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March 29 – Cochin, India
We are in the province of Kerala India in southwestern India. This is one of the first places the Portuguese settled in order to participate in the spice trade between Europe and Asia. It is separated from the rest of India by a mountain range so it is somewhat insulated from the other provinces.
We have signed up for the included tour today that is Cochin & Mattancherry Palace. We must first clear face to face immigration. For much of the trip, the ship has kept our passports. Occasionally, they give them back to us when we will need to personally present the original to immigration. We also had to have a copy of our E-Visa (that we had applied for before leaving on the trip), a copy of another form that had been prepared electronically, and a small card that we had to complete and sign. We must carry the two copies. The passport was kept by the immigration authorities along with the small card. The passports were returned to the ship later in the day, once the authorities were sure they had face-to-face contact with EVERYONE on the ship.
The tour was a typical drive around with occasional stops to see something of particular note. The bus today is very nice with a little more leg room and just a tiny bit (but noticeable) more width. Our Viking Daily newsletter informed us that India had banned all single use bottles, so we cannot take our usual water bottles with us. Instead, they delivered to everyone’s stateroom a 1-liter reusable water bottle full of drinking water. As we got on the bus, we noticed a couple of cases of ½ liter water bottles ready to distribute. We later learned that Indians can give us water purchased in India, but the ship cannot send water ashore that was purchased elsewhere.
We have a
decent guide today and we enjoyed his approach. We stopped at an early catholic
church (Church of St. Francis) built by the Portuguese. It is quite plain, but
is notable due to the fact that Vasco de Gama died in Cochin and was entombed
in this church. His son later removed his remains and had them taken to
Portugal where they are today.
We walked on to
see some Chinese Fishing Nets. Once upon a time, these nets were utilized all
along the banks of river. It takes 5 men to operate one. It was low tide when
we were there, so none were operating. The fish market here was mediocre at best.
The next stop was at the Mattancherry Palace, also known as the Dutch Palace. It was built by the Portuguese, not for some important Portuguese, but as a gift to the Raja. Only the second floor was open for viewing but it was very interesting. Amazing frescoes! Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures of the frescoes. A drawback to the Palace was that it was very hot and very crowded, so even the fans they had running could not keep up with the heat. We decided not to see the last stop of an old Jewish Synagogue and sat on the bus waiting for the others to finish their shopping after seeing the Synagogue.
In driving
through Cochin we noticed many red flags with the hammer and sickle. After
India achieved it’s independence, in 1947, in the first election held in
Kerala, the communist party won. They have been in control ever since. In this
province, this has turned out to be a good thing. The life expectancy is longer
than other states, the literacy is higher (in the high 90%s). The land was
taken from the very wealthy landowners and distributed to the farmers.
Everybody is truly better off. Although there is still a form of a caste
system, everyone is treated better. We were very surprised to learn that
arranged marriages are still the only accepted method.
The hawkers at
every stop were some of the most aggressive we’ve seen. Following you around,
stepping in front of you, constantly trying to get your attention.
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