So we've been for our first full day in Fort Kochi (aka 'Cochin'), India, in Kerala State. Friday night I hustled out of work early and grabbed a four-hour Silk-Air flight from Singapore to Cochin airport in Kerala State, India.
Kerala is in the southwest tip of India, along the coast with the Indian Ocean. It has been a significant trading hub since Vasco de Gama landed here long ago (1500s? 1600s? I forget my Mr. Georgovich history) Anyway, it is a historically significant place, as it connected Arab, Indian, and European traders in a vibrant market of spices and other things of value. It's steeped with genuine historical character... ancient Syrian Christian communities, an equally ancient Jewish community, as well as a surpisingly huge, although more recent, Roman Catholic community. (the number of cathedrals here has been a surpise). As well, there is a Muslim community which seems tolerated.
So we arrived around 1030pm Friday night. It was too late to get a ferry to our proper hotel on Ft. Kochin (there is a small archipelago, Ft. Kochi being the interesting one.) Consequently we had arranged to stay one night in Ernakulam, a more conventional city on the coast. It was the typical mangy business hotel and we left almost immediately the next morning, after enduring the typical awful hotel breakfast. [as an aside, I truly don't know why we ever, ever, ever take these hotel breakfasts. I find them universally awful and grim. In fact, the awful food is only 49% of the reason I hate them. I find the depressing, sullen atmosphere of random people coming from their rooms to go pick over a nasty buffet in silent endurance to just be awwwwwful. If I never had another hotel breakfast I wouldn't mind].
We took a taxi to Fort Kochi and experienced the stereotypical Indian drive -- terrible amounts of road bedlam and honking and near-misses. The driving is actually a bit more chaotic than Malaysia. (I would comment that Ernakulam reminds me of any of the secondary cities of Malaysia... Muar, Ipoh, etc)
The first three days of our stay are at the Brunton Boat Yard. A three-year old hotel that is at the north of the island in one of the two culturally-interesting areas here. Built in the style of the old Dutch houses around here, it's quite tasteful and quiet and comfortable. Ling is quite fond of it. In two days we'll be moving to the Malabar Residency Inn, which is the finest hotel in the area and should have even more character.
We didn't do an awful lot yesterday aside from reconnaisance of the area. I wasn't shocked by the power outage we had during dinner because earlier in the day, while enjoying a lime soda, an explosion occured 50 feet from us, raining burning debris onto the street. Ling was startled, and I at first thought it might be an attack by ISI Islamic terrorists from Pakistan. But the cool nerves I have developed after seven years serving in the Naval Special Warfare Community kept me cool and collected. It turned out to just be an exploding line transformer. But I was ready if there was going to be a need from some bare chested, hand-to-hand melee.
One of the other things Kerala is famous for is Ayurvedic massage. This is the fruity-loopy mystical medicine you might imagine -- lots of odd 'essential oils' applied in strange ways. One of the treatments is something like wearing a very tightly-fitting chef's hat with an open top. Then the chef's hat is filled with strange oils and balms, soaking into your brain and releasing toxins. Shit like that. Anyway, we went for the basic Ayurvedic massage. Massages can be quite nice, but this pushed my limits. Laying flat on a large wooden plank, naked, except for a miniscule loincloth the width of a sheet of toilet paper, being rubbed with oil by some Indian dude.... I suspect this is not something my mother will be bragging about to the other mothers at the Murrysville Library. I think Ling enjoyed it a bit more than me. And of course she has delighted in asking me questions since then like, "did you 'pop a boner'?" and "was your man gentle?" etc. etc. etc.
The rest of the day was typical first-day tourist details. We did find a nice cafe, "Yashi Arts Cafe" nearby that serves very, very good Masala Chai -- perhaps the best I've tasted. It's a pretty pleasant place to hang out, especially if you sit in the back, away from the flies. The mosquitos are everywhere, but they seem to be polite mosquitos -- neither Ling and I have any bites to complain of.
Today (Sunday) we'll be going south a bit to some of the other market areas of Kochi.
Regards
Posted by Nils Blutig at January 26, 2003 01:00 PM | TrackBack