Kochi

On our last day in Mysore, Rachel met up with us, and the three of us hopped a bus to the coastal city of Kochi. Our first evening, we went to see the traditional Keralan art of Kathkali dancing. An ancient art form, Kathkali dancers used to travel from temple to temple, performing shows at night for the local villagers in exchange for food. The dancers use movements of the hands, feet, and face to convey different ideas, telling Hindu religious stories. The costumes are very elaborate, and each dancer spends over one hour putting on make-up before the show. Before the performance, a local professor explained to us the tradition of the dance. I found it interesting. Leon fell asleep. The next day, we went on an eight hour tour of the backwaters region. For the morning portion of our journey, we rode on an old rice boat through the broad canals, watching the local fisherman put out their nets. In the afternoon, we switched to a smaller canoe that would allow us to traverse the narrow channels of the backwater villages. We stopped in a village to see how the fisherman prepared the mussels caught in the backwaters. They also grind the shells of the mussels to create Aruyvedic medicines. Further down the river, we stopped to watch ladies of the village spin coir rope from the skins of the coconuts. A local coconut farmer climbed a tree to show us how the fruit is harvested and we each sampled a fresh coconut. It turns out, I hate fresh coconut, so we left it on the ground as a treat for the local cows and goats.
The final day in Kochi we visited the island of Fort Kochin. To get to Fort Kochin from Ernakulam you must take a local ferry. We headed to the main boat jetty to purchase tickets for the next ferry. Though there was a man at the counter, he refused to sell us tickets till 5 minutes before the ferry left. He told us to sit down and come back in 20 minutes. As we went to sit down, we noticed a line was forming at the counter, the very same counter we had just been turned away from. Afraid to lose our place, we decided to stand in line as well. But now there were two lines instead of one, we were unsure how to proceed. So, we decided to divide and conquer, Rachel stood in the woman’s line while Leon stood with me in the general line. Once on the ferry the ride was short and pleasant. We arrived and spent the day wandering the streets of Fort Kochin.
One of the first western colonies in India, Fort Kochi has a distinct European feeling with wide boulevards and coffee houses that serve real coffee instead of the Indian standard, Nescafe. We visited the first Christian church in India, and treated ourselves to an authentic Italian dinner. We were running out of time to get to Yoga Camp, so we headed south, with a quick stop at the beach in Varkala before committing ourselves to the rigorous schedule of Ashram life.

Kochi