With only a few weeks left in India and wanting to maximize our time here, a few of us braved a bumpy 12 hour bus ride down the coast the weekend before finals to visit the town of Kochi in the state of Kerala. Beginning in the 14th century, Kochi served as an important spice-trading center with European nations and was eventually occupied by the Portuguese Empire in 1503, becoming the first of the European colonies in colonial India. Kochi is also well known as a key entry point into the famed Kerala backwaters.
We went just for a few days, but it was just enough time to see and experience everything on our list. We visited the St. Francis church, India’s first Christian church and the original burial place of Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gamma.
We wandered the extensive markets of Jew Town and Mattancherry, the original spice markets and trading centers, now converted into rows of shops and stalls selling everything from tapestries, historical artifacts, scarves, hundred-year-old post cards, artwork, jewelry, spices, and books, to touristy trinkets. Coming in off-season, shopkeepers lay idle in front of their shops, calling us eagerly from their storefronts urging us to take a look at their products. It was the perfect place to buy souvenirs and gifts and just marvel at all the beautiful cloths, colors, and artwork.
We went just for a few days, but it was just enough time to see and experience everything on our list. We visited the St. Francis church, India’s first Christian church and the original burial place of Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gamma.
We wandered the extensive markets of Jew Town and Mattancherry, the original spice markets and trading centers, now converted into rows of shops and stalls selling everything from tapestries, historical artifacts, scarves, hundred-year-old post cards, artwork, jewelry, spices, and books, to touristy trinkets. Coming in off-season, shopkeepers lay idle in front of their shops, calling us eagerly from their storefronts urging us to take a look at their products. It was the perfect place to buy souvenirs and gifts and just marvel at all the beautiful cloths, colors, and artwork.
We took advantage of Kochi’s well-known café culture during the days, spending hours with lassies or glasses of cold coffee and newly purchased books from a nearby bookstore. We tried traditional Kerala cuisine at some restaurants and some more foreign cuisine at others.
One evening we wandered over to the waters edge where the sun was just beginning to set behind the ancient Chinese fishing nets. The fishing nets are giant apparatuses fixed in the land and are operated by a team of six or so fisherman. They use a pulley-type system to drop the nets in the water and pull them back out with their catch. The name “Chinese fishing nets” came about because of the unusual nature of this net as it is not seen anywhere else in the country. As the nets rose and fell almost mechanically and the orange bulbous sun lit up the entire sky sending yellow colored rays across the waves, one team of fishermen invited us aboard their rig. They explained the mechanics of the nets to us, showing us their day’s catch, and even letting us try operating them ourselves, letting us pull the ropes rapidly to drop the net into the water and again to pull it back up. They let us walk all the way out to the end of the beam to see the catch and watch them scoop it up and separate the different types of fish. Afterwards, we wandered along the beach watching families splash in the warm waves.
One evening we wandered over to the waters edge where the sun was just beginning to set behind the ancient Chinese fishing nets. The fishing nets are giant apparatuses fixed in the land and are operated by a team of six or so fisherman. They use a pulley-type system to drop the nets in the water and pull them back out with their catch. The name “Chinese fishing nets” came about because of the unusual nature of this net as it is not seen anywhere else in the country. As the nets rose and fell almost mechanically and the orange bulbous sun lit up the entire sky sending yellow colored rays across the waves, one team of fishermen invited us aboard their rig. They explained the mechanics of the nets to us, showing us their day’s catch, and even letting us try operating them ourselves, letting us pull the ropes rapidly to drop the net into the water and again to pull it back up. They let us walk all the way out to the end of the beam to see the catch and watch them scoop it up and separate the different types of fish. Afterwards, we wandered along the beach watching families splash in the warm waves.
The next day we went on a tour of the backwaters from a nearby town of Allepy. The boat was rickety, made with bamboo and coconut husks and covered with a roof for shade. We sat inside on plastic lawn chairs as a man in the front of the boat pushed us along slowly with a long bamboo rod. We floated along, admiring the lush greenery lining the river, drifting past humble homes situated along the banks. Men worked outside, collecting shellfish from the water as women skinned larger fish or beat soapy clothing on stones behind their homes. Children perched on crumbling retaining walls and watched with wide eyes as we past by, sometimes waving enthusiastically. We floated in this way for several hours, just admiring the scenery and listening to the chirping of birds in the treetops. The air was warm but we were shaded from the violent rays of the sun above. We eventually reached a home where we stopped for a simple meal of Kerala rice and sambar served on banana leaves. We briefly watched women make papards over wood burning fires and weave rope from piles of coconut husks before getting back on the boat. For this half of the ride, I read my book, enjoying the simple swaying as we moved along and the sounds filling my ears and the warm air covering my skin.
That night it was back on the bus and back to studying for the finals we had managed to ignore until now.
That night it was back on the bus and back to studying for the finals we had managed to ignore until now.