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A Magical Evening...
Wow! Last night was magical!
I'm in Cochin, Kerala. We're staying in a 300 year old Dutch-built colonial building with a lot of charm. We are the only ones here, so the owner gave us the key and the place is ours, essentially. Old wooden beams, creaky plank floors, a beautiful balcony, high ceilings and generally true to colonial themes.
Last evening, we took a stroll along the beach before heading to a Kathakali performance. We passed 400 year old "rain trees" (common name) planted by the Portugese and lining the street in long rows. These trees are MASSIVE, with branches so spreading and full that one begins to doubt whether the sun actually still exists under their extensive canopies.
While walking along the beach, we viewed giant Chinese-style fishing nets against the backdrop of the sunset.
These nets are similar to the skeletons of large teepees, with netting hanging suspended, which is lowered into the water to pull in fish with.
Then, all of a sudden, we saw dolphins. Not just a few but many, many pods, right near the shore's edge, swimming against the current and into the sunset. Amazing! I'd seen dolphins in Zanzibar, but only at a great distance. Here they were, maybe 15-20 feet from us on the shore, swimming in the orange light. And yes, I got them on video!
Then, we were off to the Kathakali performance. This is a traditional Keralan dance performance, where the actors don't speak, dress up in ornate clothing, paint their faces green, yellow, black and other colors, and act out stories using a variety of different finger/hand signs, facial expressions and dance moves.
All this was accompanied by the singing of a man with a golden voice. Truly amazing, and really quite hard to replicate with words on a blog.
Then, on the way back from the performance, we picked out a Red Snapper from the fish market, and had it cooked at a small restaurant on the street
Finally, heading back to our colonial mini-mansion, Cindy heard the familiar sounds of a certain style of harmonica playing, and shortly after we were in another colonial building, admiring the paintings of a long-haired, long-bearded and very eccentric Indian man, who was dancing to Dylan.
What a wonderful night! Today, in a couple hours time, we take a 6-hour train north, on our gradual progression through the mountains of Kerala toward Bangalore.
I'm in Cochin, Kerala. We're staying in a 300 year old Dutch-built colonial building with a lot of charm. We are the only ones here, so the owner gave us the key and the place is ours, essentially. Old wooden beams, creaky plank floors, a beautiful balcony, high ceilings and generally true to colonial themes.
Last evening, we took a stroll along the beach before heading to a Kathakali performance. We passed 400 year old "rain trees" (common name) planted by the Portugese and lining the street in long rows. These trees are MASSIVE, with branches so spreading and full that one begins to doubt whether the sun actually still exists under their extensive canopies.
While walking along the beach, we viewed giant Chinese-style fishing nets against the backdrop of the sunset.
These nets are similar to the skeletons of large teepees, with netting hanging suspended, which is lowered into the water to pull in fish with.
Then, all of a sudden, we saw dolphins. Not just a few but many, many pods, right near the shore's edge, swimming against the current and into the sunset. Amazing! I'd seen dolphins in Zanzibar, but only at a great distance. Here they were, maybe 15-20 feet from us on the shore, swimming in the orange light. And yes, I got them on video!
Then, we were off to the Kathakali performance. This is a traditional Keralan dance performance, where the actors don't speak, dress up in ornate clothing, paint their faces green, yellow, black and other colors, and act out stories using a variety of different finger/hand signs, facial expressions and dance moves.
All this was accompanied by the singing of a man with a golden voice. Truly amazing, and really quite hard to replicate with words on a blog.
Then, on the way back from the performance, we picked out a Red Snapper from the fish market, and had it cooked at a small restaurant on the street
Finally, heading back to our colonial mini-mansion, Cindy heard the familiar sounds of a certain style of harmonica playing, and shortly after we were in another colonial building, admiring the paintings of a long-haired, long-bearded and very eccentric Indian man, who was dancing to Dylan.
What a wonderful night! Today, in a couple hours time, we take a 6-hour train north, on our gradual progression through the mountains of Kerala toward Bangalore.
