On tuesday (16th of August) I headed for Kochin and stayed in a small cottage called the beach house (owned by a tuktuk driver), which was nice. I had planned to stay somewhere else, but because that place was closed down the rickshaw driver convinced me to have a look at that place. A good choice and I enjoyed it.
So Kochin (Cochi? Cochin? Fort Kochin?) was once a potuguese colony, untill the dutch came which were eventually defeated by the british.
In this place there is (was) a big jewish community, so a part of town is still called the jewish town and they have a pretty synagogue there. The story of the jews in India (or this part of India) starts in the first century AD, after the romans destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. They were allowed to live with the Indians on the coast and florished untill the portuguese came, who destroyed their homes and synagogue, a few escaped to the Maharaja of Kochi, who protected them also after the portuguese had taken over Kochin. Since then they were a part of the society there. But since Isreal was founded many have left India (someone told me).
In this place there is (was) a big jewish community, so a part of town is still called the jewish town and they have a pretty synagogue there. The story of the jews in India (or this part of India) starts in the first century AD, after the romans destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. They were allowed to live with the Indians on the coast and florished untill the portuguese came, who destroyed their homes and synagogue, a few escaped to the Maharaja of Kochi, who protected them also after the portuguese had taken over Kochin. Since then they were a part of the society there. But since Isreal was founded many have left India (someone told me).
Otherwise I felt like this city is much more frequented by tourists and foreigners than other citys. Or maybe I was just in the touristy corner for a change. The food was expensive (but good!) and there were only a few spots of "typical" indian shops and stalls. To find these you'd have to look or just walk into the other direction for quite some time, untill you get past the residential area.
Of course there were alot with gift shops, small souvenirs and stuff, aimed to get tourists to buy stuff. The Tuktuk drivers usually all had a deal with the government shops around the fort cochin area, so you could get free rides if you let them take you to the shops (they'd ask you for a favour). Thanks to this I got a tour through Kochin for free. I did visit 5 shops, but still more than half of the time was spent sightseeing.
Of course there were alot with gift shops, small souvenirs and stuff, aimed to get tourists to buy stuff. The Tuktuk drivers usually all had a deal with the government shops around the fort cochin area, so you could get free rides if you let them take you to the shops (they'd ask you for a favour). Thanks to this I got a tour through Kochin for free. I did visit 5 shops, but still more than half of the time was spent sightseeing.
This seems to be a thing in Jain temples... they feed pidgeons!
They gather by the hundreds for lunch time! And swarm around the temple, waiting to be fed
One of the old ware complexes of the dutch, some are still being used to store spices and other stuff
Here the washers hang and dry the clothes, there is one big house and this field were alot of people work and clean their clothes
These shops are basically all the same. They sell bronze statues, wooden sculptures, shawls (of course finest quality and 100% pashmina *cough*) and jewellery. And then the bigger stuff (tables, chairs, carpets and trunks).
The pieces themselves would differ, but it was all basically the same. Depending on the people inside you could spend minutes or hours in them (if you don't shake them off). Many are very eager to find out what you like and know which questions to ask, what to say to try and get you.
"Would you like a necklace for your mother?"
"No thank you"
"Oh you don't love your mother?"
"Of course I love her!"
"Well why not show it by giving her this beautiful necklace? Isn't it pretty?"
"Yeah, I guess"
"So should I pack it?"
"No!"
"But this is a unique way to show that you love your mother"
"But I don't need a necklace to prove that I love her"
"True, but if you would get her a necklace, she would know, that you thought of her in this moment in India! When she would carry it she would be proud of you and know you thought of her on your travels."
"Ugh... how much?"
"How much would you pay?"
*sigh* "1000 Rupees?"
"I was thinking of more than that"
"Then sorry, good bye"
"No no wait! How about 3000?"
"I'll have to think about it"
"But this deal is only good today! Its a special day and for you, my goooood friend, I'll give you this one-time deal! It would be stupid to let it slip"
"Sure, then I guess I'm not that smart. Good bye!" (runs away)
The pieces themselves would differ, but it was all basically the same. Depending on the people inside you could spend minutes or hours in them (if you don't shake them off). Many are very eager to find out what you like and know which questions to ask, what to say to try and get you.
"Would you like a necklace for your mother?"
"No thank you"
"Oh you don't love your mother?"
"Of course I love her!"
"Well why not show it by giving her this beautiful necklace? Isn't it pretty?"
"Yeah, I guess"
"So should I pack it?"
"No!"
"But this is a unique way to show that you love your mother"
"But I don't need a necklace to prove that I love her"
"True, but if you would get her a necklace, she would know, that you thought of her in this moment in India! When she would carry it she would be proud of you and know you thought of her on your travels."
"Ugh... how much?"
"How much would you pay?"
*sigh* "1000 Rupees?"
"I was thinking of more than that"
"Then sorry, good bye"
"No no wait! How about 3000?"
"I'll have to think about it"
"But this deal is only good today! Its a special day and for you, my goooood friend, I'll give you this one-time deal! It would be stupid to let it slip"
"Sure, then I guess I'm not that smart. Good bye!" (runs away)
The longer this takes you usually feel more the urge to either just give up and buy it or to just run away. Additionally you get the feeling you need to compensate his job somehow, he has been trying to sell you something for this entire time, now you should maybe buy something small at least...
Luckily I have a good controll to only get weak when I actually want something. But then the bargaining gets harder and so on... sometimes walking by/ leaving simply helps alot. They will go down with the price. That way you can get something from 12.000 Rupees to 3.000 Rupees. Of course 12.000 is way to high for the actual price and it is never worth that much, but you can more or less notice it when they go down with their "special discount" for you. I can't imagine them selling something, if the money is less than it's worth. You should probably half the prices (probably close to actual worth?) and then half it again to be able to bargain. Often the question was: "What would you pay?" "1000" "But the quality is so high! It's such a good piece" "Hmmm... I only have 1000" "2000" "Sorry, no, I'll go" "Ok! Wait, we'll do 1000, ok?!" So you could imagine, that this might actually be the proper price or close to it. And then again you have no Idea/ proof if the article you bought is actually handmade/ fairtrade/ organic/ ... whatever they promised you. Most Shawls and wooden/ bronze items are probably made in the millions and sold all over India.
Luckily I have a good controll to only get weak when I actually want something. But then the bargaining gets harder and so on... sometimes walking by/ leaving simply helps alot. They will go down with the price. That way you can get something from 12.000 Rupees to 3.000 Rupees. Of course 12.000 is way to high for the actual price and it is never worth that much, but you can more or less notice it when they go down with their "special discount" for you. I can't imagine them selling something, if the money is less than it's worth. You should probably half the prices (probably close to actual worth?) and then half it again to be able to bargain. Often the question was: "What would you pay?" "1000" "But the quality is so high! It's such a good piece" "Hmmm... I only have 1000" "2000" "Sorry, no, I'll go" "Ok! Wait, we'll do 1000, ok?!" So you could imagine, that this might actually be the proper price or close to it. And then again you have no Idea/ proof if the article you bought is actually handmade/ fairtrade/ organic/ ... whatever they promised you. Most Shawls and wooden/ bronze items are probably made in the millions and sold all over India.
So Fort Kochin itself wasn't that great, not much to see, cool architecture here and there but not really something breathe taking. The fort itself doesn't exist anymore (except a few walls here and there). The coast line is nice, it has a small harbour, so witha small Hamburg vibe, so you could often see freighters with alot of containers enter and leave the harbour. They seem to care as less about the environment as many others in India.
Just dumping black waste into the water...
But I still like harbours =)
Another thing at the coast are the chinese fisher nets, they are fun to watch, as they slowly desccend into the water and rise maybe half an hour later. I haven't see any big catches there... but they have to work, otherwise they wouldn't be used.
The net about to be "dropped" into the water
And at sunset...
So I stayed, to be frank, too long there. One thing was that I had booked a train for the end of August and I didn't know if leaving the city (except for Munnar, as planned) was worth it. And when I got a little ill, leaving the city was out of question, so it wasn't that bad to just stay in one place and get well again. It was nothing bad, if it would have been more than the 2 days I would have visited a doctor. Since then nothing else happened, so I guess it was just a short thing, too much or less of something (water/ sun/ stress/ traveling/ indian food/ spices/...). I don't know, it's gone, that is the main thing.
On one of my last days I met Carina and Tobi again. I had spent an evening with them in Alleppey and just met them standing in the street. So we hung out together once again and we realised we'd be in Mysore at the same time (now beginning of september) so we stayed in touch.
Together we visited the "Kathakali" a traditional Kerala dance. It's closely tied with religion, showing a scene of the Ramayana (or was it the Mahabarata?). We went to a theater, where first the different moves, gestures and emotions were explained. Way to many to remember any, but it was interesting just to know, that all hand signs actually have a meaning (like sign language!) and the dance was very emotional (alot of face expressions complemented the hand signs). When the actual dance started a man in the background started singing (probably reciting the Ramayana or explaining what was happening, but it was on Malayalam, so I have no clue). The show was about a demon (who was disguised as a pretty woman), who tried to seduce a god, but he stayed strong and resisted long enough to see through the demons illusion and lastly killed him, to free his fellow gods, who had fallen to the demons spell.
Together we visited the "Kathakali" a traditional Kerala dance. It's closely tied with religion, showing a scene of the Ramayana (or was it the Mahabarata?). We went to a theater, where first the different moves, gestures and emotions were explained. Way to many to remember any, but it was interesting just to know, that all hand signs actually have a meaning (like sign language!) and the dance was very emotional (alot of face expressions complemented the hand signs). When the actual dance started a man in the background started singing (probably reciting the Ramayana or explaining what was happening, but it was on Malayalam, so I have no clue). The show was about a demon (who was disguised as a pretty woman), who tried to seduce a god, but he stayed strong and resisted long enough to see through the demons illusion and lastly killed him, to free his fellow gods, who had fallen to the demons spell.
Me posing with the Kathakali actors (left the god and right the sexy demon woman who tried to seduce him)
The stage inside the theater
This was actually really cool, though the speakers weren't adjusted at all, so it wasn't that enjoyable (way too loud!). But the dance was interesting.
After the couple had left I had another day and explored Ernakulam, where I would arrive from Munnar and then take a train (so I would know where to go etc).
In the night I toke a private bus (but one like a proper public transport, probably to meet the demand on this path) to Munnar and arrived there in time for lunch (it had some technical problems, so it was delayed).
In the night I toke a private bus (but one like a proper public transport, probably to meet the demand on this path) to Munnar and arrived there in time for lunch (it had some technical problems, so it was delayed).
An old ship radar, outisde the navy museum
And inside the Museum (they displayed alot of weapons, missiles and stuff like that)
At the beach of Fort Kochin, one of the old defences!
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