cochin

After the wildlife of Periyar I spent a few days feasting on the hip and chilled scene of ex-pats and tourists in Fort Cochin, Kerala. In contrast to the neighboring modernizing port town of Ernakulam, which essentially is the city of Cochin, Fort Cochin is a sleepy, leafy, old-world town with a heavy Portuguese, Spanish and French influence. There's even a Jew Town with the remnants of an influential community now trading in spices, artifacts, and jewelry. I loved the huge plates of fruit with the special breakfasts at the Kashi gallery/cafe, and the fresh fish with beer and chips to cool off at night... I think my traveling is revolving more and more around food... I saw a classical Indian dance performance of Kathekali where the dancers pantomime emotions and stories from classic literature such as the Ramayana using gestures of hand (mudras), feet, head, eyes, and arms accompanied by a singer and drummer. Traditionally the female characters were played by men, and the dancers are encouraged to use invention in their movements. The tourist-packaged dance wasn't really all that exciting, but the true dances performed in temples and on festival days actually last all night and the Indians, who have grown up with these stories, understand the language of the movements in a way that I never will.