Cochin - the emerald queen

A bus, a rickshaw, a ferry and another rickshaw got us to Cochin. Its a big city in Kerala but is made up of 4 different islands; namely expensive, exclusive, historical and modern. We opted to stay in historical Fort Cochin - landing place of the Dutch and centre for the spice trade many years back.

We spent a few days here walking the quiet old - and I mean old! - streets but its a welcome break from the hustle and bustle and noise of the major towns.. in comparison this place feels like a village.

Our first day we visited Jew street - an area occupied by the yids years back and centre for the spice trade. It has the oldest synagogue in the Commonwealth which we were hoping to see but as it was Friday afternoon it was closed for tourism. So we spent the afternoon looking at curio shops, the spice shops and the general area which caters for tourists, there was even a shop selling kitka covers and menorahs. Speaking to a shop owner we discovered that one of the congregation live nearby so we go off to see if we can get into the shul.

The man greets us at his home and looks about 100 years old. He explains that the service at the Shul is at 6.30pm and will only take place if there is a minyan (10 men). He also tells us only 6 Jewish men live in Cochin so the chances are slim, he goes on further to tell us we cant come to Shul in our shorts/vests.

We stroll around the lanes for a further hour or so and return to the Shul on time to see whats up. It turns out to be the usual 6 (the old man has returned with his buddies - all looking 100 years plus) plus 2 Israeli's and some other guy who has come over from another island nearby. The Shul caretaker looks at the 3 of us (me and the 2 Israeli's are all wearing shorts!) and orders us down one of the little lanes to some old ladies house. We enter as she is lighting the candles and has the table set for two people - she is also pushing 100 I reckon. She speaks minimal English but gingerly shows us around her house and gestures for us to go upstairs. As we reach the landing there are 3 pairs of trousers ready on a hanger for visitors - I assume she gets this thing a lot and I also assume they must have belonged to her dead husband. We take the pants and make the minyan so the service goes ahead with 10 men, 4 women in a beautiful little Shul. Besides the older yids there is your token Indian Jew there too. Everyone is barefoot as its about 35 degrees.

At the end of the service they opened up the arc for the visitors to see the Torahs and a decorative cover made of gold given to the Shul by one of the Raj's (kings) back in 1805. It truly is exquisite. Following that, the main guy (the one under 100 but not the Indian) asked me to say the Kiddish which was kind of cool. We stayed a while chatting to all and then left to return the trousers to the old lady who was I presumed now sleeping (as she wasn't there anymore.. front door left open). We both felt pretty good as we at least had helped the community have a service for that week and even saved ourselves 2 rupees (the entrance fee for visitors!). We walked back with an Isreali women who turned out to be staying at the same guest house as us so we landed up having dinner with her.

The next few days we explored the rest of fort Cochin and its little streets. As its an island one of the attractions are these huge Chinese fishing nets along the shores. Running alongside them are numerous outdoor cafe's that will cook your fish which you have recently purchased from the fisherman... we had a whole grilled snapper for about $2!