We got down to breakfast at 0830 and it was a lot better today. Much less crowded.

We’d booked a tuk tuk tour of Fort Kochi with Zakki https://kochituktuktours.com/ and he was there to pick us up at the hotel at 10am. In retrospect we should have made it 9am so as to beat the heat and humidity. It was brutal today. 33C and 90% humidity. Great while the tuk was on the move, dripping with sweat at all other times…… still a fascinating and interesting day.

It took about 25 minutes from our hotel to Fort Kochi, across bridges and islands, some natural, some manmade. Fort Kochi itself is very old, a warren of narrow lanes, old ramparts and walls visible, colourful houses and shops, great warehouses now boutique hotels and much more.

Our first stop was the Mattancherry Palace, commonly named the Dutch Palace, now a museum. A very interesting place to visit. Built by the Portugese as a present for the King of Cochin, around 1545. In the 1600s it was taken over by the Dutch and later still by the British. It has beautiful teak floors and ceilings, very fine murals showing scenes from the Ramayana and some interesting artifacts. Worth a visit.

Nextwe stopped at the Jain Temple and had a tour of that. I had to be draped in a long skirt and wrapped in a shawl even though I was wearing a knee length dress, not low cut. Anyway, interesting to see with lovely stone carvings and some beautiful marble statuary.

Our driver, Zakki, was very good. He treated us to two cardamon lassis at one point which were very cold and delicious. He asked several times if we wanted to visit this or that shop but took our immediate Nos without any demur or pressure.

He took us to the old spice market where the spices would come down the river by boat and be dried on the huge drying floor. We visited the old “go round” around it and bought some pollichattu spices. The stairs were very ricketty – must have been 200 years old.

Then the old laundry the Dhobi Khana Public laundry. The Portugese established it in the early 1700s bringing laundry caste families from Tamil Nadu. The purpose was to keep the military uniforms clean from the nearby barracks. Many of the same families still work here. It was very interesting to visit – incredible faces on some of the workers and they were very happy and proud to show us their work and to pose for a photo. Quite nice work on such a hot day, at least in the wash huts. Not sure about the huge ironing hall. My idea of one of the inner circles of hell!!!!! There was an amazing avenue of huge trees just outside, must date back to the same time I would think.

Next the Cathedral or Basilica. Originally built on this spot by the Portugese in 1558, that was demolished by the British and the current one built in 1887. A lovely airy building.

The Church of St Francis was originally built in 1503 and is one of the oldest churches in India . The Portugese explorer Vasco da Gama on his third visit to India, died in Kochi in 1524 and was buried in this church. His tomb is still there but his body was relocated back to Portugal in 1538. It is very plain and lovely inside with enormous hand operated wood and canvas ceiling fans still visible – these are the famous Punkahs, operated by Punkah Wallahs who wafted them back and forward. I’d never seen them in a church before.

Zakki then took us to Mahatma Gandhi beach or Fort Kochi Beach for a bit of a break and a cooler (somewhat). Not much of a beach anymore due to dredging but a lovely breeze and cool under the trees by the old mansions there. We sat for a while.

We were absolutely pouring with sweat. It was about 1pm. Bob couldn’t take much more. We had intended to stay down there after the tour, walk around a bit, find a cafe, and while away the time till our Kathakali show at 5pm but it was too much. We decided to finish our tour off but then go back to the Meridien for a couple of hours.

Next stop were the Chinese Fishing Nets. These are ingenious cantilevered fishing nets set on the shoreline. Big rocks are used as counterweights. They had about 4 or 5 there and one restored one was in operation. Its nice to see but the area is a bit of a mess frankly.

Zakki whisked us along, pausing at the Dutch cemetery and the Jewish Cemetery and then took us to our final stop which was the Paradesi Synagogue in the area of the Fort named Jewtown.

The history of this area is fascinating. There is a legend, strongly believed to be fact in the area,that Jewish people had been trading there since the time of Solomon ie about 560 BC but that later there was another wave, a group of Jews who fled the sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans in the 1st Century AD. They landed in Kerala where they formed a Jewish Kingdom with a Prince at the helm. This community established friendly relations with the local community and they lived in peace until they came under attack from Moslems and Moors in the 1520s. The Paradesi Synagogue was built by Portugese Jews in 1568 and these were Jewish people fleeing from persecution in Spain and Portugal mostly. They were followed by others from different parts of Europe. Most of the community went to Israel in the late 1940s but there are still a few people left here. Not enough for regular services but there have been gatherings over the years where Jewish people have come back from all over the world to worship and celebrate here. There are lovely photos of such occasions.

Entering the synagogue,, and the large main hall is very beautiful with chandeliers of different colours These glass chandeliers dangling from the ceiling belong to the 19th century and were imported from Belgium.

The floor of the synagogue itself is an amazing showpiece with the paving of hand-painted blue willow patterned floor tiles. These ceramic tiles were brought from Canton, China in the 18th century by Ezekiel Rahabi, a renowned Jewish businessman. Each tile is different from one another in its design. There are about 1100 tiles.

A pulpit with brass rails is built in the centre of the room. An exclusive gallery for women with gilt columns, a carved teak ark etc can be seen in the synagogue and unusually it has its own pulpit.  The teak Ark, behind a beautiful gold thread curtain, houses four scrolls of Torah (the first five books of Old Testament) and they are encased in silver and gold. Two gold crowns presented to the Jewish Community by the Kings of Kochi and Travancore are also kept here.

Another valuable possession of the synagogue is the copper plates belonging to the 4th century with inscriptions in Malayalam. The inscriptions describe the privileges granted to the community by the erstwhile Cochin king. It is written in kannadiyezhuthu script or mirror image writing. An oriental rug gifted to the Jews by the last Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie is also kept in the synagogue. The Synagogue and the surrounding area were our favourite stops of the day.

Jewtown itself is a hotchpotch of lanes of lovely colourful houses, antique or antique looking shops, quality boutiques. I could have browsed there for hours but it was too hot. We did buy a small rosewood carved Buddha to take out to Cyprus. Maybe we’ll go back one evening or early in the day.

Got back to the hotel about 215, stripped off our wet clothing, showered and sat in the ac for a while. Wowzer… A great tour in all and a bargain at £12 each. We were tickled that his tuk-tuk displayed an advert for Yorkshire beer!!!!!

At 4 we called up a Uber to take us to the Kathakali Center for the performance of this very traditional theatrical show native to Kerala. The Uber cost £2.80 for the 25 minute drive back to fort Cochi. Crazy.

Kathakali is a classical form of theatrical storytelling dating back to about the 16th century and native to south west Kerala. It is almost totally male dominated but women do sometimes perform. The movements are tremendously complicated and there is a set “language” of gestures, eye movements, finger positions, even make up and colouring. It takes years to train. There are musicians as well as the actors. Costumes and make up are extremely elaborate. Plots centre around folk lore.

The theatre in Fort Kochi is really nice, perhaps seating 120 in a small auditorium with a gallery level. Tickets are 500 inr per person. The main performance starts at 5 when the performers come on stage and begin their make up preparations. It takes ages to get the faces on – they are works of art really. Then various aspects of the performance are explained and demonstrated – the various eye movements, the hand gestures and positions, how emotions are displayed. So for instance, heros and gods have green faces, villains have red faces, demons have black faces…. all very visual. Finally came the performance itself which lasted an hour. It was absolutely fantastic. Amazing costumes, amazing technique. The story could be clearly understood despite no word being spoken. We thoroughly enjoyed it, even Bob who was semi dreading it. If you find yourself in Kochi, definitely go and see this. It is an amazing spectacle.

Took another Uber back to Le Meridien, ran up and had hors d’oevres and a g&t in the lounge and then went for dinner to Chef Pillai restaurant. He’s a celebrity South Indian chef who specialises in seafood. We had 2 starters. Bob had posh pappadoms with a spicy dip. I had little rice shell chaats which you filled with bits of rice noodle, a bit of hot chilli chutney and filled up with a coconut spicy sauce. You had to swallow in one…. We’d had similar things in Mumbai where they are popular. Delicious. Then Bob had the signature tiger prawns in a coconut onion masala sauce with rice. I had the signature roast mud crab in a rich masala gravy. It was utterly delicious but very very messy to eat. had to have a wedge of paper napkins and two finger bowls at the end. worth it though. Just fantastic. Not expensive. with drinks, service and sides, the whole meal was about £30 which seemed good for the quality.

we really saw a lot today. A very good day.