining heavily on our way back and getting the ferry was such an experience. Firstly, the entire area on that end was muddy and they had stepping stones which were very haphazardly laid and moved as you stepped on them. A kindly man saw us drenched with all our shopping bags and ...

... two Indian journalists in Afghanistan after the U.S.-led invasion, and it was mostly in Hindi with some English parts. As far as I could understand it, it was good! From Mumbai, it was 13 hours on a southbound daytime train to reach the small coastal village of Benaulim, in the state of Goa. Goa was formerly controlled by the Portuguese, and gets lots of both Indian and foreign tourists ...

... us was a must... So if you are in Fort Cochin, don't miss it! We had dinner near the hotel with Biriyani (fragrant steamed rice with vegetables) and as always received some Saunf at the end of the meal (anis seeds that are used as a digestive and come with the bill). When we came home Claudia made a terrible discovery: we had forgotten that we had left one single cookie on the table, with disastrous results...at least six giant cockroaches were ...

... with the people in our small compartment. They watched out for us, shared their food, and filled us up with stories large and small about their land. As usual, I felt a small sadness as we left our itinerant family and headed over to our new island home. As soon as we arrived on Vypeen Island, I knew that I carried a GI hitchhiker from the train and was to spend 4 fun filled days sitting on a toilet emptying my insides. I was quick to discover that it couldn't have happened ...