Cochin, India Mar 27th

Arrived today in Cochin, India.
On our excursion, the first stop was the Mattancherry Palace that was built by the Portuguese as a gift to the king in 1555. Then changed by the occupying Dutch and then the local maharajahs. There were ancient paintings on the walls that were painted with oils and pigments from local plants and flowers. They are still very colorful today. Unfortunately due to the rules, we could not take pictures. There were 'carriages' that the royalty used to get around carried by their servants. The ceilings were very intricate carved teak wood.
We also visited a Jewish synagogue. It is no longer in service except for very special religious occasions since all the jews left mid 20th century or have inter-married.
Along the way we walked through many shops where the locals had their hand-crafted goods for sale. Many stalls with wooden and textiles, shirts, pants. We also wandered through a courtyard of a hotel with its views and highly decorated walls.
Our last stop was Fort Kochi where we could see the Chinese fishing nets. This is an ancient way of dropping the nets from long poles and then when they catch the fish, they use stones tied to the weights to help raise the nets and fish out of the water. We walked through the fish market and saw all kinds of fish, tuna, red fish, shark, crab and very, very large prawns. Our guide said that during the morning hours when the fishermen come in with their catch, it's really busy with everyone yelling and bidding for the fresh catch.
On the way our we saw a 'rain tree' that curls its leaves when it rains to catch the rain water, then later on releases the water so that it's 'raining' even after the rain stops.
Then back to our ship for a shower since it's very hot and humid here this time of the year.Read more