Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th September: Melbourne to The Marriott, Cochin Airport, Cochin.
After a very long day of flying from Melbourne we were happy to see the comfortable beds at the Marriott just near the Cochin Airport. After leaving Melbourne at 9.35am we finally reached the hotel at about 2am Melbourne time ( but 8.30pm local time) We must be becoming very seasoned travellers as no incidents occurred...noone missed a flight, lost their passport, spilt their meal on themselves or had any traumatic incidents (although the girl who sat next to me on one flight consumed 7 glasses oF red wine so I was anticipating anything!). Truly remarkable.
The very swish and brand new Cochin Airport is notable because it is the only completely solar powered airport in the world. Huge banks of solar panels surround it: despite the hour we were very impressive indeed.
After breakfast we piled on to the bus headed for Bunton's Boatyard Hotel where we will spend the next few days.
This is Kerala of course and evidence of the floods of a few weeks ago is everywhere. Brown lines across bridges and buildings indicate the depth of the floods. Piles of rubbish have yet to be collected because of the amount of waste to be disposed of, as thousands of home were destroyed.
But the guide Gopi's description of how the local people used their sense of humour to face the challenges was very funny. A photo of two pairs of white underpants left hanging on a line showing the depth of the flood was certainly a new take on the idea of flood measurement!
Its always fascinating to just drive around and look at the architecture, the people, the businesses and the mish mash of impressive and humble buildings...and the billboards!
Here are some of our favourites from this morning:
'Banking beyond Boundaries'
'Diamond Necklace Carnival'
'Fresh Air of Digital Flair'
'Dental Kingdom'
'Penna Cement...Building Quality Relationships'
'Find your crease..the Linen Collection'
and last but not least -
'Kerala matrimony.com....Marriages are forever' ( Sue tried the website but reluctantly did not register!).
We stopped at an Art Gallery for our first cultural experience : a percussion drumming performance based on an old drumming tradition from this area called Banchavadyam
Bancha means five so five instruments are involved. The leader of the group has set up a number of schools to teach drumming to anyone interested regardless of age, caste or gender.
Traditionally a male activity, there are lots of girls participating starting at the age of 8 : ie they have experienced eight monsoons which is significant in this culture. It was a a very fiery passionate performance with a great deal of skill, and included five teenagers who are students of the school. We were all exhausted just watching them!
A few of us had our first experience of the joys of Indian infrastructure: finding an ATM that actually wants to give us money. After four attempts we finally succeeded so we fortunately had money to donate to a worthwhile flood project.
It involved using the saris from businesses that had been covered in mud during the flood. Then they have been laundered, and made into very simple dolls for sale (which was not too much of a test of our handicrafts skills - KK would be proud).
Lunch at the Old Harbour Hotel was our first taste of Kerala curries and the mild complex flavours were great. Although I think the cardamon ice cream was a crowd favourite.
Finally we reached Brunton's Boatyard Hotel, a lovely colonial-style hotel on the riverbank, with a great pool overlooking the busy river traffic. After some downtime to recuperate from a hectic morning we headed for the river and a sunset cruise for an hour.
The boats ranged from long boats to large colourful fishing boats to jam-packed ferries. We watched as a container was loaded on to a huge ship at the Container terminal, Sea eagles flew overhead: very distinctive with their white heads and beautiful cinnamon brown wings. There were many large communal fishing nets dotted around the banks. The sunset turned pink as we floated along.
Back on shore it was time to watch Buji, one of the chefs, demonstrate how to make Chicken Mappas, a delicacy of the region. It's amazing how great food tastes when you don't have to cook it yourself!
He agreed to write down the recipe for us as we were all very impressed with the taste and simplicity of the recipe. Hopefully I can put it into the blog for future reference.
Then it was time for a Gin and Tonic for some (for historical reasons of course!) before a fabulous dinner at the Boatyard. Although we're still trying to work out how Mango consomme can be clear and very salty?? But we'll try anything once!
Still recovering from travel and jet lag we staggered off to bed early to recuperate for the new day. So much to see and do!
your tired but excited correspondent
Dianne
After a very long day of flying from Melbourne we were happy to see the comfortable beds at the Marriott just near the Cochin Airport. After leaving Melbourne at 9.35am we finally reached the hotel at about 2am Melbourne time ( but 8.30pm local time) We must be becoming very seasoned travellers as no incidents occurred...noone missed a flight, lost their passport, spilt their meal on themselves or had any traumatic incidents (although the girl who sat next to me on one flight consumed 7 glasses oF red wine so I was anticipating anything!). Truly remarkable.
The very swish and brand new Cochin Airport is notable because it is the only completely solar powered airport in the world. Huge banks of solar panels surround it: despite the hour we were very impressive indeed.
After breakfast we piled on to the bus headed for Bunton's Boatyard Hotel where we will spend the next few days.
This is Kerala of course and evidence of the floods of a few weeks ago is everywhere. Brown lines across bridges and buildings indicate the depth of the floods. Piles of rubbish have yet to be collected because of the amount of waste to be disposed of, as thousands of home were destroyed.
But the guide Gopi's description of how the local people used their sense of humour to face the challenges was very funny. A photo of two pairs of white underpants left hanging on a line showing the depth of the flood was certainly a new take on the idea of flood measurement!
Its always fascinating to just drive around and look at the architecture, the people, the businesses and the mish mash of impressive and humble buildings...and the billboards!
Here are some of our favourites from this morning:
'Banking beyond Boundaries'
'Diamond Necklace Carnival'
'Fresh Air of Digital Flair'
'Dental Kingdom'
'Penna Cement...Building Quality Relationships'
'Find your crease..the Linen Collection'
and last but not least -
'Kerala matrimony.com....Marriages are forever' ( Sue tried the website but reluctantly did not register!).
We stopped at an Art Gallery for our first cultural experience : a percussion drumming performance based on an old drumming tradition from this area called Banchavadyam
Bancha means five so five instruments are involved. The leader of the group has set up a number of schools to teach drumming to anyone interested regardless of age, caste or gender.
 |
| Five of the students performing. |
A few of us had our first experience of the joys of Indian infrastructure: finding an ATM that actually wants to give us money. After four attempts we finally succeeded so we fortunately had money to donate to a worthwhile flood project.
 |
| Some of our creations! |
 |
| Sue using her dolls as earrings! |
Lunch at the Old Harbour Hotel was our first taste of Kerala curries and the mild complex flavours were great. Although I think the cardamon ice cream was a crowd favourite.
 |
| The pool overlooking the river and some friendly birds |
 |
| Brunton Boatyard Hotel |
 |
| Looking towards the open sea from the river and Brunton's |
 |
| Communal fishing nets on the river waiting to be lowered at the right tide |
The boats ranged from long boats to large colourful fishing boats to jam-packed ferries. We watched as a container was loaded on to a huge ship at the Container terminal, Sea eagles flew overhead: very distinctive with their white heads and beautiful cinnamon brown wings. There were many large communal fishing nets dotted around the banks. The sunset turned pink as we floated along.
Back on shore it was time to watch Buji, one of the chefs, demonstrate how to make Chicken Mappas, a delicacy of the region. It's amazing how great food tastes when you don't have to cook it yourself!
He agreed to write down the recipe for us as we were all very impressed with the taste and simplicity of the recipe. Hopefully I can put it into the blog for future reference.
Then it was time for a Gin and Tonic for some (for historical reasons of course!) before a fabulous dinner at the Boatyard. Although we're still trying to work out how Mango consomme can be clear and very salty?? But we'll try anything once!
Still recovering from travel and jet lag we staggered off to bed early to recuperate for the new day. So much to see and do!
your tired but excited correspondent
Dianne
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