Ha!
Originally uploaded by C+H.
Kochi: not my thing. Reminded me a lot of Charleston, SC, in a weird way: both are old shipping centers with nothing much going on that attract tourists and antiquers. The synagogue was pretty nice (the city has a historic Jewish community—Jew Town (no kidding)—that now consists of 14 people from 3 families).
Something which turned out to be really worthwhile that you would think was a suckers’ game is the “you buy we cook” fish stands down by the waterfront. Maybe we got ripped off in relative terms (we paid around Rs 600 for a 3 crabs and 2 lobsters, and another Rs 150 to get them cooked), but the food was really yummy. A tip: curry crab should be cracked away from the diner and should not be eaten in a rush.
P.S. Lots of goats and cats, not so many cows and dogs. Why is that?
P.P.S. Deb asked pretty much every local he met for the first two days where he could get some crab and the answer was invariably “no chance” since it was out of season. Every fish guy on the waterfront was selling crab, and most of it was alive (and therefore fresh). WTF?!
P.P.P.S. We showed up on the one day of every month when alchohol is not permitted to be sold anywhere in the city. We happened across a place that was selling beer out of a hole in the wall—seriously—but we didn’t have the good sense to purchase it or the guts to photograph the hole.
Procrastiblog 