South India: Kochin

Old-school playground in front of our hotel

All the Indian kids wanted to talk to or touch Boom

Chinese nets down the street from our hotel. Andaman sea right there.

Street shoe repair man stringing thread with his toes

Griffin was so inspired by India that he'd carry around his journal, drop to the ground and write.

Goats. Men in short sarongs. Vegetarian eateries abound.

Sums up India in one picture --
Spicy, Sweet, Strong-scented, and filled with bright yellow Tumeric color

Star Anise Seed

Tumeric

A group of Indian men taking a break, under Che. It's a Communist Party state here in the state of Kerala.

We scuttled from one island to another in Kochin, going from our base of Fort Kochin to the bigger, less intimate neighborhood of Ernakulam, good for shopping, though.

Our long, long, long-awaited ferry

Our men waiting in the men's line. Until, we noticed that there were only 2 women in the Ladies' Line, and we got our tickets much quicker that way. Still, they ignored us and wouldn't let us purchase our tickets until 5 minutes before the ferry arrived, leading to a mad scramble, everyone elbowing each other out of the way to make it onto the ferry and the much-coveted seats. I'm learning Indian workers really like to make you wait, just because they can.

I love it - this cruise ship is out to end poverty by 2015. And, how?

Pushing our way off the ferry.

We had to broker a deal with two tuk tuks for us to get anywhere. Sometimes the second tut tuk driver would be mad at the first for brokering such a cheap deal.

As Lisa quipped: "Cozy!"

April 3, 2011

Let me first say that India is one of our favorite countries we’ve visited in Asia. Friendly, open, big-hearted, and loudly expressive in its steamy smells, spices, tastes, colors, and emotions. What a contrast to Malaysia, a more constricted, quiet place, on the surface.

Why did we choose Kochin for our only stay in India? Because the only cheap flight left to India was to Kochin. Most other cities had been fully booked in India. And, everyone loves South India. We’d hoped to stay in the more well-known tourist spot in South India – Goa. But, we appreciated the less traveled path, in the end.

Goa has the big resorts and more. Kochin has tourists too, don’t get me wrong, but when we were there, not as many. And, it is a port on the Andaman . This means there were beautiful sea breezes, sea gulls, fresh fish and shrimp, and Kochin is a nest of islands. These islands require boats and ferries to shuttle you from place to place, adding to the adventure.

We stayed with Mary and Harvey at the wonderful Old Harbour Hotel which is located right on the harbor, as the name suggests. So, we were able to hear the boats pass, tooting their horns. Early in the morning, we saw fishermen raise their “chinese nets” using a rock-weighted pulley system, hauling up huge nets using long, thick poles. Click HERE to see them lowered. When we saw them raised, no fish seemed caught. But, somehow the fishermen would dump their fish onto plastic sacks and loudly auction the fish off. And, fishmongers would sell fish at tables, tuna from the sea all the way to small local fish caught nearby. At night, you could select a fish, buy it, take it to another set of outdoor tables, and they would cook it for you. Good, yes, overcooked, yes, possibly deceived, yes. Mary was convinced that they had switched her large shrimp for a cheaper smaller shrimp, when cooking it. My guess is it’s completely possible in India where it’s very easy to get hookwinked, small-time, but hoodwinked all the same. It’s done with such grace that you won’t even notice, and you’ll be smiling all the while.

Our hotel was right next to an old-school playground, with metal bars and see saws banned in the US. Early every morning and when it turns dark and cooler at night, the families turn out in droves. We adults could only look at the playground equipment and be disappointed. But, our kids had a great time. I am constantly reminded of how bringing my kids to Asia deepens our connection to Asia. I met a couple kids who reached out to me and my kids as we played. One boy named Reeva was like the playground host, insisting on pushing us in every turning object, knowing the tricks to pushing it backwards, for instance. He was eager to connect with foreigners. It felt like our only true, pure moment of connection with India, for me, since everyone else saw us as tourists, meaning money. Still, most adults were friendly about it, all the same.

The heat was like an extra member of our family, one we hated but just couldn’t get rid of. An expat living in Delhi told us he’d come to Kochin for a holiday because it was so much hotter in Delhi. We were shocked that it could be hotter anywhere else. The heat actually wilted Mary, at times, and we tried to regulate our temperature with air-conditioned rides, tuk tuk trips cooled by blowing air, and frequent dips in our hotel pool. We actually swam in our hotel pool twice a day, and I think Mary did a few times a day sometimes. At night, our hotel played classical Indian music by the pool and served great dinners, accompanied by mosquitos biting your ankles. Click HERE for music by the Old Harbour Hotel pool.

Needless, to say, you need to exercise as early as possible in the morning. With Ken’s parents around, Ken and I could run together, for the first time since July. In Malaysia, we do a yoga datenite once a week, but we can’t run together. And, Ken would prefer not to run in the heat anyway; he’s become a swimmer and gym rat in KL. But, in India, he had no choice, and he ran alongside me, with us joking about how the Indian women would point and laugh at how he had trouble keeping up with me. We ran at 6:30am to stay cool, along the waterfront, running by men walking, doing a kicking sort of stretching, and early morning cricket games. It was an active, vibrant Indian scene, even with military men at the naval base playing a loud volleyball game. We also did a couple 8am yoga classes at our hotel, realizing 8am was too late when the direct sun crawled over our hotel, hitting our dripping faces during sun salutation. Early morning exertion is where it’s at in that heat.

More importantly, Mary and Harvey freed us up for some necessary couple time. We don’t get much time together in Malaysia because Ken works at night and I wake up early with the kids, so we are on completely different schedules. We see each other for dinner, but that’s it during the week. We’ve been missing each other. In India, our sleep schedules have become more synchronized. Who’d think we’d have to go to India with the grandparents in order to finally have some time together?

In Kochin, we first took a ferry to the other island with the neighborhood, Ernakulum. We had to walk far in the dead heat, wait in lines that didn’t move (ferry ticket salesmen like to wait to sell the tickets until 5 minutes before the ferry arrives), realize the women’s line is shorter than the men’s, get our ferry tickets, make a mad, elbowing rush for the ferry door, fight for our seats, and enjoy the ferry ride. The ferry took us past their busy shipping port and past a large cruise ship called “Peace Ship” claiming to decrease poverty while sailing for 3 months around the world carrying a bunch of rich Japanese. In Evrakulam, we tuk tuked to a silk sari shop, a more casual gorgeous textile clothing shop called “Fabindia,” and ate a lunch with locals.