We spent the last couple days in Kochi lazing around town and spending time with a few new friends we met on New Years. Elliot got a bit more cricket practice in with Nezam (or Ichu, his nickname) and then he and his cousin, who owned an auto rickshaw, took us on a tour of Kochi. We went and saw a couple of the local shops (including the wholesale spice market where the locals shop, not the tourists) and we treated to some delicious masala dosa for lunch. Finally a masala dosa the way I remembered them (and have been talking about non stop to Elliot for the past few years probably), thin and crispy, with the perfect amount of potato filling. We stopped at a couple tourist shops so Ichu could get points (the same point system we saw in Bangkok, except this time we had a say in it!) that would eventually go towards a new cricket bat. We had dinner at a restaurant called Dal Roti, that claimed to have the best food in town and consistently had a long line out the door. After a 30 minute wait or so, we were sat by a very smiley bearded man, and given menus of predominately North Indian food. We picked a couple of items and the food arrived quickly. We were definitely not disappointed. I really wish we had had a little more time in Kochi, because we would have certainly gone back for cooking lessons (we did make it back our last day for lunch though!) After dinner we spent the rest of the evening relaxing with Ichu and the rest of his friends, and were invited to dinner the following night at his friend Appu's house for some real Keralan cooking. We couldn't wait.
The following day we woke up early as we had finally scheduled an actual tour. We left around 8:30 on a terrifying 45 van ride to one of the docks for the backwater boats. The very frazzled British woman who was sitting in the front of the van in the passenger seat looked as though she never wanted to get in another car again (another passenger insisted he smelled alcohol on our driver). We headed out on a raft into the Keralan backwaters, the series of canals and small lakes weaving throughout the western coast of Kerala. The scenery was breathtaking, and we spent most of the day drifting down the river with our very friendly tour guide and a couple other tourists. There was a few quick stops along the way, to point out some interesting spice plants (I've never seen a real vanilla plant, but it's pretty amazing how it grows) and to demonstrate how coconuts are utilized in their entirety in Kerala. The flesh and milk are obviously eaten, but the husk is used for rope and the shell is used for fire fuel. After a quick lunch we also saw how clam shells were processed into calcium hydroxide and used for paint, plaster, etc. After the tour, we headed back to Fort Cochin, the area where we were staying, changed, and headed out to meet up with Ichu. He and his friends were waiting outside of their restaurant, and we all headed over to Appu's family's home, just outside of the city. We were introduced to the entire family, and then sat down for one of the best meals either of us have had on this trip. We had some amazing fish curry (and when I asked what kind of fish, Appu said it was a flower fish.. maybe flour fish? Not quite sure.. but it tasted like trout) and squid masala which was completely new to me. It was thickly cut (and had to have come from one huge squid) and cooked perfectly-- tender and well seasoned. After dinner we spent the rest of the night hanging out on Appu's roof, swapping favorite movies and music. They were shocked to hear about our lack of Hindi movie watching and have decided to send us movies and mixed tapes as long as we return the favor and send them music that sounds like Hotel California by the Eagles and anything by Bob Marley (who is somewhat of a local hero and has a large following in Kochi). We had a great time reenacting the best episodes of the old British show Mr. Bean (which I am lucky to have an extensive education on because of my dad :) ) and they let us in on the inside jokes they had been telling in Malayalam, particularly about a french tourist they called "Banana" due to her height and bad posture. It was the best way to end our time travelling the south, and we'll definitely be keeping in touch with our new friends.
Morning cricket
Elliot and Ichu
Ichu and his cousin in the auto
Hindu Temple
Spice market-- smelled amazing
The ayurvedic section-- all kind of spices and nuts used for medicinal purposes
View of Kochi on the top floor of an art shop
The most ginger I've ever seen...ever
Back of another spice shop, really delicious sugared ginger samples :)
Dinner at Dal Roti-- chicken thali
Mughalai paratha with crispy onions on top-- amazing.
The following day we woke up early as we had finally scheduled an actual tour. We left around 8:30 on a terrifying 45 van ride to one of the docks for the backwater boats. The very frazzled British woman who was sitting in the front of the van in the passenger seat looked as though she never wanted to get in another car again (another passenger insisted he smelled alcohol on our driver). We headed out on a raft into the Keralan backwaters, the series of canals and small lakes weaving throughout the western coast of Kerala. The scenery was breathtaking, and we spent most of the day drifting down the river with our very friendly tour guide and a couple other tourists. There was a few quick stops along the way, to point out some interesting spice plants (I've never seen a real vanilla plant, but it's pretty amazing how it grows) and to demonstrate how coconuts are utilized in their entirety in Kerala. The flesh and milk are obviously eaten, but the husk is used for rope and the shell is used for fire fuel. After a quick lunch we also saw how clam shells were processed into calcium hydroxide and used for paint, plaster, etc. After the tour, we headed back to Fort Cochin, the area where we were staying, changed, and headed out to meet up with Ichu. He and his friends were waiting outside of their restaurant, and we all headed over to Appu's family's home, just outside of the city. We were introduced to the entire family, and then sat down for one of the best meals either of us have had on this trip. We had some amazing fish curry (and when I asked what kind of fish, Appu said it was a flower fish.. maybe flour fish? Not quite sure.. but it tasted like trout) and squid masala which was completely new to me. It was thickly cut (and had to have come from one huge squid) and cooked perfectly-- tender and well seasoned. After dinner we spent the rest of the night hanging out on Appu's roof, swapping favorite movies and music. They were shocked to hear about our lack of Hindi movie watching and have decided to send us movies and mixed tapes as long as we return the favor and send them music that sounds like Hotel California by the Eagles and anything by Bob Marley (who is somewhat of a local hero and has a large following in Kochi). We had a great time reenacting the best episodes of the old British show Mr. Bean (which I am lucky to have an extensive education on because of my dad :) ) and they let us in on the inside jokes they had been telling in Malayalam, particularly about a french tourist they called "Banana" due to her height and bad posture. It was the best way to end our time travelling the south, and we'll definitely be keeping in touch with our new friends.
Boat tour
Coconuts!
Staying cool in the heat
Lunch
So many clams...
Beautiful
Dinner at Appu's
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