Cochin

Trip Start Jul 31, 2007

122

Trip End Jul 30, 2008

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Flag of India Cochin, India
Friday, September 7, 2007

We had a four hour train journey from Varkala to Cochin, it is true what they say, they do try to get the population of India into each carriage, with arms and legs poking out of windows, people hanging on in open doorways as the train speeds along, we were advised to pay a little extra for first class and so we payed seven pounds fifty each and had a brilliant journey in a cabin with sleepers to ourselves, with airconditioning and blankets and pillows supplied. We watched the views pass us by for the whole of the journey, and saw some brilliant sights of Kerala, we saw the backwaters, the paddi fields, small villages and some stunning scenery. We arrived at our accomodation which is a family run buisness and you really do feel like your staying with the family, they have really looked after us well and even done our washing (yeah!! saviour on my hands from hand washing!!) We went out in search for food soon after we arrived and settled on eating from an outside stall, the locals were eating there so we thought it must be good, and it was too, for just 30 rupees (80 rupees is a pound) i had a massive plate of chicken fried rice and sat in a tiny hut with the locals eating away, Baz had some sort of meat wrap and enjoyed his too

Beer in a Teapot!!!

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The next day we ventured out and saw a Dutch Palace, a Roman Catholic Church, a Portugese Church, Chinese fishing nets, the Chochin fort, watching the many boats and ferries importing and exporting produce, and we went into a Ginger factory where they let us walk around and take photos of all the processes and the making of different products. We went into a few souvnier shops where they supply you with tea, we had ginger tea, cardiman tea, masala tea, and were truely tea'd out at the end of it. One shop we went into the salesman wanted to sell us a persian rug, however many times we said we didn't want to buy one he didn't listen and still sat us down with, another cup of tea!! and demonstrated his magic carpets by throwing them around the room, i was in fits of giggles with tears pouring down my face not able to hide it the slightest, but he just carried on throwing the rugs around telling us they were magic, it was hysterical, and very wierd!!!!We also went to watch a Kathakali play which surpisingly enough, both me and Baz managed to understand and keep up with what was happening!!!, at the start they give you a demonstration of how the children train since they are five to place their eyes and neck and head muscles into very strange positions, it was a good night. We have walked along the back streets and seen the locals again, the children love you to say hi and smile and the parents love to see you too and say hello, it is a relaxed environment here

Chinese Fishing Nets

. We have got used to walking past goats, cows and stray dogs on the street and think nothing of it now!! how you adjust!! We got a tuk tuk into Ernakulam to book a 16 hour train journey to Goa, but according to the enquiry clerk, it's fully booked forever!!!! yeah right!!! so then went to a dodgy travel place to enquire about flights, but way too expensive for our budget, so we checked the net ourselves for flights, but again, too expensive, so we started to look up other places, and came across a place called Mysore, a bustling city south of Bangalore, with an amazing palace and lots of temples and a spice and food market and it well worth sounds like its worth a visit, so we asked around how to get there and got directed to a small hut on a backstreet, where the men were sat on the floor playing a game with counters, couldn't quite work it out, and there we booked a luxury ( i'll believe it when i see it!!) bus to Mysore, for six pounds seventy five each, it's an eleven hour journey, taking from 5pm until 4am the next day, from there we will hopefully make our way to Bangalore and then hopefully catch a train to Goa. So hopefully next update will be from Mysore.

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