Happy Easter from Cochin, India

Finally, after all of the problems we had getting a Visa in Toronto, we are in India.  As in Toronto, the Indian officials required everyone on the ship to fill in more long and confusing forms.  Then we were told that no one could leave the ship until there was a face-to-face meeting with immigration officials and every single passenger and crew member.  However, since another cruise ship had arrived yesterday afternoon and the officials had to work late, they could not come to the ship until they had all had an adequate sleep.  As mentioned, the same people do their best to confuse tourists here as they do in Toronto.

Despite all the road blocks, we’ve made it.  We are in Cochin, a major port city in the “small” state of Kerla with 33 million people.  India itself has 1.25 billion people, so 33 million isn’t very much.  We took a tour of the area, most of it by boat, and got to see both modern Cochin and the very old part of the city.  There are dramatic contrasts here, from beautiful, modern hotels, condos and businesses to old dilapidated homes with roofs about to cave in.  We also got to see amazing colourful fishing boats as well as huge Chinese fishing nets, an ancient method used to catch fish from the docks.  They were in operation today - fascinating!

 

Modern Cochin

Multicoloured fishing boats.  In harbour today because it is Easter

Chinese Fishing nets in India

Lovely hotel building

Other kind of building

Fisherman's home - women's work

....and the men

Our guide gave us a lot of very interesting information about this area, which is  60% Hindu, 20% Roman Catholic and 20% “other”. The state of Kerala has the only democratically elected communist government in India.  As a result, worker strikes are the norm and it also explains the attitude of the immigration officials.  Generally, this is an agrarian economy with farming, spice production and fishing as well as tourism as the major sources of income. Because of the problems with the unionized workforce, most manufacturing occurs in the state north of Kerala. 

Our tour ended with a Kathakali performance at the very fancy Taj Malabar Hotel. This performance involves the telling of a folk tale through mime, with accompanying drums, and very elaborate costumes. Kathakali performances usually begin about 8 PM and end 11 or 12 hours later the next morning.  Thankfully, our performance, interesting as it was, lasted only 45 minutes.

Theatrical performance

 We leave this evening for Mumbai, arriving there on Tuesday

Seabourn Quest docked at Cochin

Phuket, Thailand

On a steamy hot morning, we docked at the harbour of Phuket.  While the area is known for its beautiful beaches and night life, we went on a tour to the Village of the Four Regions. The bus passed through a patchwork of scenes from traditional homes on stilts, rice paddies and modern structures.  Our tour guide, a charming young gentleman dressed in a decorative sarong, explained a great deal about his country, and proudly reflected that it had never been colonized, so retains much of its original culture.  Others have been brought in, such as the Chinese to work in the tin mines, so there is some blending. One fascinating item he pointed out was that every house and building has a “spirit house” outside.  Some are quite ornate, while others are small decorative structures.  Offerings are made in the morning to the spirits.  They really gave the lovely gardens an added dimension.  The flowers of all sorts, but especially orchids, were outstanding.

Being welcomed by dancers

 When we arrived at the village, we were greeted by a group of richly adorned young people and the sounds of long drums. We were each presented with a beautiful custom painted parasol, which was a blessing as we proceeded out to the open areas and the hot sun, even though it was morning.   Everywhere we looked, there was something going on: Thai dancing, fruit and flower carving, food demonstrations and tastings, an elephant show, and the opportunity to ride on an elephant! The refreshments were most welcomed, especially Chang beer.

Early morning refreshment (40+ C)

 

Our first activity, after trying the beer, was to go for an elephant ride.  Those things are really tall, and we had to climb up to a platform to get on.  Following this excitement, we wandered through the village, which reflects the traditional way of life in four areas of Thailand.  It was all very beautiful and informative.  They had a woman preparing silk right from the cocoons, people cooking tasty morsels on wet banana leaves over open fires, batik painting, and other traditional activities.  

Gail on an elephant ride

John doing the same

A local water fountain

Flower and vegetable transport

Gail with local tribespeople

Inside a mud hut

Saying goodbye

 

When we returned to the ship, very hot from the oppressive humidity and bright sun, there was a large market all set up and ready to exchange any manner of local goods for tourist dollars.  We succumbed for a short while, but were very happy to return to the air conditioned ship.