Day 19 & 21 - India
Day 19 - Cochin, India (Cochin City Sights and Harbour Cruise Tour)
Cochin has aparantly been an imporant shipping port for hundreds of years - Portagese, Dutch and English have all fought over it. The harbour is a lovely natural harbour at the entrance to a river. Our tour began with a cruise around the harbour, it was quite nice - the temperature was very comfortable out on the water. Our guide (who was excellent) pointed out historical sights as well as fauna and flora, he seemed to know his stuff. The harbour was resonably busy, lots of ships coming and going. We had some refreshments at what I believe was an English Colonial Era "Yacht Club" - it was an extremely well maintained old building, not sure how long it dated back but it was really nice. Then we set out on our tour of the city - one small piece of advice - if you're in India in the summer, make SURE the bus you are travelling in has AC. This was NOT fun - also the bus was obviously made for locals - seats were tiny. I think they were also trying to show us how crowded India was by packing us in like sardines. We visited some churches, Temples, etc - honestly I couldn't be bothered in the heat going inside or doing much. Got some photos of various things..
The above church was where the explorer Vasco De Gama was buried when he died - not a nice bloke at all - not sure why the church pushes that such a nasty guy was buried here at one time.
One other thing.. the smell was one of the most awful things I've ever experienced. In a Bus with no AC - you can really SMELL what the place is like.
The caves are well worth seeing - and if you can run the gauntlet of vendors something worthwhile visiting in Mumbai. Oh - one other thing - the monkeys! damn they're smart at this place - we watched a few of them wait until one of the vendors walked away from his stall and they raced in and stole food/drinks from him. We then watched the below monkey undo the lid and drink the sprite he'd stolen!
Cochin has aparantly been an imporant shipping port for hundreds of years - Portagese, Dutch and English have all fought over it. The harbour is a lovely natural harbour at the entrance to a river. Our tour began with a cruise around the harbour, it was quite nice - the temperature was very comfortable out on the water. Our guide (who was excellent) pointed out historical sights as well as fauna and flora, he seemed to know his stuff. The harbour was resonably busy, lots of ships coming and going. We had some refreshments at what I believe was an English Colonial Era "Yacht Club" - it was an extremely well maintained old building, not sure how long it dated back but it was really nice. Then we set out on our tour of the city - one small piece of advice - if you're in India in the summer, make SURE the bus you are travelling in has AC. This was NOT fun - also the bus was obviously made for locals - seats were tiny. I think they were also trying to show us how crowded India was by packing us in like sardines. We visited some churches, Temples, etc - honestly I couldn't be bothered in the heat going inside or doing much. Got some photos of various things..
The above church was where the explorer Vasco De Gama was buried when he died - not a nice bloke at all - not sure why the church pushes that such a nasty guy was buried here at one time.One other thing.. the smell was one of the most awful things I've ever experienced. In a Bus with no AC - you can really SMELL what the place is like.
The snake charmer below was one of the highlights of the tour - the tour was THAT good (incase you can't tell I'm being sarcastic :)
So on the whole - Harbour Cruise - good! City Sights - crap!
The boat ride was quite nice, however the harbour itself was full of rubbish and you could hardly breath from the pollution! I think I may have found a place with worse air pollution than China! which is quite amazing! Unfortunately for the boat trip - some of the crew started trying to sell necklaces/etc to us - damn it! vendors on the bloody boat, captive audience!
The island itself is about 10km from the mainland and is still quite primitative - no electricity or running water. We pulled up at the dock and there was a little train to take you over to the main area - I took it, Dave and Marylyn thought they'd walk - bad idea, cause when we got into the main area... steps.. lots and lots and lots of steps! And surrounding the steps on both sides.. vendors.. dozens and dozens of them.. Talk about running a gauntlet! Anyway - after much huffing and puffing we got to the top and the cool breezes.
So on the whole - Harbour Cruise - good! City Sights - crap!
The vendors were out in force again - damn they can be pushy - I had to glare/stand over one of them to make him leave Marylyn alone - after she'd said "No" for the tenth time.
Cochin itself was quite run down and not maintained very well - most of the buildings we saw were probably built when the British ran the place, but haven't had any maintenance - all in all it's not a place I'd ever visit again or recommend to anyone else to visit.
Day 20 - Mumbai, India (Elephanta Island Tour)
Cochin itself was quite run down and not maintained very well - most of the buildings we saw were probably built when the British ran the place, but haven't had any maintenance - all in all it's not a place I'd ever visit again or recommend to anyone else to visit.
Day 20 - Mumbai, India (Elephanta Island Tour)
Despite the name.. Elephanta island doesn't have any Elephants on it (Marylyn was very dissapointed) - we had a trip across the harbour for an hour on a local boat - got to see the Taj hotel (where those Terrorist attacks were a couple of years back) as well as the Gate of India.
The boat ride was quite nice, however the harbour itself was full of rubbish and you could hardly breath from the pollution! I think I may have found a place with worse air pollution than China! which is quite amazing! Unfortunately for the boat trip - some of the crew started trying to sell necklaces/etc to us - damn it! vendors on the bloody boat, captive audience!The island itself is about 10km from the mainland and is still quite primitative - no electricity or running water. We pulled up at the dock and there was a little train to take you over to the main area - I took it, Dave and Marylyn thought they'd walk - bad idea, cause when we got into the main area... steps.. lots and lots and lots of steps! And surrounding the steps on both sides.. vendors.. dozens and dozens of them.. Talk about running a gauntlet! Anyway - after much huffing and puffing we got to the top and the cool breezes.
The islands main attraction was some caves - 5th-7th century followers of Shiva had carved a series of caves out of the bassalt. It was quite amazing - massive columns that look like they're holding up the roof (they're not, but they look like it) - some magnificent carvings of various figures from Hindu mythology. To think of the man hours it would have taken boggles the mind.
The caves are well worth seeing - and if you can run the gauntlet of vendors something worthwhile visiting in Mumbai. Oh - one other thing - the monkeys! damn they're smart at this place - we watched a few of them wait until one of the vendors walked away from his stall and they raced in and stole food/drinks from him. We then watched the below monkey undo the lid and drink the sprite he'd stolen! On the way back down the stairs - I got stopped twice by locals to take a photo with them - one of them was wearing a shirt that read "Tall people are awesome" - so I guess it pays to be tall sometimes!
The below cow was well fed, groomed and allowed to walk around as it liked - along with a bunch of others - meanwhile children in rags are begging nearby...
I have to say that I wouldn't recommend India, it's hot, dirty and smelly - the people live in poverty and the cows are very well taken care of. I had a roast beef sandwitch for lunch when I got back to the ship - take that cows!
Comments