NOTE: Pictures of Taxi, Synagogue and Chines Fishing Nets
Today, we had the opportunity to visit Cochin, India. This is a port of the world, which is not often frequented by Passenger Cruise Ships. Rather, Cochin is the commercial hub of the Indian state of Kerala. It does have a very impressive harbor for a commercial port.
Cochin has several tourist sites. There is an area known as Jewish Town, which is home to an historic Jewish Synagogue. There is also the St. Francis Church which is the oldest European church located on Indian Soil. Other areas include the Mattancherry Palace, Willington Island, which is a manmade island that is home to the areas finest hotels, and the Chinese fishing nets, which are located in Fort Cochin. There are several major shopping centers and other stores and the best buys are metal ware, grass mats, camel-bone carvings, and woodcarvings.
Once again, we woke up early this morning after enjoying another very nice sleep on board the ship. We find it so easy to get a good nights sleep on the ship. The waterways continued to be very calm and we never hear anyone from our room. It is amazing how quiet the ship is.
Keith arrived to the Fitness Center a little earlier than normal since we had a shore excursion scheduled for this morning. Keith spoke with Mary as he worked out on the Elliptical Machine and Anne Marie enjoyed a nice workout on the Treadmill. John was also working out along with a few other passengers.
After our workout we went back to our room where our breakfast was already set-up and waiting for us. While we enjoyed breakfast, we could see the beautiful shoreline and the town of Cochin. We got a glimpse of the famous Chinese Fish Nets. The architecture, particularly the rooftops of the buildings, was much prettier than we expected it would be and the landscape, which included many beautiful trees along the shoreline, was even more beautiful looking than we anticipated. In just a few minutes we already had a very positive impression as we descended on our first port of call in India.
While we were waiting for the ship to be cleared we saw about ten different uniformed guards on the pier. A few were standing near our gangway and others were positioned in other areas of the pier. This was not unusual, but a surprise was that each one of them had automatic guns along with a handgun.
Captain Glenn gave the word at around 8:00 AM that ship was cleared by local authorities for us to go ashore. Captain Glenn’s through of the day
Our ship docked at Ernakulam Wharf, which is located approximately six miles from the center of the city. Local taxi and transportation unions prohibit cruise lines such as Crystal from providing a complimentary shuttle. Taxis from the pier to the city center ran around $4.00. United States currency is readily accepted. A local bank did come on the ship to exchange money but we did not utilize this service given that we knew we could use USA currency.
This was one of the ports of call that Crystal recommended that travelers not wear jewelry ashore and to leave other valuable items on the ship. In addition, information was provided to be careful about eating ashore. Consistent to what the travel doctor had mentioned the other day, many dishes prepared in various areas around the world do contain certain microbes to which Westerners are not immune. We usually avoid eating ashore in most areas of the world unless we are on along shore excursion, which includes a lunch. And, when a lunch is included we are careful what we eat. The shore excursion that we selected for today and for our upcoming visit to Mumbai was short enough in duration so that there was no need for us to eat off the ship. If this were not the case, then we would plan to bring a box lunch off the ship. This is not always possible in some ports of call such as Australia which prohibit taking food ashore, but in other ports such as India this would have been fine.
We began our tour with a thirty-minute drive until we reached our first site; St. Francis Church, which is the oldest European church on Indian soil.
Our next stop in Fort Cochin offered us the opportunity to see the Chinese fishing nets. They are still used today by the locals to catch fish and during our visit we did see them in use. These nets were first introduced to the area between 1350 and 1450.
We then traveled a short distance to the Jewish settlement of Mattancherry and we visited the Mattancherry Palace. We also visited the Jewish Synagogue. It was built during the 18th Century and we thought it was in excellent condition. We had to remove our shoes to enter the Synagogue. We then had about forty-five minutes to walk around the town and we visited a few different stores; including a spice market.
We also visited a very nice craft market run by the government. The market sold a variety of items from spices, to beautiful wooden furniture, to tablecloths, napkins and other items for the home.
Our tour guide was quite informative.
Cochin is an Island with 1.8 million inhabitants. The areas that we visited were fairly congested. Many of the locals traveled in buses. While not as packed with people as the buses in Myanmar they were still packed with people with almost no room to move. Most of the taxis had one tire on the front of the vehicle and two in the rear and would mainly hold a driver and two passengers. There were also cars for hire and these cars while in nice shape looked to be from the 1950’s and 1960’s. Similar to Vietnam, our bus driver used his horn almost non-stop to let those in front of him to either speed up or move over to the side of the road. There were no traffic lights. While a little chaotic at times things were much more organized than say what we’ve been told about our upcoming visit to Mumbai.
There are a variety of drivers of the local economy. Many of the men are fishermen, and many of the women make carpets and rope. There are now a fair amount of goldsmiths who make jewelry. The export of spices is important to this areas economy along with the export of items such as prawns and rubber.
The people that we spoke with were very pleasant but clearly those in many of the stores we visited depend on tourism. The majority of the Hindus wake each morning at between 5:30 and 6:00 AM to music that can be heard from the nearby temples. After waking up they immediately take a bath and then they go to temple each day.
On our drive we passed a variety of places in relatively decent condition along with some very poor areas. We passed a public outdoor area where most of the people who live in the nearby area dry their clothes in the open space. Adjacent to that area was a public garbage dump where we could see locals going through the garbage to look for items to keep.
Outside the tourist spots were locals trying to sell us a variety of items and in a couple of areas we did encounter quite a bit of begging.
The people that we saw were not overweight as we see to often in other areas of the world. They were on the light side in terms of their body weight.
The people who we had the opportunity to meet throughout our time in Cochin spoke English very well. There is still high unemployment in India and this area of India is no different. Some people though are reaping the benefits of the emerging economy through the outsourcing of jobs from other parts of the world such as the United States of America and Europe. As such, there are many highly educated and skilled people in this country performing complex tasks in technical areas such as telecommunications, and in the IT (Information Technology area). While some are now enjoying the benefits of the emerging economy they still represent the minority, with most citizens living a very challenging life and hoping to have enough money to have food and some type of place to live in. With this said, India is a developing country and in-time should continue to grow economically.
Visiting places such as this is a reminder how fortunate and, yes, lucky, to be living where we are today.
When we arrived back to the ship we enjoyed another wonderful salad entrée that we had pre-ordered before we left the ship. During the afternoon, we took a very nice long walk on the Promenade Deck.
This evening we dined for the second consecutive night at the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant. We were invited by another couple to join them for dinner this evening. This couple has taken many World Cruises with Crystal but due to some health issues they were unable to travel on last years World Cruise. They are an amazing couple. When the man was quite young he lived in Germany and was very fortunate that his family made the decision for the family to leave Germany about one month before it would have been impossible to leave this country. His family settled in Mexico where he eventually met his wife. We met them on the bus that took us from the pier in Bangkok to the Oriental Hotel for our overnight stay in Bangkok and since that time have spoken with them from time to time. Interestingly enough, their room is located right next to our room. They are both very kind individuals who have a wonderful outlook on life and we appreciate the kindness they have shown to us since we first met them.
We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with them in Silk Road along with a wonderful conversation.
We have described some of the other menus but have shared less about our dinners at Silk Road. We usually start off with a nice platter of sushi. There is a special menu for Sushi. Keith has become a bit more adventurous and does have some Sashimi. Keith normally has Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno, a small order of new-style Sashimi of scallop, some tuna Sashimi and then we order a variety of sushi and sushi rolls which are all cooked such as shrimp, a house special roll, a soft shell crab roll, a California roll, smoked salmon sushi, a vegetable roll and even a few items that we have learned about that are not on the menu.
We then order a nice entrée. Sometimes we get a sampler box of scallops, cod, and some other item such as broiled eggplant or some other item, along with a bowl of rice. The last couple of times in lieu of this entrée, Keith has ordered Hot Soba Noodles, served in a large bowl of excellent broth (soup) with scallops. Anne Marie has also tried that. We then finish our meal with a delicious fruit plate along with decaffeinated coffee for Anne Marie and we find that they make a very unique and delicious cup of coffee in this specialty restaurant and Keith has the green tea. Once every few weeks Anne Marie enjoys a wonderfully tasting Chocolate Soufflé Cake.
When we have sailed on the ship for a one segment cruise we normally also have one of the wonderfully prepared salads with our favorite being the Mushroom Salad. The mushrooms are served warm, and between the mushrooms, the unique dressing it makes the salad come to life. We have also in the past had their spicy seafood soup which has a very unique taste.
At the same time, Silk Road offers so many other choices from a variety of appetizers such a tempura, spring rolls, king crab and so forth, three wonderful choices for soup, three wonderful salad choices followed by a nice selection of entrees. A favorite of many is the beef that is available and several passengers have remarked that it is the best tasting beef that they have ever been eaten. Let us not forget about dessert. There are a variety of desserts to choose from.
There is also a Sushi Bar offering some seating on a first come basis and provides a wonderful opportunity to watch the artistic ability of the Sushi Chefs as they prepare the Sushi. On some segments it is very popular. There are also some tables that are by the sushi bar area that are designated as such by not having table cloths where one can be seated without reservations and also on a first come basis. The rest of the restaurant had lovely white tablecloths on each table and reservations are necessary. The menu, recipes and overall concept of this restaurant has been developed by celebrated chef Nobu Matsuhisa. The quality, preparation and the taste of the food is unbelievable. Chef Nobu has restaurants located in several major cities in the United States and around the world. Over the years, we have had the opportunity to talk with several fellow passengers who live in Japan and they adore this restaurant.
During the course of each of the World Cruise Segments there have been a number of special events from time to time for all passengers and this evening was no exception. This evening an event was added to the schedule called the Sari Starry Night Cocktail Party. Complimentary cocktails were served and their was live music for dancing and everyone’s listening pleasure. The theme of this event was clothing. Passengers were invited to wear clothing items that they may have purchased during this segment of the cruise, which began in Singapore. This provided a nice opportunity for passengers to wear any clothing items that they purchased. It was a cute idea and it’s so nice that there have been many events such as these for all of the passengers.
We are now sailing towards Mumbai, India. Tomorrow we will have a full day at sea and are scheduled to arrive in Mumbai the following morning. Our ship will enjoy an overnight stay in Mumbai.
Keith & Anne Marie
