Tom's Trip to India - March/April 2012: March 3

Namaste! Welcome to India:

Your " Southern India" adventure begins with a welcome meeting at 6pm on Day 1.

Spread over several islands, Kochi is a fascinating place full of Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and English influences. Head out to explore the major sights of Fort Cochin and visit the spice bazaars and antique shops. The best way to get around the islands is by using the ferry network. Visit the Dutch Palace, built by the Portuguese in the middle of the 16th century. It was taken over by the Dutch in 1663, who added some improvements before presenting it to the Rajas of Cochin.

Be part of a Kathakali dance performance. This classical dance is a highly charged and powerful drama that combines devotion and physical virtuosity with symbolic storytelling to produce one of the most impressive and vibrant forms of theatre in the world.

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We met at 6 PM on Friday evening, March 2. There are 9 people in our group...2 guys, 7 women plus our guide. Let me introduce you to them:

Frank - Diary farmer from Ontario Canada - early 30s
Pip & Gillian - Australia - work for law firms
Jessie - school teacher from Clinton, NY
Monica and Theresa - Austrian retirees
Kiki and Mary - UK
Chandra - India guide

The group is diverse relative to country, age and background. Some are in their mid- 20's, mid-40s and a couple in late 50s. I'm the oldest and they now call me Papa because of my age, family size and respect...I like the respect aspect the best.

Today, March 3 is hot..hot...hot and humid..humid ...like the DC area in early August. After a good night's sleep we began our walking tour to visit the Chinese fish nets, churches, Dutch Palace and "Jew Town". Rather than taking a tuk-tuk back to Fort Cochin, we took a boat ride around the harbor islands...notice the neat picture of the Chinese nets taken from the boat. Below are some of the sights we saw during our 6 hour walking and tuk-tuk tour. We had a fabulous lunch of garlic nan (bread), prawns with ginger, rice and soda with ginger (refreshing)....best meal that I have had so far in India. We will spend the heat of the day in our rooms cooling off, showering and getting ready to go to a Kathakali Story Play, a bit of Indian culture.

I took some video on my iPod touch which I will download separately....you can get a feel for what riding in a tuk-tuk is like.