Post #217 2 April 2020

Gentlefolk,

This post describes our time in Cochin (new name Kochi), the final destination of our 3-week tour of India.

We spent two nights in Cochin, Friday 13 and Saturday 14 March 2020.  On Sunday night 15 March we flew from Cochin to Singapore.

We'll return to Cochin one day - it deserves a closer/longer look.  Lots of interesting history here, but the tourist sites were all closed because of the coronavirus.

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Kochi.  Perhaps because there were few guests, we were all upgraded to large rooms - like mini-suites - see photo. Very comfortable.

The view from our hotel room, looking across the highway (under construction) to the Le Meridien Hotel.

Another view from the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Note the waterways.

Another view from our hotel room - a new high-rise building under construction next door.

The swimming pool at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.  There was another, larger, pool on the ground floor, but that was closed for maintenance.

Eugine took us on a walking tour of the area in part of the Old City called Fort Cochin. Unfortunately many tourist places, were closed, including Mattancherry Palace which was the focal point of Fort Cochin..  Here we are in front of St Francis Church, the oldest European-built church in India, but the gates were locked. The church was built in 1503 by Portuguese Franciscan Friars. Explorer Vasco de Gama was buried here when he died in 1524 (14 years later his son took his remains back to Portugal).
The Portuguese were defeated by the Dutch, who in turn were defeated by the British.  So there is a lot of interesting colonial history in Cochin.  Would definitely be worth another visit to have a good look here.

I was impressed by this sign proclaiming a "Plastic Free Zone" in Cochin Fort.

This cafe was "no plastic".

A beach in Fort Cochin.

The streets all proclaimed this area as "God's own country"!!!

The Post Office was located in an old Portuguese building. Three Moslem ladies standing in front of the PO (haven't seen many Moslems around Cochin).

An ornate post-box in front of the Post Office.

This is a photo of Vasco Homestay. Renovated old Portuguese buildings on this street. Looked like a nice place to stay.  Actually Vera and I found this area very attractive; reminded us of parts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where we lived 40 years ago.

Another renovated old building, now the Rasoi Restaurant.

Menu of the Rasoi Restaurant.

I wonder what a "Non-Hotel" Hotel is????

Another view of The Tower House Non-Hotel.

A local shop.

Vera bought embroidered pants.

Anyone for henna? At least it washes off after a few days!

Cantilevered Chinese fishing nets - introduced by Chinese traders about 600 years ago. These days they are mostly a tourist attraction.

The Chinese fishing nets. These enormous contraptions need at least 4 people to operate the counter-weights. Some  of our group participated.

Eugine's fiance runs a small cafe; we waved to her as we drove past. It was a no-parking zone, so our bus couldn't stop. They plan to get married mid-year. We wish them well.

Next to Fort Cochin is Mattancherry District which includes an area called Jew Town, where the Jewish community lived.  They have all moved on now, only an elderly couple are left.

Some of the shops here had Jewish names.

The oldest Synagogue in India; the caretakers are two elderly Jews, the last remnants of what was once a thriving community.

The Synagogue - apparently much nicer/more interesting on the inside.

The Synagogue, like other churches and tourist sites, has been closed because of the coronavirus.

Some random photos around Cochin.

On Sunday morning Vera, and others, took autorickshaws to Ernakulam, the commercial district of Cochin.  I was still getting over "the trots" so stayed in the hotel.

The growing threat of the coronavirus CV-19 was front-page news.

The coronavirus Covid-19 is having a dramatic effect as foreign and domestic tourism dries up.  Hotels and restaurants are almost empty.

The matrimonial columns.

Some Indian gods (in the hotel shop)

At the Hotel, on behalf of the group Bryan thanked Eugine for his help, and wished him well.

On the bus to the Airport - our last trip.

From left: Murthi (driver), Vera, Bron, Darryl (partly obscured), Ros, Elaine, Jill, Elizabeth, Deb, me, Michelle, Bryan, Peter, and Muthu (conductor).

Saying goodbye to Eugine at the Airport.

Inside Cochin Airport - modern.

Inside the Airport.

A poster inside Cochin Airport.

From Cochin we flew to Singapore, 3 hour transit and then a flight to Sydney; we arrived at 8.30pm on Monday 16 March 2020.  We were surprised that there was no temperature checking, nor were arrivals asked where they had been.  It only took us 40 minutes to get through the airport formalities, pick up our bags, and out the door (where our son was waiting - see photo below).

About 10 days later the Govt finally tightened arrival procedures (including temperature checking, and 14 days supervised quarantine).

Our son, Andrew, met us outside the Arrivals Area of Sydney International Airport. Touching elbows, the new handshake.

We caught Murray's Bus to Canberra, and finally arrived home in Kingston at 2am on Tuesday morning.

Home sweet home!!!

The day before our return the Govt introduced mandatory self-isolation for 14 days for everyone arriving from overseas, so we didn't venture out for the next two weeks (just a daily walk around-the-block to get some exercise). Fortunately my sister Aniko lives in Canberra, and she brought us groceries as we couldn't even go shopping.

Our self-isolation finished on Tuesday 31 March. Not that our lives have changed much, as most recreational facilities have closed down, and we have to observe social distancing. Meeting in groups is prohibited.

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You know the saying "Every cloud has a silver lining", well for me our self-isolation meant that I had time to do my blog posts on our trip to India.

It's been fun going through all my photos and notes and re-living our memorable journey through this fascinating country, India.

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So many impressions. We were there 22 days, we did and saw a lot, but what did it all mean? I'm going to take a day or two to ponder, and then do a final post on India.

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That's it for now.

Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Vera & Alex Olah
Canberra Australia
Thursday 2 April 2020