Mar 2: Cochin

Thank goodness - everyone's back to normal.  We meet up with Julie and Terry again in Mumbai and after a full days traveling arrive at the holiday region of India, the state of Kerala.  Beaches, resorts, tourists traps selling souvenirs, palm trees.  We can picture ourselves lounging around the swimming pool with exotic cocktails, or at the very least - a long cool Kingfisher.  

Nope!

The hotel doesn't even have a bar!  No liquor license!  There's a wine bar around the block we are told, so we get changed and head out in the evening heat in search of the elusive refreshment, only to discover that the first of every month is a "dry day".  No alcohol can be bought or sold anywhere!  We're beginning to feel like rather sad desperate alcoholics!

We come to terms with the loss of our vision for the evening, and instead take a stroll to the beach and paddle in the Arabian Sea.  The water is tropically warm, and the idyllic atmosphere tainted by the backdrop of petroleum chemical works the other side of the inlet.

We choose to eat at our hotel, and then discover one southern India's delights - the cuisine!  So very different from anything we've had to date.  Not heavy curries, but a delicate fusion of Thai and Indian, spicey, yes, but with generous use of fresh herbs, and you can taste individual spices too, rather than the heavier masala sauces of the north.

The next morning we set out for a full day of sightseeing around Cochin.  Beginning with a harbor  cruise.  Fishing is obviously a major industry, and the traditional boats and Chinese fishing nets make for colorful pictures.  But Cochin itself is the most modern city we have encountered in India.  Good roads, modern pastimes, very little rubbish, and although rubbish bobs on the water, it's clean enough for the Dolphins we spotted.

We looked over a palace museum and synagogue, both extremely interesting but we were not allowed to take photos.  It was very hot, 34 by 11 am with high humidity so we were relieved to back to our hotel, to slide into the pool, even without that elusive beer!