Port 30 Cochin, India

Greetings! Aashamsakal (“Greetings” in Malayalam, the local language in this southern India province of Kerala)

Today is May 4th, 2024! We sail through calm water into port in Cochin, Kerala, India!

We get our first glimpse of the fishing nets used in these waters! They remind me of Paul Bunyan’s “bumberchutes” (upside-down umbrellas)!

For the first time this cruise, I see a gas station for boats!

The ship receives clearance for us to disembark, and we head to the Cochin Cruise Terminal. A lady in a white dress (hard to see but she’s there!) is standing outside to direct us to the buses on the other side of the terminal.

Joy and I are on a tour called “Tranquil Backwaters.” On the way to our bus we pass this bus, taking a group on a multi-day trip to the Taj Mahal from here. Sadly, this isn’t our bus – this is still on my bucket list!

Once we’re on the bus, our tour guide tells us we are in the “Land of Smiling People”! Kerala is one of the happiest states of India, and they have a 100% literacy score!

As we head out, I see a caravan of buses ahead of us crossing the bridge!

We pass this unique church! To me, this is a powerful image! I can hear Jesus saying, “I will make you fishers of men.”

Driving along the river, we see more platforms with umbrella-like fishing net frames. Unlike those we saw earlier along the banks, these are in the middle of the river!

The bus pulls up to a shop for a scheduled toilet stop. This beautiful relief of Buddha is facing us!

Soon we cross a bridge over some of the Backwaters we will soon be touring!

We begin to see tour boats along the canal. These similar to the one I think we’ll soon be riding.

A huge statue appears near the road! Oh, my!

It appears to be a mermaid, by the fin-like ridges along the arms! She must be about thirty feet tall!

I was wrong! We climb on our tour boat, but we have an upper deck so we can see over the other tour boats! Our tour of the “Tranquil Backwaters” is a tour of the “Venice of the East”!

We have very special chairs on this upper deck! We paid extra for this tour!

Our first point-of-interest is a little island in the middle of the water – it is a lighthouse!

There are some nice areas with nice seawalls!

And there are some not so nice areas with almost no seawall visible. How many boats do you see?  Believe it or not, there are seven boats in this picture!

Here is one of several “taxi stands” we see during the tour. Ferry boats are a regular part of Backwater life!

Here is a house under construction with major landscaping work. Is the man squatting the only person doing this work? The woman is working on laundry, so she’s not helping.

We get a glimpse of a special moment when the man maneuvers the boat toward the steps…

… and braces the boat waiting for the woman to step in!

Another boat, this one oar-powered, passes by – very friendly!

This is an amusing scene with the ducks all hanging out while this woman appears to be preparing dinner. Maybe she shares part of whatever she’s cleaning with the ducks?

We approach this church from the water. We were told this is the St Elijah Church, but I can’t find any confirmation of this. The words you see translate to “God is Love”.

The interior is somewhat industrial, but welcoming! The area feels very comfortable! No pews, just chairs.

The stations of the cross are present, so here is Station 7!

Behind the church is a courtyard with this scene. This appears to be St Elijah under an open lotus blossom. But if this is St Elijah, who is that under the umbrella to the right?

This is the statue on the roof. Who is this wielding a sword? The beard and hair tell me this is not the same man in the previous photo.

This is the view of this part of the church from the water as we depart.

As we round the corner I see these two men free diving for what appear to be clams or mussels. They have quite the collection in the boat already!

This is a wooden bridge built for people and motorcycles to cross the water. Two people ride across on a motorcycle as our boat approaches.

This looks dangerous, doesn’t it? Are those propane cylinders?

It’s time to head to our lunch spot! I spy some interesting houseboats on our left, but as we pass them some unique floating bungalows! They look like large, reclaimed barrels!

We arrive at the lunch venue! Ribboned chairs! Oh, my!

We are greeted by some drummers who don’t look very happy.

But the food line servers are in much better spirits! Nice buffet!

On our way back to the bus we pass this interesting facility, the National Centre of Excellence!

Seeing the banner on the roofed structure, we see this is a new facility, a skill development course (OK, the sign says “Devolepemet” – no points awarded for spelling) for athletes and opening for business today!

Back on board, we are sailing away from Cochin!

Vidavaangal (Farewell) to our first of four stops in India!

Our next stop is Mangalore, India!