We were refreshed after our train sleeps x2 but glad to be stepping off the train after 40 odd hours!
We headed to the Tuk Tuk stand and bagged a driver to take us to our final destination. It took about 30 minutes to drive there and out driver was defiantly skillful in weaving through the traffic!
We found our accommodation which was a brand new backpackers. We stayed in a 6 bed dorm and were lucky enough for our entire stay to have no one else in the room with us! Binu the manager was awesome and helped us out a lot with our plans.
We went off to explore the town which was extremely cute. Slightly set up for tourists but still had its charm. We couldn't believe how clean the streets were however the tiny beach was a disappointment and filthy dirty! No sunbathing for me.
In India even though it isn't a religious requirement for a woman to cover up it is a cultural sensitivity. They advise women to wear clothing which covers the contours and curves of the female form. If anything i do it to prevent Indian men perving on me. However in Cochin i have the say the perving was at it's worst. Men will Lear at your chest just in case a slight movement will show a contour or the edge of a boob. They even stare when walking with their wives! It's quite unsettling. Western pornography is to blame as men will perceive any western woman as being 'up for it'.
The following day we decided to do a little Tuk Tuk tour of the area as there was quite a lot to see. It took around 3 hours. We went to St Francis Church which was just in the middle of restoration (it was definatly not safe to be inside!). We saw the manual fan's used to keep attendees cool on hot Sundays. Great invention.
We visited a Dutch Cathedral and then headed to Jew town. This place even had a street called Jew Street, it made Dave laugh! We went to a little museum which had some extremly old preserved murals on the walls which were beautiful. They even had some half finished ones too which had been preserved so you could see the workman ship. We also visited a Cochin Synagogue, a tiny building with not much in it.
Our Tuk Tuk driver unfortunately kept taking us to tourist tat shops and wen we walked in just for a browse we were met with pushy Indians offering us prices on things we just didn't want to buy! What would we do with a wardrobe! haha! He told us that if we visited just 5 shops the government would give his family 1kg of rice. I am all for supporting the community but i would rather just buy him a kilo of rice than constantly get harrased by Salesmen!
We found some really great cafes to laze away the day in. One was called Oy's and was our favorite breakfast spot. The other was Teapot which did the best cuppa i have had in a long while and the most amazing Death By Chocolate cake. One bit is never enough for me!
We thought we should book our on going trains before they got to booked up. The whole system was a joke and we were pretty much screwed for sleeper trains until December. We were initially supposed to get to Hyderabad (central India) to get a train back to Delhi but it was proving impossible to get a train there. Our Travel agent moved our trains to Goa which made it much easier to get to. There were still no trains but there was a 22 hour bus and as we had no other option we had to go with it. Worst part is that it's not a sleeper bus. It's a sit up bus. Another uncomfortable journey coming our way soon!
On our fourth day it was my Birthday. 26 years young! We decided to do something different than the usual lazing around. On waking up I opened my little present pile from Dave. I got a Twix, Toblarone, a pack of gum, a paint by numbers and a pack of UNO cards! Just what i wanted! Plus Dave now had to suffer my constant bugging to play UNO! We then headed to the little island next to Fort Cochi called Vypeen Island. We got the car ferry over which cost 2 rupees each (3p) and took less than 5 minutes! We then hopped on a local bus and headed to a secret little beach called Chenni Beach. There was no one around. perfect for a sneaky sunbath! After getting rather hot we decided to venture back and went out for a yummy home cooked tea and a giant piece of Death By Chocolate Birthday cake! YAY!! I have now had 3 consecutive Birthdays in 3 different countries!
We were looking forward to yet more relaxing in Goa and boarded the bus with gritted teeth!
Next Stop Palolem, Goa.............
To see our pictures from Kerela please click on the link below;
https://picasaweb.google.com/112941139607408893724/KeralaIndia7thTo12thNovember2011#
