So today we got up rather late after last night's ordeal, just after 9:00, then had showers and breakfast while I was getting a bit stressed over the fact that we needed to find new accommodation as the guy on duty last night said that there were no rooms available.
After breakfast I sat down with laptop to start researching rooms but asked Claire to go up to reception to double check availability.
Thankfully it turned out that there had been overnight cancellations and after a couple of viewings of other rooms and some to'ing and fro'ing we actually ended up being able to hold on to our current room - phew! Didn't much fancy a day of running around for a room.
Instead we went off first to a Cafe and had a pot of coffee while sweating like crazy-it is so humid and hot on Fort Cochin, as it's surrounded by water! The hotness-humidity factor is the second worst I have ever experienced - in Darwin, North Australia, where you had the same humidity but close to 40c - here it's more like 31+c.
Afterwards we went sightseeing by foot (baby steps in a vain attempt to minimise exertion) all around the top half of the island and visited the Dutch Palace, saw the Jew synagogue, St. Francis Cathedral, had a walk on the West side and finally saw the Chinese Fishing Nets in action, which were quite impressive contraptions. We also happened to bump into an upcoming Hindu wedding of the day and met the mother of the bride - we spoke (term used loosely - a lot of hand-movement was involved to getting points across) with the female entourage (minus the daughter who wasn't there yet) for about 5 minutes and took a picture before moving on.
At around 15:30 we were well drenched from sweat and returned to our room where we succumbed to the heat, turned the aircon on full whack and had a nice 1 1/2 hour snooze.
Then we had the second shower of the day (really needed!) and got ready to go out for dinner. Earlier in the day and during our walk we passed a restaurant called Oceanis, which we thought looked really nice. Claire looked it up and it turned out to be the best rated restaurant on Fort Kochi island. So naturally, we had to try it out. After about 30 minutes of walking to get there we were well hungry - and the restaurant didn't fail to deliver! To use an American term, which I usually avoid, it was awesome! Claire had a fish curry and I had a fresh tuna steak dipped in Keralan spice mixture fried to order, i.e. medium. With it came a yogurt/raita based sauce, which really kicked arse, and some risotto rise, nicely sculptured on the plate - yum-yum! We also had chapatti like constructs (didn't catch their name) on the side, which were excellent for ripping to shreds and using for scooping up the sauces. To drink we had Lime/Ginger soda, which we have both become very fond of, as a refreshing drink - and crucially it calms my stomach, the fresh ginger really makes a difference to any sickness or stomach upset; comes highly recommended.
Afterwards we walked back to the hotel room and then did some planning. We have more or less decided to make our first real compromise on the trip - we may skip the Andaman Islands due to the fact that it's a real scooba diver's and snorkeling joint. A lot of the accommodation is either very expensive (as in €100/night for a hut) or less pricey but comes with sub-standard-to-average accommodation and the requirement that you have to sign up for diving courses (also expensive). While I do have my PADI (+ the Adventure diver bolt-on) the trip to the Andamans was meant as a holiday away from the sightseeing holidays - not an action packed or expensive de-tour. And especially the quality of accommodation did concern us somewhat. Instead we are considering to "splash out" on a nice hotel for St. Patrick's day, perhaps in Kolkata, for 3 nights. The runners-up are: ITC Sonar (has an "Irish" pub called Dublin - but no Guinness - WTF?!), The Oberoi Grand (wow, really nice!) or the trust ol' Taj Bengal Kolkata - all of them suitably oppulent to make up for the fact that there will be no Guinness ;-)
Anyway after much talk on the subject we also sent off an email to Breeze Homes and effectively booked for 2 nights, with the option of extending for up to 5 nights, including pick-up.
And at 23:00 it was off to sleep...
After breakfast I sat down with laptop to start researching rooms but asked Claire to go up to reception to double check availability.
Thankfully it turned out that there had been overnight cancellations and after a couple of viewings of other rooms and some to'ing and fro'ing we actually ended up being able to hold on to our current room - phew! Didn't much fancy a day of running around for a room.
Instead we went off first to a Cafe and had a pot of coffee while sweating like crazy-it is so humid and hot on Fort Cochin, as it's surrounded by water! The hotness-humidity factor is the second worst I have ever experienced - in Darwin, North Australia, where you had the same humidity but close to 40c - here it's more like 31+c.
Afterwards we went sightseeing by foot (baby steps in a vain attempt to minimise exertion) all around the top half of the island and visited the Dutch Palace, saw the Jew synagogue, St. Francis Cathedral, had a walk on the West side and finally saw the Chinese Fishing Nets in action, which were quite impressive contraptions. We also happened to bump into an upcoming Hindu wedding of the day and met the mother of the bride - we spoke (term used loosely - a lot of hand-movement was involved to getting points across) with the female entourage (minus the daughter who wasn't there yet) for about 5 minutes and took a picture before moving on.
At around 15:30 we were well drenched from sweat and returned to our room where we succumbed to the heat, turned the aircon on full whack and had a nice 1 1/2 hour snooze.
Then we had the second shower of the day (really needed!) and got ready to go out for dinner. Earlier in the day and during our walk we passed a restaurant called Oceanis, which we thought looked really nice. Claire looked it up and it turned out to be the best rated restaurant on Fort Kochi island. So naturally, we had to try it out. After about 30 minutes of walking to get there we were well hungry - and the restaurant didn't fail to deliver! To use an American term, which I usually avoid, it was awesome! Claire had a fish curry and I had a fresh tuna steak dipped in Keralan spice mixture fried to order, i.e. medium. With it came a yogurt/raita based sauce, which really kicked arse, and some risotto rise, nicely sculptured on the plate - yum-yum! We also had chapatti like constructs (didn't catch their name) on the side, which were excellent for ripping to shreds and using for scooping up the sauces. To drink we had Lime/Ginger soda, which we have both become very fond of, as a refreshing drink - and crucially it calms my stomach, the fresh ginger really makes a difference to any sickness or stomach upset; comes highly recommended.
Afterwards we walked back to the hotel room and then did some planning. We have more or less decided to make our first real compromise on the trip - we may skip the Andaman Islands due to the fact that it's a real scooba diver's and snorkeling joint. A lot of the accommodation is either very expensive (as in €100/night for a hut) or less pricey but comes with sub-standard-to-average accommodation and the requirement that you have to sign up for diving courses (also expensive). While I do have my PADI (+ the Adventure diver bolt-on) the trip to the Andamans was meant as a holiday away from the sightseeing holidays - not an action packed or expensive de-tour. And especially the quality of accommodation did concern us somewhat. Instead we are considering to "splash out" on a nice hotel for St. Patrick's day, perhaps in Kolkata, for 3 nights. The runners-up are: ITC Sonar (has an "Irish" pub called Dublin - but no Guinness - WTF?!), The Oberoi Grand (wow, really nice!) or the trust ol' Taj Bengal Kolkata - all of them suitably oppulent to make up for the fact that there will be no Guinness ;-)
Anyway after much talk on the subject we also sent off an email to Breeze Homes and effectively booked for 2 nights, with the option of extending for up to 5 nights, including pick-up.
And at 23:00 it was off to sleep...
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| The start of a Hindu wedding |
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| Kochi beach - not that you would swim there... |
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| Chinese fishing net in operation |
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| Picture of our breakfast area with backdrop of Kochi's waters and a giant yacht |
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| Chinese fishing nets at evening time |
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