To continue – we arrive in Kochi, in Kerala State, after an overnight train trip from Goa. Here’s a brief roundup.
Kochi is an interesting blend of Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonial styles mixed in with a port that was an important spice trading centre on the west coast of India from the 14th century onward.
We like it. Lots of old buildings. It seems ‘mellower’ than places in the north.
We wander the area of the old spice market.
A symbol of Kochi are these so-called Chinese fishing nets.
Because it’s a port, there are vessels of all kinds. Like fishing boats
And freighters.
This is the Indian Navy Ship Sunayna, steaming into home port.
The venerable Dutch East India Company had a presence here.
We’ve seen VOC outposts all around Asia, as well as their buildings in different cities in the Netherlands.
This mural is a pretty good statement about the plight of the poor fish in the Arabian Sea.
We visit the Paradesi synagogue. Photography is prohibited inside, but you can use the wikipedia link for interior views.
Jewish cemetery
Sight or Insight of the Day
The media in India is full of news about India’s second moonshot, the Chandrayaan-2 mission. It’s not going well.
I cannot for the life of me imagine why a country where you can’t drink water out of the tap wastes its time, money, and resources looking for ‘possible water sources’ on the moon. To impress the world with its technical prowess? The world – not to mention the citizens of India – would be a lot more impressed if India could miraculously join the limited club of nations in which the tap water doesn’t kill you.