Wednesday, April 4, 2018, Cochin, India

Known as the “Queen of the Arabian Sea,” Cochin has been a bustling port for more than 1,000 years. In the late medieval days, this city of cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, and countless other spices put India on the maps of European traders. Since then, Cochin has never stopped exporting these plants for culinary and medicinal uses. Still today, it is regarded as the world’s leading producer of pepper. Modern-day Cochin reflects the varied people who have settled here seeking their own spice fortune. Portuguese, Dutch, British, and Chinese have all influenced the cityscape, culture, and cuisine. The Mattancherry Palace is a fascinating example of this melding as European exteriors belie the Hindu temple art within.

On our way to first stop of today's shore excursion: A village laundry.

Our cruise ship was docked on the small Willingdon Island; here we crossed a parallel bridge.

Fishing boats after the night's catch.

India has as many Christian churches as Hindu temples, a carryover from Portuguese, Dutch, and English days.

Our first stop today, a local laundry run by thirty families.

Men standing in water, beating clothes to get them clean.

Acres of clothes drying on lines.

Ironing clothes. Lady in yellow (foreground below) is a guest on our cruise ship; it was all she could do to pick up the extremely heavy iron.

On our way to next stop; note the air conditioned bus above.

Mammoth rain fall trees; brought to Cochin by the Portuguese over 460 years ago.

St. Francis Church, in Fort Kochi (Fort Cochin), originally built in 1503, is the oldest European church in India and has great historical significance as a mute witness to the European colonial struggle in the subcontinent. The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama died in Kochi in 1524 when he was on his third visit to India. His body was originally buried in this church, but after fourteen years his remains were removed to Lisbon.

Vasco da Gama, who discovered the sea route from Europe to India, landed at Kappad near Kozhikode (Calicut) in 1498. He was followed by Pedro Álvares Cabral and Afonso de Albuquerque. They built Fort Emmanuel at the Fort Kochi Beach with permission from the Raja of Cochin. Within the fort, they built a church with a wooden structure, which was dedicated to St. Bartholomew. The neighborhood is now known as Fort Kochi.

Francisco de Almeida, the Portuguese viceroy, was allowed, in 1506, by the Raja of Cochin to reconstruct wooden buildings in stone and masonry. The wooden church was rebuilt, presumably by the Franciscan friars, with bricks and mortar and a tiled roof was erected. In 1516, the new church was completed and it was dedicated to St. Anthony.

The Franciscans retained control over the church till the Dutch captured Kochi in 1663. While the Portuguese were Roman Catholics, the Dutch were Protestants. They demolished all the churches except this one. They reconditioned it and converted it into a government church.

In 1795, the British captured Kochi from the Dutch but they allowed the latter to retain the church. In 1804, the Dutch voluntarily handed over the church to the Anglican Communion. It was placed under the Ecclesiastical Department of the Government of India. It is believed that the Anglicans changed the name of the patron saint to St. Francis.

The Church was declared a protected monument in April 1923 under the Protected Monuments Act of 1904. As a protected monument it is under the Archaeological Survey of India but is owned by the Kochi diocese of Church of South India. It has services on Sundays and commemorative days. On weekdays it is kept open for visitors.

Unusual large and beautiful home and yard next door to the church.

Wall around old Fort Kochi.

Ancient fishing net apparatuses operated by levers and heavy rocks as counter weights. In India, Chinese fishing nets (Cheena vala) are fishing nets that are fixed land installations for fishing. While commonly known as "Chinese fishing nets" in India, the more formal name for such nets is "shore operated lift nets." Huge mechanical contrivances hold out horizontal nets of 20 m or more across. Each structure is at least 10 m high and comprises a cantilever with an outstretched net suspended over the sea and large stones suspended from ropes as counterweights at the other end. Each installation is operated by a team of up to six fishermen. While such nets are used throughout coastal southern China and Indochina, in India they are mostly found in the Indian cities of Kochi and Kollam, where they have become a tourist attraction. The Indian common name arises because they are unusual in India and different from usual fishing nets in India.

The system is sufficiently balanced that the weight of a man walking along the main beam is sufficient to cause the net to descend into the sea. The net is left for a short time, possibly just a few minutes, before it is raised by pulling on ropes. The catch is usually modest: a few fish and crustaceans, which may be sold to passers-by within minutes.

Two water buffaloes trying to keep cool in the afternoon heat (upper 90s).

Rocks, each 30 cm or so in diameter, are suspended from ropes of different lengths. As the net is raised, some of the rocks one-by-one come to rest on a platform thereby keeping everything in balance.

Each installation has a limited operating depth. Consequently, an individual net cannot be continually operated in tidal waters. Different installations will be operated depending on the state of the tide.

The nets may have been introduced by the Chinese explorer Zheng He.

The Chinese fishing nets have become a very popular tourist attraction. Their size and elegant construction is photogenic and the slow rhythm of their operation is quite hypnotic. In addition, catches can be purchased individually and need be taken only a short distance to a street entrepreneur who will cook it.

Shade from huge trees helped to keep us a little cooler.

Kids are kids no matter where on earth.

The building was a Portuguese mansion of the 1800s. In 1905, Samuel S. Koder, who belonged to an illustrious Jewish family of Cochin, bought and renovated it to give its present structure. Koder, who ran the Cochin Electric Company, was also the Honorary Consul to the Netherlands, and it was he who began the Cochin wing of the Free Masons.

The building remained with the Koder family until one of Samuel Koder’s grandchildren sold it. the third generation sold it. Many prominent personalities such as prime ministers, presidents, ambassadors, highly placed government officials and businessmen have visited the House.

Colossal Colonial homes, vibrant avenues with an architecture that replicate with that of their European counterparts and a long stretch of shops. This is somewhat the picture of the very popular Princess Street in Kochi. A common hangout point for travelers in the region, the street is reminiscent of the glorified European era which Kochi was once part of.

Truly intriguing, the quaint Princess Street in Kochi has turned into one of the popular tourist attractions in the region. The region is flooded with shops selling handicraft, traditional items, clothes and jewelry. Besides, tourists can even refresh themselves at the numerous spa and traditional Ayurveda centers located in Princess street.

A true amalgamation of old and modern times, the street has European structures to admire as well as lip-smacking food and beverages to feed upon. So, the next time you travel to Kochi, make sure to take a stroll in the delightful and wonderful Princess Street.

Sugar can squeezer to make juice to sell at this stand.

Another air conditioned bus. If the temp is 95 outside, so it is inside!

Teak wood ceilings at Mattancherry Palace. The Palace was built and gifted by the Portuguese as a present to the king of Cochin around 1555. The Dutch carried out some extensions and renovations in the palace in 1663, and thereafter it was popularly called Dutch Palace. The rajas also made more improvements to it. Today, it is a portrait gallery of the Cochin Rajas and notable for some of the best mythological murals in India, which are in the best traditions of Hindu temple art. The palace was built to appease the king after they plundered a temple nearby.

The landing of Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer at Kappad in 1498 was welcomed by the Kochi rulers. They were given exclusive right to construct factories. The Portuguese repulsed the repeated attacks of the Zamorians and the Cochin Rajas practically became vassals of the Portuguese. The influence of the Portuguese was supplanted by the Dutch and they took over Mattancherry in 1663. Subsequently, the area was taken over by Hyder Ali and still later by the British East India Company.