Fort Kochi

From the backwaters of Kerela we headed north up to the big city of Kochi, by way of a local public bus. It was a cool way to see the small towns and more local life. The most interesting (and amusing) aspect we found was the skirts that Southern Indian men wear. They were long, wrapped skirts, appearing almost like a towel wrapped around after a shower. They are worn either long or wrapped up to make a short skirt, depending on (it appeared) the weather or how much the guy needs to move his legs.

Man standing on a colorful Kochi street

These “kilts of India” looked to be very functional, but that didn’t stop the from being amusing to our western eyes. As Jami noted, the skirts meant that often we would see couples where the women’s legs were fully covered, but the man was wearing a short, above-the-knee skirt! Amazing how our cultural assumptions can be completely opposite on the other side of the world.

The wife with her legs covered, the man with an above-the-knees skirt!

In Kochi we stayed in the tourist area (Fort Kochi), which is the old part of town, colonized by the Portuguese many centuries ago. There wasn’t much to see besides some over-hyped Chinese fishing contraptions and a section of town called “Jew Town” (where Jewish settlers lived during Portuguese rule), but we really liked the vibe of the area. It was fun just to walk down the tree-lined streets, eating at random cafes.

One of the Chinese finishing machines

I guess I know where to go…

Lovely streets of Fort Kochi

Good food in Kochi

The old synagogue in town.

Our favorite restaurant, Maxim’s, we initially stopped at just because we found it funny that a restaurant would be promoting a recommendation from an in-flight magazine. But wow – what a rec! Probably the best food we had in the South.

In the end, there wasn’t much to write home about for Fort Kochi, but it was great to chill and plan our upcoming weeks.