2023 Adventure ATW

We have been in Muscat six years ago and had a very good whole day tour. For today we booked three hours boat tour to see dolphins and snorkel with Younga and David.
To get to our boat we had to take shuttle from the ship to the entrance of the port and them walk 100-150 yard to the hotel.
At 9:15am the taxi came to get us and after 10min with crazy driver we were at the place where the boat tour will start.
We told to wait inside the cafe till 10:00am.
At 10:00am we were told to wait 5 min more. This 5min turned into 20. Finally, we proceeded to a beautiful boat full of Indian tourists.
We were told that they will disembark after dolphin watching and for snorkeling there will be only 4 of us.
We saw lots of dolphins. I took some pictures of them, but the dolphins are so fast, I did not get any good ones.
After seeing dolphins, as promised, all passengers got out and four of us went on our snorkeling 🤿 adventure. The beautiful boat was all for us.
We snorkeled for maybe 30 min, until Boris had enough. The water was very pleasant and there were fair amount of fish. We saw one turtle.
Back on the boat, we decided to come back on the ship and have a quick lunch and then go to shop.
Not much shopping as most stores were already closed. But Younga was very interested in oriental rugs, so we spent an hour shopping for rugs. She did not get any, but we both really liked one silk on silk rug.
Back on the ship, we joined our trivia team in celebration with champagne of being the team with highest points.
We ended evening in joining Younga and David for dinner at specialty restaurant.
A fun day.Читать далее

Our second time in Kochi, India.
For this time I decided to book something different. I booked Tuk-Tuk tour.
As soon as the ship was cleared, we went thru custom (too long to describe the process in every Indian port) and met somebody from the tour company. The air conditioned car was waiting for us. After driving may 200 yards we were transferred to a Tuk-Tuk. It is basically three wheeled motorcycle with a cover on the top.
The guide/driver introduced himself, but I forgot his name. He was very knowledgeable, unfortunately he spoke English very fast and with a heavy accent, so it was very hard to understand him, but we got few things.

Kochi population is about 3 million. Kochi (also known as Cochin) is a city in southwest India's coastal Kerala state. It has been a port since 1341, when a flood carved out its harbor and opened it to Arab, Chinese and European merchants.
After driving for a while thru a crazy traffic, we arrive at Dhoby Khana. It is a one of the oldest laundromats in India.

The Dutch government brought 40 families for washing the Dutch army’s uniform in 1910. To this day 20 families members still working in this laundromat.
Each family has their own laundry basin, ironing space and drying space. We met a sweet lady of 87 who is ironing in this laundromat for 70 years. She let me use her very heavy cast iron to do some ironing.

Our second stop was Church is Saint Frances. Build in 1503 it is one of the oldest European churches in India. The Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama died in Kochi in 1524 and was buried in this church. Later his body was transferred to Lisbon.

Next stop is fish market. It’s located on the beach and the freshest fish right out of the water sold. Another attraction is Chinese fish nets.
After walking for a while, we had much needed rest in the shade with coconut water right out of coconut.

We also stopped at the very secret Jain temple that opens only few days a year. It’s sits in the middle of the pond that one can reach only in canoes when the temple is open. Different flowers are blooming all year around all year long.

We stopped many times to witness everyday life of the people in various activities.

Our next stop is a spice market and factory. Right in the middle of the yard is a field of ginger roasting in the sun. Then it will be ground into the powder. Then we went inside the building, the smell was amazing from pepper, cinnamon, curry, and all other varieties of fresh spices. To visit the market, we had to climb to second floor. Boris was already pretty tired, so we skipped it.
We also visited Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica. It has a very long history of distraction and rebuilding.

We looked at the Dutch cemetery.

Another stop was Mattancherry Dutch Palace. Despite the name Dutch Palace, the palace was built by the Portuguese Empire as a gift to the Kingdom of Cochin.
The glory of the palace rests on the large number of murals, executed in the best traditions of Hindu temple art, which are religious, decorative and stylised. The murals have been painted in rich warm colours in tempera technique.
Unfortunately, photos were not allowed.

After climbing very steep steps of the Dutch palace and touring it in a scorching heat, Boris was done, so we skipped the last stop….Paradasi Synagogue. We visited it in 2017. At that time there were 5 Jews living in Kochi. Now 4 remaining. The oldest one Sarah Cohen, who we met in 2017, died few year ago at the age of 96.
This time we just stopped at the gates of Jewish cemetery and looked through the closed gate at her burial site.

I probably mixed up some temples, sorry.
We have so many.

Now we were really ready to go back on the ship. After lunch,
rest, shower and a dinner in specialty restaurant with friends, we are ready for the night.Читать далее