Thursday April 14, 2016 – In the city of Kochi, Kerela State, which is it’s current (Indian) name, but still referred to as Cochin, which was derived from the Chinese during their settlement (11th Century) in the area and loosely translated as “New Port”. Kochi is derived from the Malayalam (local language) Koch azhi “small lagoon”. It has also been called “Venice of the Orient” or “Pearl of the Arabian Sea”. There was a clear demarcation between the Arabian Sea and the “Backwater” (fresh water area) where much of the cultivation took and takes place. In 1341 there was a great flood, merging the salt and freshwater through the Periyar River bursting its banks and forming over time a city that has grown on 7 different islands around a deep water harbour. The “deep water” part is of question given that we had 1 metre (3 feet) between the bottom of our keel and the ocean floor! However there is continual dredging and indeed the Willingdon Island was formed from the dredging materials of Cochin Harbour. This Island is now used as the docks, a naval airport and the Indian Tourist office plus hotels etc. India has a Naval base here and while we were in the harbour, berthed Port to Dock, a French aircraft carrier was parked directly in front of us and another French military vessel was docked nearby. Seeing the aircraft carrier parked next to Queen Mary 2, it was the carrier that looked small in comparison.
The date of the first settlement is unclear, but Romans, Greeks and Phonecians were in this part of India. Some of the early settlers were Jews and there is still a synagogue in what is known as “Jew Town”. Most of those alive, left when the State of Israel was formed after WW2, but there are a few who remain. The Chinese and Arabs were in the area and indeed one of the first Christian communities in India was formed here by St. Thomas 20 years after the death of Jesus Christ. Colonial history basically starts with the Portuguese and Vasco de Gama in 1503 when he built the Fort at what is now known as Fort Cochin under the control of the Portuguese Viceroy Alfonso de Albuquerque. Indeed Vasco de Gama died (Dec 24, 1524) and was buried in Cochin (we visited his grave), until the family collected his remains and he was re-buried in Lisbon. The spices and coconut products were heavily traded and eventually brought the Dutch to oust the Protuguese and take over in 1663. The British then took out the Dutch in 1795 and controlled this and all of India for some 150 years until Independence in 1947.
As we approached Cochin harbour, all was very misty / cloudy, hot and humid at 6 AM. We reached a certain point and proceeded to pirouette doing a 180 degree turn with only a couple of meters to spare (from hitting the shore / berth) as our length was about the same as the width of the harbour – very reminiscent of turning in Hamburg harbour in the middle of the river. We eventually docked and were pleased to see many (perhaps 30) tent shops on the quay with the merchants setting up shop. Also coaches started to appear until 50 were on the quay ready to whisk us away on tours. There was some delay in getting off as we each had to go through immigration with our own passport (on the ship). Mostly this is taken care of by the ship without us having to worry about doing anything. As we left the ship we felt the heat which reached 45C / 113F with 95% humidity and was to say the least, oppressive. Within minutes, shirts were soaked and many bottles of water were drunk to avoid dehydration. We entered the coach, which has a separate compartment for the steep steps, a place for the driver’s assistant and the driver, segregated by a glass door from the rest of the coach. Once entering the main body, there were three seats on one side and two on the other with the central aisle. However the seats were small and the three of us were glad to have a full row of 5 seats!!! As we found in most of the countries we have visited since arriving in New Zealand, India also drives on the Left hand side of the road. The outstanding guide George, attempted to get the microphone PA system working, but to no avail, so he took us 5 minutes away to a dock to get onto another smaller boat, where the 30 of us boarded the top deck, sitting on plastic seats for our 1 hour harbour cruise which was supposed to be at the end. During this time, the sound / PA system on the coach was repaired. It was a really good way to get to know the lay of the land and see the various islands that form part of the city of 2 million inhabitants. The Fort Cochin and Mattancherry areas being the older colonial parts of the city, Willingdon Island with airport and where our ship was docked and Ernakulum, the newer part with it’s high rise buildings and modern hotels. While cruising the harbour, George gave us a lot of information, alternating between those of us in the front of the ship and those in the back, separated by a passageway which serves as entrance and access to the seating areas below deck.
India has 1.2 Billion inhabitants, divided into 29 States covering an area of 3 million Sq Km (1.16 Million Sq Miles). 300 political parties vie for election every 5 years. The reason for this is due to all the different sects having their own parties. There are 17 official languages in India all with separate alphabets / writing systems and more than 100 dialects spoken. English is either the predominant school language in private schools, or at least taught as a second language in most schools, thus is widely spoken. There are 32 Milion in Kerela State and it is the Land of coconuts as there are 168 million coconut trees in the state. Spices, Silk, Ivory were the traditional trading exports, however today IT (Technology) and related services are the main elements of the economy. During the monsoon season (June to September) about 200 cms (79 inches) of rain falls with 30 Cms (12 inches) falling in June alone. Elections in Kerela State are to be on May 16, so many political posters are seen to fill any flat surface! In Kerela, Malayalam is the predominant language which had 50 letters. FX about US$1.00 = 500 Rupees. It is of interest to note that it is the only country who under free elections, voluntarily elected a Communist Government in 1957,, which was then succeeded 5 years later by a Democratic Congress Party and then re-elected 5 years after that!
After the pleasant boat ride and pictures of the Queen Mary II ship next to the smaller French Aircraft Carrier, seeing the modern town and even the Chinese Fishing nets we were to observe up close later in the day, we disembarked in the old town. Getting off the boat was quite an experience of itself as we moored to another similar 40 foot boat, which itself was moored to another and another and another, so we had to cross 7 boats (some having to go around the bow, some straight through) to reach the shore. However as we started the process of going from boat to boat, the innermost one decided to depart, so the other 6 were set adrift all tied together with us between the 4th and 5th boat out. The boat we had been on then acted like a tug and pushed the others to the quayside, so we could all find dry land! A fun experience, albeit disconcerting to a certain extent. We docked in a different place so we then walked, thronged by masses of vendors and beggars to the nearby Mattancherry Palace. This building around a central courtyard has various Hindu temples in the grounds and was originally built by the Portuguese of 1 1/2 meter (5 foot) thick mud walls between 1557 – 1560, destroying the building that had existed there. This was then given to the Cochin Raja (King) who used it and indeed many palenquin’s are found inside, one made of solid Ivory and 19 elephants were sacrificed to form this exquisite palenquin. The palace was modified partially by the Dutch and is often referred to as “The Dutch Palace” although they never used it. The Cochin Rajasthan were all crowned in the elaborately decorated (frescos) Coronation Hall, with all the attendants having to crawl through a small door, thus forcing a bowing motion towards the ruler. The 17th century frescos depict scenes from the epic Indian stories of Mahabharata and Ramayana (life of Rama, reincarnate of Vishnu who vanquished the thief who took his wife to Celyon before getting her back, proving good over evil). The murals were stunning, unfortunately some were starting to deteriorate in the hot humid weather. If we thought it was hot outside, it was even hotter inside with all the visitors and no air conditioning other than the odd fan blowing in the hot humid air from outside. Murals, palanquins, portraits of the Raja’s and many historical artefacts were to be seen and greatly appreciated. A strict no photography inside was maintained, which was a shame as the images were exquisite and would make great pictures.
The next stop, still in the old town, passing many old colonial buildings was the Church and Indo-Portuguese Museum of the Catholic Bishop of Cochin established in 1557. Apart from the interesting religious relics, monstrances, crucifixes and Christian iconography, we were to learn some botany admiring the various trees – Tamarind (opening the seed pods to reveal the fruit), Breadfruit trees, papaya, Jacaranda and even the pepper tree which is actually a vine type structure that climbs around an existing tree and produces green, white and black pepper. Green pepper is naturally dried, black further dried with the skin on and white with the skin removed. Our next stop opposite the Cochin Club was the St. Francis Church which was built as a Catholic Church by the Portuguese in 1510 (probably the first European Church built in India) and was, as stated the place where a well worn grave marker is found in the floor, depicting where Vasco de Gama was laid to rest on Chrismas Eve in 1524. He remained here for 14 years before being repatriated to Lisbon. The original wooden church was destroyed but restored to it’s current mud brick / teak / seashell / egg white constructed state by the Dutch in 1779 during their occupation and became a Protestant Church. When the English took over, it became an Anglican Church, which it remains to this day. The interior was being renovated, but the simplistic beauty remains. Large cloth fan like structures, 2 foot width and running the full length above the Pews on each side were attached to wooden poles, which were in turn were attached to ropes. These ropes were then pulled back and forth from the outside, allowing the congregation some refreshing air while attending services in the oppressive heat. It was strange that even though we were visiting an Anglican Church, and not a Mosque or Buddhst temple, we had to remove our shoes before entering. George, the guide told us this was to prevent mud from being taken into the church during the monsoon period and carries over for the remainder of the year. Many nuns in their light grey habits as well as throngs of women in their Sarees were in the courtyard seemingly having just concluded a service.
Our next stop, was absolutely fascinating – The Chinese Fishing nets. These structures (now costing US$10 to 15K each) were introduced by the Chinese and have been in use for many centuries, although in the past few decades their numbers have drastically diminished (150 to 18). I shall attempt to describe them below, but do look at the photographs for clarity when I post them to the blog. The best way to describe them is if one thinks of an old Egyptian Shadoof taking water from the Nile. Unlike the Vietnamese nets that are of similar size, but just raised and lowered on four poles, these four sided nets use a fulcrum and weights to raise and lower the nets like the Shadoof, or a sea-saw in a child’s recreational park or even like reverse catapult. A long pole perhaps 30 feet long, has two sets of ropes on the land side, one set just hanging and the other set of ropes with weights (large stones) attached to one end. A large four sided fishing net coming to point in the water is attached to a separate pole by means of four 20 foot long poles (or bits of pole strapped together). Each point of these four poles is attached at the top, holding the upper end of these nets. The two poles – one for weights and ropes on the land side and the other holding the four poles for the ends of the nets on the sea side are attached at right angles to a horizontal 6 foot log balanced on Y shaped poles firmly driven into the ground and about 10 foot high. When fishing, the nets are lowered into the water with a man walking along the central pole out to sea, to assure that the weighted nets are properly submerged. Then after a few minutes, 5 men pull on the free ropes, raising the heavy nets and structure, hopefully with fish. We did observe some small fish being caught and sold to waiting customers for their dinner. We were enthralled by the sheer magnitude and ingenuity of these nets and their usage at the mouth of the harbour and set up along the shore on either side of the harbour entrance, one next to the other. We observed several of these nets being cast and retrieved with a minimum of 5 men needed for the operation of each net. The area along the shore was filled with people, tuk-tuk’s and vendors as well as beggars and indeed a busy atmosphere was apparent. We then stopped at a large old colonial (Portuguese) home where an Indian family now lives and provides tea, biscuits and cold (non-alcoholic) drinks to tours like ourselves. We were please to drink a lot of cold water and use the facilities, while exploring the home with its inner courtyard surrounded by bedrooms and the outer parlour and guest entertainment areas. The gardens were filled with flowering plants and a general feeling of life for the old privileged class permeated the air.
The final stop after passing cricket pitches and football (soccer) fields, colonial and recent buildings was an exclusive high end handicraft shop “Cottage Arts Emporium”. Unfortunately only 15 minutes was given to explore the multi level establishment, which was a little frustrating as there were many things of interest. Some old illustrated manuscripts were of interest, but the coach was leaving before really getting a chance to view. On our way back to the ship, George, the guide sung us a Bollywood song which was melodious and fun. Other guides in this region of the world have also performed in a similar manner, entertaining the coach riders. Once along side QM2, we spent some time visiting the temporary shops set up on the quay and managed to help the local economy and vendors! Back on board, Tachy’s leg was improved and we went to the forward 11th deck to watch the sail away. We were the last cruise vessel of the season to stop in Cochin and the largest, so thousands of the local population turned out along the banks to wave good bye. As we pulled out past the French Aircraft carrier and the Chinese Fishing nets, we were sent off by the waving throngs after another fabulous day ashore, this time in glorious India. Now for three days at sea before. Dubai, UAE.
Roger & Anne Travels 