The Renaissance Cochin Kochi

... notice their dark complexion and curly hair indicating that they are of the mud digger class," when referring to some local children, I guess old habits die hard. Kerela is home to many different religions, including Syrian Christianity dating back to the 2nd Century. The people are beyond kind and friendly, I had heard such bad things about Indian people from other travelers, but I have found them to be the ...

... We are staying in a wonderful homestay with Beena and her family. They are so welcoming and make you feel completely at home. They whip up a delicious variety of food like marinated prawns, and serve pineapple and papaya with every meal. Beena is a Health Inspector - I shudder to think of the kitchens she inspects. She tells us that the bigger hotels and ...

... port was in the middle of the arrival of yachts involved in the Volvo World Yacht Race 2008 and busy with new pavements, roads and roadside folliage being added all around. We settled into the 5-star surroundings poolside like rednecks at a society charity bash. "This here pool sure is purty ma. Ooh. we's got fresh towels too!" Symbols of corporate sponsorship littered the lawns as we finetuned our lies about being with the media . At ...

... hundreds - getting right up on the stage and persisting to snap even when they were told to get down! What are they going to do with all these pictures of grunting green men? Were they even watching the performance? Our bitterness has got nothing to do with the fact that our camera batteries ran out five minutes into the performance - it was just very annoying! So we wave goodbye to the green men and the state of Kerala and move on to Goa.... Until then, byee xxx

... streets of fort Cochin and Mattancherry, checking out the dutch palace,the Jewish synagogue and the surrounding area. The area around the synagogue makes for a nice walk, ligned with the usual emporiums and tourist based shops, but to be honest is nothing special. The synagogue i cannot comment about, as it was closed today. From Cochin to the Jewish area you pass through streets ligned with tea and rice merchants, potato and onion 'dealers' and these ...

... s part, there were young women making bags with other types of spices. Our next stop was the Jewish Cementary and Synagogue at Mahatecherri. It was really interesting to see such an old synagogue in such an exotic destination. Apparently the history of Jews in India dates back to the desturction of the Second Temple! ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochin_Jew s ). We even met some of the members of the Jewish community there, which only has 13 people and most of ...

... exploiting the tourists these days. Poor us! Probably the main attraction has to be the Chinese fishing nets which are distinctly unique to Kochi and pretty much world famous. It's believed that traders from the court of the Chinese ruler Kublai Khan introduced these nets here which is strange given that the nets are found only in Kochi. Many fishermen still earn their livelihood by ...

... visage étonnantes, accompagnée d'un tambour, d'une percussion, de cymbales, et de chants. C'était vraiment intéressant. Lundi 30, c'est notre jour de visite de Fort Cochin qui est une petite île ou l'on accède par le ferry. Le matin les filets de pêcheurs installés par les Chinois fonctionnent de manière traditionnelle. Plus loin sur les quais on peut acheter le poisson frais et des crevettes que l'on peut se faire cuisiner sur ...

... I noticed that a single Indian man appeared to be following me. Just to make sure I would stop to look at the map or ask directions and he too would stop about 20 feet behind me. It was the middle of the day with many other people around and so after about 15 minutes of this game I walked up to him and asked him if he was following me. He smiled, sheepishly and admitted that he was following me but that I had nothing to worry about. When I inquired as to why he was ...

... hands and the go-go bar - that it was 7:45am at home - on a Monday - the time I used to pick Rick up for work and hit the standard Monday depression. It was a great feeling to be finally where we wanted to be. So long waiting for this trip and now it's here. Great. Enough of rubbing noses in it, but for those still reading this, take care and we're gonna try and put some piccies on here now! Catch you all soon Dan & Cath