Kochi

Kochi, or Cochi, or Cochin, as it is variously known, was our second stop in India. We docked at the port on Willingdon Island, but we really wanted to see the old town. Our plan was to walk from the ship to the ferry dock and take a local ferry over to the old town and walk around there. As soon as we exited the cruise terminal we were swarmed, and I mean swarmed, by tuk-tuk drivers offering all sorts of rides and tours. We kept repeating that no, we just wanted to walk to the ferry. Apparently this was quite unusual, because the offers were unrelenting. Eventually the drivers started to drop off, except for one guy on foot who offered to be our guide to the ferry. We didn’t need a guide, but he walked along with us anyway. Eventually we got to a spot where Google maps was telling me to turn right and our “guide” was insisting we go left. At this point a tuk-tuk driver swung up with yet another offer of a tour. We asked him which way to the ferry, and he agreed with Google maps. This was all getting a bit uncomfortable, so we agreed on a price with the driver to at least get us over to the old town and piled into the tuk-tuk. I don’t know what our unsolicited “guide” had in mind, but it had started to feel shady and we were ready to be out of there.

Our driver, whose name I sadly do not now recall as I did not write it down, was very friendly. He proceeded to drive us down to the bridge that got us off of Willingdon Island and over to the peninsula where the old town is located. Our first stop was at a place where laundry is done by hand. Clothes are washed, wrung, hung up to dry, and ironed, all by hand in the heat. Brutal work.

After this it was a combination of stops at historical sites and shopping. We did want to shop for some spices, specifically looking for something for GM Ludmila who has been so kind to us and who likes her food spicy. We wound up buying a variety of things, including a shirt for myself, some earrings for Liz, and a few gifts. We did find some spices to give to Ludmila and got some cashews and dried fruit for ourselves.

In the end getting a tuk-tuk was a better option than going on our own. We covered a lot of ground and walking randomly would have taken a long time. All-aboard time was 2:00 PM, so we had to keep the timing in mind as well. The start of the day was not great, but in the end it was a fun and memorable experience.Read more