Sunday 17 February
From itinerary:
“On time transfer to airport to connect flight for Kochi
Meeting and assistance on arrival and check into hotel X
Afternoon half day city sightseeing tour of Kochi visiting
the Dutch Palace, Jewish Synagogue, Chinese fishing nets, St. Francis church
and Santa Cruz church.”
We had to get up early (not a problem as neither of us slept
much), left our bigger bags in storage at the Y, and were taken to the airport
again for an early morning flight to Kochi, Kerala (delayed by fog after we got on the plane). We hadn’t
realized that this was not a direct flight – the plane touched down in
Hyderabad first – so a zig and a zag
across the subcontinent! We were met in
Kochi by a very nice young man who took us to our hotel. We checked in and then had about 15 minutes
for a very hurried lunch as it was nearly 3 pm for our 1 pm tour.
The Jewish synagogue was particularly
interesting, and learning that there are only 5 members left of that community.
Also pleasant (though hot!) was a walk along the waterfront to see the ports,
local families out enjoying a Sunday afternoon stroll, fish markets, music and
art. An arts Biennialle is held in Kochi
and our visit was just at the tail end of it –we got to see a wonderful herd of
elephants made of rattan on metal frames still on exhibit. Dinner that evening
was a Kingfisher beer and a ‘small bites’ spicy stuffed fish.
