We had breakfast on the rooftop dining area, and left 9:30 AM on a walkabout from the hotel. We were located at the Fort Manor Hotel, which is in the old part of Kochin. The walk took us first to see Vasco Da Gama's home close by, and a church of St. Francis was very close. We went into the church, Christian, Anglican I believe, and took off our shoes as is the Indian way. Very ancient church, and it had pandas hanging there. The guys outside pulled the ropes ( the Walla guys) and it was a fan blowing air onto the congregation!! Vasco da Gama was buried in this church, and there is a memorial to him here. His remains were moved back home some time back though. We saw a teak tree and Sandalwood tree ( protected tree in India as it is so valuable and slow growing ) The walk resumed and we got to the sea, and saw the famous Chinese fishing nets. Very interesting as we watched the locals catch fish here using this ancient technique. We walked along the coast, saw the Kochin island, but did not get there, and took the tuk tuts to the Dutch Palace. This was very interesting, but unfortunately, many of the most spectacular places do not allow flash pics. The roof was made of carved Burma teak, a deep brown wood. The Palace was very interesting with great paintings, and lovely artifacts and costumes worn by the Indian king. The Dutch too took over this part a long time ago. It is very hot and humid in Kochin, but we survived the touring. There were coin collections as well depicting a very exotic and colourful history to this city of many cultures: Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and English, as well as all the locals of course. The tour led to an old synagogue, which was first built in the 1300s...only about 5 Jews survive here....as they are all back in Israel. The place is still used by the few remaining Jews and has Willow Pattern tiles in blue and white on the floor. It was lovely. There was a small museum attached close by the church detailing the history of the Jews here, as they were welcomed by the local Indian king. From here I went back to the hotel with some of our party to cool down....fan and AC did not do it.....a cold shower did the trick!!! After a rest we left at 5:15 PM for the Kathakali Cultural Show to see the make up being applied before the show itself. It is a highly stylized classical Indian dance drama noted for the amazing make up of characters, incredible costumes, very very detailed gestures, eye movements, and non verbal communication done in complete sync with percussion, drums of various kinds, and vocals, and huge finger cymbals. Each facet of this performance was a work of art in itself....the music very embellished, but done masterfully in the full ethnic tradition. The drama itself was all authentic, and left you in awe. The actors took 6 years to master the Kathakali style in music mime, dance etc. As fascinating as it was, and a visual spectacle it was too long, and was tiring to follow the detailed renditions. I was in awe and respectful of the amazing skill of this art form.....really so exotic. The pics are great...to be seen to be believed. The yoga teachers would have loved the mudras, and the yogic eye movements that can only be done by a huge amount of training of the eye and facial muscles to achieve such expressions. The synchronicity of music and mime and facial expression left me speechless....for a change. We walked to a hotel for a Christmas Eve seafood dinner, our last dinner together of the 33 day train trip across India. Prawns in mango curry were not too spicy, and I shared a small bottle of red wine with Dania, my wine drinking, Syrian English young lady friend. After the meal we sang Happy Birthday to Claudia and she got a nice cake from GE, and shared it with us. She bought drinks for everyone!! Then Sanjay asked me to get things going, so I did. I got the whole party up, taught them the Jingle Bell Dance, and they all loosened up very well. We got the Indian waiters, and the owner in his long dhoti to dance. Swapping partners the easy dance repeats....Mills Haven Kids love it, and would appreciate their dance done by the adults. Other adults from other groups joined us. Then I asked the proprietor to find some music, and the Indians put on various songs, and we all danced, and got the shy Indian waiters to join in. At midnight, the Indians took us outside ( the restaurant was no empty ) and they had a Christmas firework display. We were given sparklers to hold ( I haven't don that since I was age 6!!) Various cracker explosions of course, and lots of fun. Lots of hugs by lots of Indians, many who were strangers in the street, welcoming us tourists as tourism has dropped off in Kerala. What a wonderful experience this evening was. We walked back to the hotel, and slept with AC and fan going...bliss!! The challenge is to keep cool!!!!!!!! You are dripping with sweat most of the time. This was a very exotic memorable Christmas Eve!!
Above at the Chinese fishing nets...note the water hyacinths that cause headaches for fishermen
The whole structure is life up with stone weights as we watched
Tiger fish?? Freshly caught
Some fish in the bottom
Above at Kathakali: close up of the make up session....took ages to paint but looked awesome on stage
The full meal deal above....all male dancers.
The female was a male with excellent make up, and facial gestures that were so good, you totally believed it was a woman. Below the fireworks after the CHRISTMAS eve party...in the street!!
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