Kochi
Left Kollam this morning for the tourist peninsula of Fort Cochin (Kochi). I bought my train ticket the same morning for 70 rupees in class 2S (economy). But when it came time to get on the wagon… impossible. The car is overflowing, everyone standing and packed like sardines. It’s like being on the metro during rush hour…
So me with my big luggage on wheels…
No big deal, I got into another car with air conditioning. When the controller arrived, I explained to him and he sold me an additional ticket. So much so that I made the three-hour journey in comfort for an additional 400 rupees or 5 euros. Luxury …
Arrived at Ernakulam Junction, I took a rickshaw (“Auto”) for the 12 kms. remaining. We will cross a first peninsula to arrive on the second peninsula: Fort Cochin.
The name of Cochin, now renamed Kochi, is reminiscent of Cochinchina. And Cochinchina is well known to all French people who are a little interested in French colonial history. It intrigued me and suddenly I tried to understand.
History: Cochin – cochinchina or the relationship between the name Cochin and French Cochinchina.
Originally, the Portuguese had colonized India with the city of Cochin and then colonized South Vietnam and, so as not to confuse the two colonies, they had baptized the second colony of the same name plus added “China”. In Portuguese it was therefore “cochinchina”. When the French colonized Southeast Asia, they kept the name Cochinchina.
Below, the remains of Fort Cochin dating from the Portuguese presence in the 16th century.
And what remains of the Portuguese 500 years later…
Chinese fishing nets
It is one of the great curiosities of Fort Cochin. The Chinese Fishing Nets are a kind of plaice. They date from the 14th century. Probably imported during Chinese Admiral Zheng He’s exploration mission.
On the photos and video you can see a lot of plants in the water. It’s normal we are at the entrance of the huge Kochi mangrove.
The rest in photos and videos in THEMES FISHING page post Chinese fishing net in Kochi
Classical dance and martial arts
Fort Cochin offers exhibitions to tourists to promote the cultural heritage of Kerala.
– Classical dance: KALARIPAYATTU.
To discover in Themes / Art and Culture / Kalaripayattu
– Martial art: KATHAKALI.
To discover in Themes / Art and Culture / Kathakali
Meeting of the day
Kamal
Kamal is an exception in a traditional society. He currently lives with his mother. His father lives in Paris, works as a cook and is married to a French woman.
Kamal traveled to India by hitchhiking. He told me that he lived for a few days in a very old village in northern India. In this village, they believe in immortality and as a way to achieve this, they eat human bones….
Kamal is currently working on the Chinese fishing net. It is the low season. He receives his salary in the form of a fishing share. In high season, when the fishing is important, he receives a fishing share and an additional salary.
Fort Kochi mangrove side
A Monday morning in Fort Kochi…
It is currently the rainy season in Kerala, the monsoon. So there is little tourism and even less since the covid. The hotels are empty and two thirds of the restaurants are closed.
Fishing is also slowing down, it is the time of fish reproduction. The latter have sunk into the mangroves, abandoning the Fort Kochi bottleneck which forms the junction between the sea and the lagoon.
Not a breath of air, pleasant temperature 28°, the atmosphere is asleep. Everything is like in slow motion.
Nature and people…