We docked in Cochin around lunchtime - I will post my friend Andi's description of the arrival, as she does it so well:
The ship has been adding daily ominous warnings about this part of the trip. First, it was to lower our expectations. We received a note on our beds preparing us to lower our expectations regarding ports on the Indian Sea. We were warned that 1) tour guides may have very strong accents and may speak quickly. We have been directed to politely mention to speak more slowly or to repeat a comment. 2) "venues may not be so grand or as prepared, but still will be interesting as their history and significance is described. We encourage you to appreciate the local people with a good heart keen to share their local culture and history." 3) coaches may not be the newest, most comfortable, or have the strongest A/C but are the best available. 4) bathrooms - not up to western standards and not as many. Two nights ago, they warned us about pirates. Today, we have been warned about what to eat and not eat due to health concerns.
Pirates haven't yet attacked the ship, so we had a day and a half in our first port, Cochin. Cochin is located on the southwest coast of India. The city straddles backwaters, encompassing the northern end of a peninsula, several islands and a portion of the mainland. To the west lies the Arabian Sea.
As we arrived into port we received a lecture over the loudspeaker directing us as to the sites on either side of the ship. I was surprised to see fairly attractive tropical-flavored colonial/Asian architecture and flora (lots of palm trees). As the ship pulled into the pier, we faced a cement plant - not exactly scenic - and folks flocked down to the pier but were kept at a safe distance by the military police. I was sure that they were tourists who had come to see the ship, but it turned out that these 50 or so folks were from immigration and were soon escorted onto the ship.
We have been to Russia and China but India presented the most bureaucratic systems and paperwork we have faced in our travels to date. We were called by tour and floor to collect our paperwork and to be cleared for immigration. Once called, our papers were reviewed by no fewer than three individuals. All reviews were courteous, quick and pleasant, many with broad smiles, but multiple nonetheless. I have no idea what they were looking for in these multiple reviews as they were cursory at best.
While everything says we are in Cochin, including signs, I really got confused because the guides kept calling it by other names. It appears they now call it Kochi and it is a major port city on the west coast of India by the Arabian Sea and is part of the district of Ernakulam of the state of Kerala, so Kochi is also called by the name Ernakulam or Kerala and the guides call it by all of these things interchangeably, and combined with the Indian accent, I was really confused until I pulled the guide aside and asked him what was the difference in the names. Nothing really... just different names for the same place.
Kochi was an important spice trading centre on the Arabian Sea coast from the 14th century. Occupied by the Portuguese Empire in 1503, it was the first of the European colonies in colonial India. Kochi was the centre of Indian spice trade for many centuries, and was known to the Greeks and Romans as well as Jews, Arabs, and Chinese since ancient times. Andi W.
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