Day 96: Cochin, India (Part 1 The River)

The Neptune docked at 7:00 AM we had ready planned on going on the included excursion at 1:00PM. We went through immigration and walked out of the terminal. Immediately I felt like a piece of roadkill on an Arizona highway with vultures diving down on me for a bite of my carcass. I didn’t even have a chance to look at the area and get my bearings.

Donna saw the look on my face, she jumped in next to me as I tried to push back away from the taxi drivers. We were able to secure a newer Tuk-Tuk (Auto rickshaw) driver for $30 for the day to show us around Chochin.

I am sure the driver gets a cut of each of the places he took us. But, that’s part of the game. We had an option of an air conditioned car - but the Tuk -Tuk was way more fun. The feeling you get as a scooter, car, bus, and even trucks head right for you and then weave away in an instant can’t be reproduced from the back seat of a Toyota. At first we asked our driver to be sure to get us back to the Neptune by 4:00pm - That request changed to please get us back alive.

The first place the driver took us was for a river boat right. It was here I was really able to take advantage of the Sony RX10 with 600mm zoom lens. I don’t consider myself a good bird photographer, I am happy with these. The river was nice, there was trash along side many sections. The river was peaceful, our skipper gave me the time I needed to take the photos I wanted. We went through a very peaceful canal. It was nice to be away from the noise and the hustle and bustle of the city life. Donna enjoyed the peacefulness of our river cruise along with the excitement of our Tuk Tuk experience.Read more