s01: Kochi

Bill and Sue-On Hillman: A 50-Year Musical Odyssey
www.hillmanweb.com/book :: www.hillmanweb.com/book/gigs

HILLMAN INDIA ADVENTURE
www.hillmanweb.com/india :: www.hillmanweb.com/india/south
South India: Gallery 1
Kochi Arrival
www.hillmanweb.com/india/south/s01.html

CONTENTS
PHOTO GALLERIES and TRAVEL NOTES
GALLERY ONE CONTAINS 3 PARTS:
1. Arrival :: 2. Evening Walkabout :: Outtakes

Kochi (also known as Cochin) is a city in southwest India's coastal Kerala state. It has been a port since 1341, when a flood carved out its harbor and opened it to Arab, Chinese and European merchants. Sites reflecting those influences include Fort Kochi, a settlement with tiled colonial bungalows and diverse houses of worship. Cantilevered Chinese fishing nets, typical of Kochi, have been in use for centuries.

Cochin International Airport is an international airport
located at Nedumbassery, about 30 km northeast of Kochi.
It is the busiest and largest airport in the state of Kerala.

It was another short flight to Kochi, the start of our next 2 weeks in the south of India. Again, they served us lunch: butter chicken, rice, a sweet desert and yogurt. When we landed, Bill was sliding an arm down the handrail with his laptop in hand. He got a big scratch on his arm and was bleeding all over. We didn't notice but the porters noticed and came over to take our carry on backpacks right away. Another came over with a handful of napkins to apply pressure. Sheesh! Nothing like grabbing all the attention. Luckily, Sue-On had large bandaids and the bleeding stopped. A man from the first-aid inside the terminal came over also to check to see if he needed more medical care.

We were to have 4 new members join our group and met up with four women - mother and daughter from Canmore, and two friends from USA. But, when we saw a G-Adventures sign, we went to the greeter, but he was told to pick up only four. Our bus was on its way.

15 minutes later, our ride was a 15-seater van - really comfy. It was an hour's drive to our hotel in Kochi, and from what we could see, the driver was taking a lot of side streets! Were we being highjacked?! The driver was trying to point out some interesting sights, but his English was very broken. We were worried that he was our CEO (guide)!

AND . . . what a contrast! The northern half of the tour was hot, dry, and dusty. The area was suffering from a record heat wave and drought. Everything was more or less brown, which will come to life with the coming monsoon. Here, in the south, it's green and very tropical! It's also much cleaner. The houses are better maintained, and we didn't see any people sleeping on the streets. We drove past lots of water since we were in part of the delta and backwater areas that feed into the Arabian Sea. There were many traditional Chinese fishing nets all along the way.

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Arrival at Cochin Airport and bus ride to Kochi.
Our South India Adventure begins