Fort Kochi and Cherai Beach

Chinese Fishing Nets, Fort Kochi

This morning, after another good sleep in peaceful surrounds, we rode the 50km back to the mainland then out to Fort Kochi. We took an alternative route, taking in the backwaters of Vypeen Island before hitting the heavy, erratic traffic on the National Highway.

Lauren's new home

While not actually a fort, Fort Kochi has a strong historical feel having been taken by both the Portugese and the Dutch in the past. We parked up Big Red and explored the streets in foot. We started off on the promenade which ran along the northern coast of Fort Kochi. Lonely Planet recommended we check out the Chinese Fishing nets that the area is so well known for. We arrived to find that the nets were like the many we had seen on our adventures to Cherai Beach yesterday. We have a habit of seeing things, like monkeys and fishing nets, before the Lonely Planet says we should. We then hit the backstreets. Many of the streets had a European vibe if Europe had adopted pesky and relentless salesmen and Tuk Tuk drivers. No thank you...we would not like a tour of the fort. We had intended to check out the old Dutch Cemetry and, when we arrived to find it closed, figured it would open up soon enough. Apparently not. A friendly Tuk Tuk driver informed us that the Cemetry was now closed to the public, except on special request, thanks to the alcoholics and druggies who enjoyed fulfilling their habit between the large graves. We stumbled upon Bob Marley Cafe and Lauren fit right in.

St Francis Church, Fort Kochi

Next stop was St Francis Church. We removed our shoes and entered the noisy Church. It's stained glass windows and tomb failed to save this landmark from what the noise had ruined. A church just doesn't feel like a church when there isn't a hush through the crowd.

Fort Kochi was reminding us a lot of Galle in that its Heritage Hotels, European middle-aged package tourists and overpriced cafes were in stark contrast to Kochi's mainland beeping, honking town centre.

Still without breakfast we grabbed Big Red and rode around to Jew Town. Mattancherry Palace was our first stop. After buying our 5 INR tickets we fought the crowds, both Indian and European, and checked out the murals, artefacts, portraits and info that came with them. The building itself was very cool with huge wooden doors, wooden ceilings and views of the "fish pond" outside. We searched for the image of Krishna performing foreplay on eight happy milkmaids while managing to play the flute but had no luck. By this stage we were getting awful sick of the crowds and the postcards, tiger balm, painted leaves, puppets, lanterns, clothes, sequinned blankets and everything else you will probably never need so we wandered around to The Synagogue hoping for some peace. Yeah right!

Tuk Tuk graveyard, Fort Kochi

Again we paid our 5 INR to the overworked, stressed door-lady. Thanks to a room of paintings we were given a run-down on Judaisim and the history of Jews in Kochi. Then it was shoes off again as we entered a rather unimpressive Synagogue. Despite signage requesting that people maintain silence, there was a lot of chatter as people, namely the Indian tourists, milled about inside. Again, there seems to be a general lack of consideration for others. Perhaps we shouldn't feel so bad about chatting and taking photos at their temples. We then rode the narrow Bazaar Road as people bought and sold all manner of delicious smelling spices, reversed around blind corners and loaded up trucks at the spice markets.

Take Three of the Sim Card Saga: we returned to Idea Headoffice armed with passports, passport photos (our supply is dwindling quickly), a Keralan reference, our phones and Indian mobile numbers. After just a quick bit of paperwork we were on our way to "pocket Internet" without the roaming charges that had eaten away our last bit of credit.

We battled the traffic again and rode, hot and sweaty by this stage, back to Cherai Beach. We took advantage of having wifi before taking another dip in the sea and lazing beneath a tree on the beach.

Backwaters, Cherai

On the way to try and find some dinner it was photography time. We returned to the zigzagging, narrow strips of land which divided the backwaters and Chris captured the sunset while locals watched on. Then...the hunt for food. Cherai is well set up for package tourists who don't want to leave the beach and don't want to try local food. Restaurants selling Western food abound. We drove up and down the island looking for a local restaurant to serve us up some tasty Keralan treats. No such luck. While we found one restaurant which sold only chilli meals (the fried chilli chicken he was cooking up smelt amazing) we settled on our guesthouse for dinner. We tried our first Palaou (rice dish) which was delicious, chapati and a "dulled-down for tourists" version of butter chicken masala.

Backwaters, Cherai