Day 65, Kochi (Cochin) [Wednesday 6th February 2008]
Previous day: Day 64, Trissur, Kerala [Tuesday 5th February 2008]
Next day: Day 66, Kochi (Cochin), Kerala [Thursday 7th February 2008]
We buy a freestanding bell metal lamp in the Kerala Government-run craft shop, and post it home together with our other one. The cost is calculated by weight, and it costs a whopping Rs. 2000 to post. We have veg curry and paratha again for breakfast at Malabar Restaurant, then we get on a bus to Kochi.
We sail past endless jewellery billboards, full of ecstatic women dripping with bright yellow gold, arms and necks weighted down with ornate chokers and bracelets. Those women who aren't being conspicuously overcome by the voume and weight of their jewellery can instead be seen in the equally ubiquitous silk sari advertisements. These towering models loom over traffic all over southern Kerala, draped in the richest, finest, most embroidered silks that money can buy. Looking at these posters you can understand the wealth of texture and heritage that the saris provide.
Interestingly, the models in the ads are often inordinately exposed, more so than any woman I have seen in person in India. I guess sex sells here, even in posters and billboards advertising bridalwear.
As the bus thunders over a busy bridge we see a large sign saying "Welcome to Kochi". The sign is stuck into the ground and surrounded by small hills of stinking, rotting litter. The scene resembles a rubbish dump. We both crack up laughing, but we don't get the camera out in time to snap the sight.
We get the ferry to Fort Cochin, the old part of the city where swarms of Western tourists congregate. And it seems like all the hotels are full. We try 3 or 4 and get the same answer at all of them — full. Luckily for us one of the receptionists calls up his friend, who lives nearby and runs a homestay. 30 seconds later we have walked around behind the hotel and found it — Sithara. We negotiate Rs. 600 a night, a bargain! The owner, the pot bellied Harry, is friendly and a dry wit.
We take a quick look around the area — we are based a minute's walk from the parade ground. There are Western tourists everywhere, it's quite a weird sight. They even sell Diet Coke in the shops! There are barely any Indians aroudn except for shop owners. We look at the Chinese fishing nets, of which there are fewer than I'd imagined, then we go to a cafe and eat a tuna sandwich, cappuccino and blueberry cake!
Back at the homestay our hosts have made us dinner. We sit down at a table outside with two German guests who are staying in the other room here, and get served two different meals — one for us and one for them. Ours, I think, is spicier as we'd told Harry we'd eat anything. So, we get spicy king prawns, kingfish curry, chicken and sweetcorn sou, rice and a vegetable dish containing cabbage, potato, carrot and coconut. It's lovely, fresh, homecooked food. Afterward dinner Harry's wife Mary, the culinary genius, comes out to meet us. We say thanks for such a delicious meal, then we arrange breakfast for tomorrow. We ask for anything Keralan, and Harry suggests veg curry and appams, masala chai and pineapple juice. Sounds good...
Next day: Day 66, Kochi (Cochin), Kerala [Thursday 7th February 2008]
Previous day: Day 64, Trissur, Kerala [Tuesday 5th February 2008]