Kochi - A foreign tourist colony

Trip Start Oct 07, 2007
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Trip End ??? ??, 2008


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Flag of India  ,
Wednesday, January 9, 2008

The bus journey from Munnar to Kochi is four and a half hours of twists and turns down through the mountains.  There's something thoroughly enjoyable about travelling on rickety old buses with the wind blowing through the spaces where there might have been windows along dusty roads, passing by elephants, bullock carts, women carrying water on the heads, Hindu temples, palm trees, brightly coloured sari shops and small wooden stalls.  India may be a country with many faults but the view fromt the window is always interesting.

Anyway, we arrived in Kochi in the afternoon and took the ferry to the peninsula, Fort Cochin. Like Pondicherry in the east, Fort Cochin has a colonial past having a one stage been occupied by the Dutch and the Portuguese.  Indeed the explorer, Vasco de Gama was originally buried there before being brought back to his native Portugal (anyone who has recently done Junior Cert history will know who I'm talking about!)

There's not a whole pile to Fort Cochin to be honest - it's pleasant with some good restaurants but it all feels a bit surburbian Chinese Cantilever Fishing Nets - in India!
Chinese Cantilever Fishing Nets - in India!
 .  And it's absolutely overrun by foreign tourists which of course makes for inflated prices and attracts the tourist touts in droves.  The party scene hasn't really been encouraged here either despite all the tourists about - most places don't have drinks licences and serve beer in teapots!

We have just one full day in Fort Cochin and head to the nearby Vypen Island to visit the beach there.  It's pretty dismal to be honest - piles of rubbish everywhere and lots of sleazy Indian men about hoping to get a glimpse of some foreign flesh.  I know most guys like a bit of eye candy on the beach but at least at home they have a bit of sublety about it!  Here they just stare completely unabashed.  Swimming seems to be pretty much a male pursuit here - if women go into the water at all they do so wearing the full sari, which isn't really the most streamlined of outfits! 

Oh yeah, by the way for anyone who thinks Jono isn't doing any work on the travel log he's looking after the photos which trust me is much more work than doing the writing with the speed of the computers here!  He's been doing a good bit of work in the last few days so check out the entries back along if you're interested.
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