3rd March 2016. Kerali and Kochin

We flew to Cochin via Mumbai after an extremely early start and the flight was comfortable from Udaipur to Mumbai and then we met our local guide.

In Mumbai we drove from the airport and visited the Dhobi Ghat laundry area which was fascinating to view the many clothes lines hanging with washing completed that morning.  Following drying it is ironed and then pressed and folded for return that afternoon and evening to a variety of areas and suburbs across Mumbai.  Whereas last year Jeanette and I visited and watched first hand the washing and drying we observed by standing upon a railway bridge and overlooking the laundry areas.   

The guide then took us for a short drive to the Orient Hotel near the airport where we had a sumptuous Indian buffet luncheon. We then departed and navigated entry to the domestic terminal at Mumbai airport where we still had about a 2 hour wait for our flight.  We took the opportunity to visit many of the smaller shops at the airport. 

 Cochin (Kochi) is a Temperate climate similar to Queenslands coast with many lakes and the beautiful palm trees and of course Banaas.  We arrived mid afternoon and then we had a one hour drive from the airport to our hotel the beautiful Taj Malabar Hotel with its beautiful teak interior.  Kochi is known as the Quen of the Arabian Sea and is enticing with a rich Portugese and then Christian culture dating back to the 15th Century.  It was settled by the Portugese and spread across several islands servicing the trade routes with the Arabs from the area now known as Saudi Arabia and to the east the Indonesian and Malaya strait sailors.  Even the Chinese developed a significant influence.

The area is known as the Mattancherry District the following day we explore the amazing Jewish District with its shopping g and especially lace and linens, This area was established some 6 centuries and whilst the numbers of Jews has severely diminished and the several synagogues now are reduced to one active Synagogue, which we visited, the area remains a bustling and thriving area with merchants selling tea, spices, woodcarving and antiques in addition to the many linemen cooperatives. 

Our local guide allows us some 45 minutes to wander before we are again back on the bus and undertake visits to the superb Dutch Palace, the St.Frnacis Church dating back to 1510, which was also the temporary burial site for Vasco de Gama.  We then saw Fort Cochin , the oldest European site in India which is a significant contrast with quiet streets and and architecture significantly influenced by both the Dutch and more latterly the English.