Fort Cochin / Ernakulum

Our train was delayed leaving Goa by 2 hours - not actually boarding till 11pm. The train journey was non-eventful us climbing straight into our bunks for a typical 'train' sleep. Again woken early by the cries of 'Chai, Chai' as the men paraded up and down the carriage selling various foods and drinks from 6am onwards (not even daybreak yet!). Other than buying a few edibles the remainder of the journey passed smoothly broken between cat naps and reading books, pulled into Ernakulum station mid-afternoon. Ernakulum was much busier, brighter and bigger than we'd expected - a proper high street for once! Most people are here to stay in nearby Fort Cochin a small island/peninsula which is very quiet and a world away from indian street life. Trouble is it's not actually that big and we were thankful that we were staying across the water in a proper town - the ferry across was no problem, 3 pence each way! The big thing in Kerala is 'Ayurvuerdic Therapies' an ancient form of medicine that has been turned into big business - not to miss out Georgie booked herself a full body massage, and when they say 'full body' they really mean it, two young girls rubbed down every part of my naked body with no excpetions using half a bucket of oil - a very liberating experience indeed! Chris missed out on this one as he would have had two Indian men to see to him! Other than fancy treatments and restaurants there was nothing to keep us here, even on foot it's fully explored within one hour, but a pleasant experience never the less. In Ernakulum a plentiful supply of shops filled our time, with an added 'Kathakali' performance thrown in - this involved copious amounts of makeup applied to two actors who then performed a story using only hand gestures and facial expressions, with a narrator attempting to explain the story line; another Keralan 'must-see' experience but we weren't all that taken and felt our money was better spent on another 'all you can eat' Indian buffet that we'd endulged in earlier that day! Having seen and done all thats on offer here it was off to Alleppey home of the Keralan Backwaters and the Houseboat extravaganza for something different again.

Chinese style fishing nets in Fort Cochin.

Make-up begins.

Still going...

The actors in full swing.