December 2012
Ft. Cochin SW India
After I could walk again, I set out to see some of India.
My first stop was an island near the city I was in called Ft. Cochin.
Iddly and dosa are two typical dishes in the south. This is iddly which is made from rice. The sambah sauce to go along with it is vegetarian.
Most of the people in the south are vegetarian. Cows are sacred so if you do see meat, it will be chicken and goat. But you won't see that very often either.
Most of the people in the south are vegetarian. Cows are sacred so if you do see meat, it will be chicken and goat. But you won't see that very often either.
The police station on the island. To get here is just a 30 minute ferry ride.
You can actually see the island from the city.
The fishing nets used from shore. They operate with a
weight and pully system of rocks for weights.
weight and pully system of rocks for weights.
Besides these smaller boats, they also have larger fishing boats
that would go by the entrance.
that would go by the entrance.
The rock weights to balance the nets as they easily go down into the water.
This is the size of the fish they are catching in their nets. 
The total catch from dipping that huge net down for about 30 minutes.
This was caught in a fishing boat farther off shore. Since the people are mostly vegetarian,
there is not a huge demand for fish other than for tourists and Muslims who eat meat.
This was an impressive size for a prawn.
The blue legs were so beautiful.
A copy from a brochure but you can see what the typical bathing suits look like.
In order to go swimming here, I would have had to go in my clothes and
walked around in salty clothes until I got back to the hotel. It just didn't seem too appealing to me.
In order to go swimming here, I would have had to go in my clothes and
walked around in salty clothes until I got back to the hotel. It just didn't seem too appealing to me.
There are about 50 old traditional folk dances in the SW Indian region of Kerala.
They are connected to the religions and the harvest festivals among other things.
This is a costume on display from one of them traditional dances.
I went to a production of one of the folk dances called Kathakali. If you go early, you can see how they apply the elaborate makeup for one of the main characters.
After the green and black makeup, white disks were pasted onto his face in layers.
After the green and black makeup, white disks were pasted onto his face in layers.
The finished production complete with music.
