The Elephant says it all. Landing late at night we came out of the airport which is new and completely powered by solar. We were hit by oppressive humidity and heat. I felt like the only thing I would be able to do is lay down in an air-conditioned room.

Cochin is an hour and a half from the airport, crossing bridges from island to island, some of those man made and others natural. We pulled up to the Colonial Inn which looked like a storybook illustration of old colonial architecture. A beautiful courtyard with large 300-year-old trees and a pool. Our room opened to a private courtyard with a fountain and lovely flowers. The art work throughout the Inn was interesting and a mixture of contemporary and antique sculptures and paintings.

This area of India is completely different from the rest. There is only a population of three million, there is little honking of horns, less traffic, and overall there is a sense of peace. This area is mostly Christian with a mix of Hindu and Muslin. The Portuguese, Dutch, and English settled here and the architecture reflects those different styles. There are sections throughout the city which are designated areas by religion but all of the people live in harmony. They refer to the Jewish section as “Jew Town.” This is the wholesale spice market area. And there are only two Jews left. However, the temple is a destination for many Jewish people as it is one of the first temples in the area to be built and is quite beautiful.

In the morning we went to the port to see the fisherman who fish with the Chinese fishing nets. It is a very strenuous process, which takes several men to pull the net out of the water as the net is weighted down with very heavy rocks.

That evening we went off to see a traditional dance. We watched them do their makeup which is quite elaborate. Afterwards there was an explanation of the  eye, hand and finger movements. This was helpful, plus the English translation, for understand the performance. The singer sounded like he was giving birth and we all had to hold our laughter in as it went on and on. It was interesting but long and something we could have missed. Yet it is all part of learning about the culture. Only the men perform.

Other images of Cochin: The laundry,where the men do the washing,ironing etc. Some of the women iron. This is the same group of people generation after generation that do the laundry. The iron is coal fired, although the one in the picture is electric. The hand irons are heated by charcoalthey produce from burning the coconut shell.