Fort Cochin

Vasco De Gama's tombstone
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Day 53: We woke early and packed up everything ready for yet another day of travelling. We set out on the houseboat for our final stretch and enjoyed coconut steamed pastries and fresh pineapple for breakfast. We docked and said our goodbyes to the crew before piling into a rickshaw to the train station but there was a 3 hour wait for a train, so we headed back into town and caught a bus for Rs66. We arrived in Ernakulam and got a tuk tuk to the ferry terminal and bought tickets (eventually) to Fort Cochin (Rs5 for each). The ferry schedule was erratic and didn't seem to bear any resemblance to the times printed on the wall. We arrived at Fort Cochin and caught a tuk tuk to the Elite Hotel but they didn't have a vacancy so we headed to Kapithan Inn who had arranged a room for us. We went for a walk, checking out some restaurants and other sights such as the cantilevered fishing nets. We also made enquiries regarding onward travel and found an iWay and checked our email. We had a snack and a drink, the headed to a barber so Scott could defuzz his face (Rs10). We went back to the guest house and I did some washing while Scott cleaned out the water bags etc. We had lovely long showers, before heading out to dinner. Dinner was nice - Cochin is very fish orientated but I managed to get enough vegetarian food. We then went for a quick wander around to see what else was going on before retiring to the guest house to sort out the paperwork and money.

Day 54: Another hot and humid day, more so than yesterday. We had breakfast of fresh fruit, honey and yoghurt and filtered coffee (not Nescafe for a change). We then caught a tuk tuk to the Jewish Synagogue, but it wasn't open (being Sabbath we presume). We wandered to the Dutch Palace which wasn't very awe-inspiring, there are some nicer houses here in the suburbs. We walked back through the spice and rice warehouse areas to the main part and had a lunch of noodles. Our journey then continued to St Francis Church to see the tomb of Vasco de Gama (the whole reason for coming to Cochin) - according to Scott he is the worlds greatest navigator. We didn't see much as just after we arrived so did a million Indian sightseers - they obviously don't respect quiet in church! We gave up and left, heading to an internet cafe and phone to book our accommodation in Hampi and Mumbai. We headed back to the guest house for the obligatory afternoon siesta. For dinner we went to Fort Cochin Restaurant and had a lovely meal - Scott also had 2 teapots of special tea! We don't understand why they can't just sell beers. We did spend the meal listening to a local music show which sounded the same for the hour we were listening, glad we hadn't paid for it. On the way home we stopped off for some cigars, so Scott could enjoy one on the balcony of the guest house.

All this way to see Vasco De Gama's tomb - Scott loved it.