Cochin (Kochi), India The Queen of the Arabian Sea…

 We woke up to another cruise terminal, gray skies and another city… We are entering India today and inside that building we will show so many pieces of paper and documents that I might have given away my first born child….Its all a tremendous amount of stuff to do just to get into this country.  We have a 10am tour and therefore are to report to immigration for processing by 9:15…an hour later…we finally get cleared (everyone needs our paperwork, even the military doorman) and head to our bus where we find it has been sent ahead and we will now join another bus that is already loaded to go.. that makes 45 people on this included tour  ( it should have been 25) and off we go cramped into submission….

Today we are to see a church, a palace,a synagogue and fishing nets… just heading out of the terminal our attention is drawn to the huge amounts of trash, abandoned buildings and old vehicles left along the roadway.. not the best first impression… But , I remind myself that  every country values different things, so cut them some slack….

Again we see the tuk tuk parade waiting for passengers. There does seem to be more scooters here than in Sri Lanka.

Our first stop is at the Mattancherry Palace, also know as the Dutch Palace. It was built in 1545 by the Portuguese as a gift for the king of Cochin.  It was built to appease the king after they had plundered a temple nearby.. Vasco da Gama had come there in 1498 and had been welcomed…After that the Rajas of Cochin became attached to the Portuguese..Then the Dutch came and they took over the palace in 1663. The palace is filled with murals depicting the portraits and lives of the Rajas of Cochin.  

The glory of the palace is the murals from floor to ceiling in the best tradition of Hindu temple art. We were not allowed to take pictures of any of the murals for fear the light would damage the artwork.  There is also a few items that were used by the Rajas such at the chairs to convey them from place to place. And one chair that sits on top of an elephant. Again no pictures allowed 

Wooden carved above the doors

An amazing carved wood and brass ceiling 

Can you imagine sitting inside that box in 88 degree temps and humid as 75% while men carried you from place to place???

A lock on windows.. amazing workmanship

One robe worn by a Raja..spun from gold and silver thread

After our visit to the Palace, we walked through a small women’s collective market and arrived at the oldest synagogue in Asia.  At one time there was a large Jewish population in Cochin.  After the creation of Israel, most immigrated away, Now there are only maybe 2 Jews left . The synagogue is more a historical place now.  Below is a sign naming the road the synagogue sits on.

The Paradesi Synagogue was built in 1568. It is the oldest synagogue in the Commonwealth of Nations

Front of the building 

Entrance room to the worship place. The floor is tiled with Chinese tiles.

The tiles were a gift from China and each one is slightly different

Many of the chandeliers were gifts from Belgium

The building was built on land next to the Mattancherry palace on land given to the from the Raja at the time.  Inside there are many Hindu influences.

On our way to the St Francis Church we saw these guys trying to either repair or steal phone service….When you don’t have a ladder… improvise.

The Church of St. Francis, original burial place of Vasco da Gama. Once again we needed to take off our shoes to enter.

More tie flooring down the center aisle

Looking upwards. Lots of ropes and pulleys..

All along the sides of the room, these large cloth fans are hanging. There would be someone pulling the ropes and causing the air to be blown across the seats before there was electric fans.

The burial spot of Vasco da Gama. After 14 years, a relative requested his body be dug up and sent to Portugal for reburial.

The inner worship area

Us, outside hot and tired

Our next spot to visit meant a walk a few blocks to the sea side to look at the Chinese fishing nets.  On our way we passed this white gated fence and were told it was where the Marigold hotel was, but Im not really sure about that…

In the background you can barely see the tall poles and nets 

Fish on the ground…not caught in the Chinese nets as those are not really used anymore.

We would have stayed longer to look however a horde of beggars started gathering around us and became quite insistent. While we walked the few blocks back to our bus, they continued to shove trinkets in our faces and ask for money.  It was a difficult walk and even when we got to the bus they blocked our way into the bus trying to sell us stuff. I was drained from saying no…it was worse than when one of my kids badgered me to do something and I said no…these women and children didn’t stop!!

Returning to the ship very hot and very tired,we were treated by a group of  instrumental musicians playing traditional instruments. Drums. Horns,strings… all at a volume to break my eardrum! They took their greeting us very seriously and gave us a full on concert!

Tonight we will leave Cochin and head towards the city of Goa.