33-Kochi (Cochin)

Kochi is Kerala's prime tourist destination spreading across islands in location between the Arabian Sea & the backwaters. It's history goes back to 1405 when the royal family transfered here & attracted Christian, Jewish, & Arab settlers from the Middle East who started the still thriving spice & tea trade.
I arrived early in the morning in the small town of Ernakulam Bus Station & shared a 3-wheeled taxi with Mami, a young Japanese woman, to the main boat jetty. There we took a small ferry across the Harbor past Willingdon Island to the peninsula of Fort Cochin(Kochi)
Kochi is a sedate small town with short intense rains from the 2nd monsoon season(sept-oct) leaving the big oak trees dripping on the cobblestone streets, giving the town a sleepy feeling.
I ended up getting a nice room in a local familys house('The Taj Mahal') near the post office. Walking up the stairs past a large portrait of the 'hugging'Guru Amma(I plan to visit her ashram next) I felt I was in the right place.
That afternoon I met Tiffany from Texas, a pre-med student from Austin, & we hung out at a cafe & went to Kochi's(only) evening entertainment, the ritualized dance-drama theatre performance of Kathakali. Traditional performances lasted all night until dawn but modern performances last 90 minutes or less. The performance included an all male cast consisting of 2 drummers, 2 singers, & 3 costumed 'Gods' who did ritualized slow movements most of the play.(see pics at www.gorillaeyes.photosite.com)
One day in Kochi I rented a bike & rode all over the peninsular island past the Naval Housing, Jew Town(actual name), & into Mantancherry where most of the local population lives. Groups of kids playing Çricket or soccer, women in multi-colored sarongs walking together, men in traditional 'skirts', vegetable & fruit stands, handmade 'sweet' shops all are part of Kochi life.
I biked into the tourist market in Fort Cochin & stopped for a snake charmers performance consisting of an old man lifting the lids of his 2 straw baskets(the home of 2 cobra snakes) whenever people gave him some rupees(see pics!)
I had lunch one day with Merete from Copenhagen as we keep crossing paths(in Bangladore & here) & may meet again at the Ashram.