Cochin ( population of greater urban area 2.1 million) is a busy port in southern India on the Laccadive Sea. Instead of touring the city we chose to go to the backwaters that run through the rice fields. It gave us a contrast to the urban areas. There were very poor dwellings with people bathing and washing their clothes in the muddy river juxtaposed with developing luxury resorts.
A few extras: I was also able to see some new birds and learned this is where Darjeeling tea grows. The tea experts say that tea bags contain "dust tea"-- the tiny crumbs of tea leaves left over from processing--definitely inferior.Read more