Ernākulam

There is something slightly incongruous about being somewhere with Christmas trees (artificial), Christmas lights and 30 degrees heat. Can't work out yet whether it's a good thing it not although I'm definitely enjoying the break.

We had an earlier start today with breakfast at 8 and then a guided tour which started at 9am. We went by tuk-tuk to the Dutch palace where we walked around the upper floor (yes we'd been here before) and had an explanation of some of the 300+ year old murals on the wall.

Next we walked along the Jewish shopping street to the oldest synagogue in the Commonwealth. We couldn't go on because it's Saturday.

Walking back down the shopping street we then had tuk-tuks to the Fort Cochin area and walked around seeing the old Catholic church and also the oldest church in Kerala, originally built in the 16th century. The Catholic church was decked out in Christmas lights (which we saw later all lit up). The oldest church, At Francis, used to be the burial place of the Portuguese explorer, Vasco de Gama. (his body was moved soon after back to Lisbon for re-burial) Finally, for the walking tour, we went back to the Chinese fishing nets.

Tour complete, we all headed to a local coffee shop where I had a fish burger and pineapple Lassi. It was now early afternoon and the group went their separate ways with Ed and me going for a refreshing beer! After a couple of drinks we caught an auto rickshaw back to her hotel for a shower and change grit the evenings activities.

We met the group, including our final member, at 5.15 for a quick summary of tomorrow (Christmas day) before getting yet another tuk-tuk to a Kathacali performance. When we arrived the actors were having their make-up done on stage. Once complete the narrator gave an explanation of what we would see and the fact that the acting would all be by gesture and facial expression.

The performance was impressive (if not a little too long) with two drummers and a narrator who sang! The whole thing took about 1.5 hours!

From here we walked to a restaurant for dinner. (Kerala roast chicken for me) before a ride back home to the hotel for 10 pm. (Don't think Father Christmas is coming here, but you never know!) 😉🎅🌲Read more