The famous Chinese fishing nets are practically abandoned now and our guide suggested they catch more tourists than fish these days. The nets are land based. Canoe type boats are used by fishermen up to 10 miles out, then beyond that are the purse netters, much smaller than our Scottish ones, and not allowed to fish closer to shore. It was one of these boats from Neerakkala, a little further down the coast, that was fired on by Italian marines, apparently mistaking them for pirates, and killing two Indian fishermen. This caused an understandably furious reaction here, especialy when it became known that the Italian media was reporting it as "brave Italian marines" fighting off "Indian pirates". The 2004 tsunami had its effect in this area as currents changed and there are now less fish. For 3 months of the year no one can fish. The international aid in the aftermath of the tsunami caused its own problems as much of it was distributed through the Christian churches, thus effectively excluding large numbers of Moslem fishing families.
We next visited the Dutch Palace, which was built by the Dutch as a kind of peace offering to the local kings, and used by them until the 1950s. It was notable for the elaborate frescos which we were not allowed to photograph, the palanquins used to transport the kings, and the portraits of the royal ladies. Everyone went bare chested till the 1900s when European attitudes came in. Our last visit was to an Orthodox Jewish church where security was tight. After the destruction of the econd Temple in 72 AD and the subsequent dispersal of the Jews a settlement was estabished here, but many moved "back" to Israel after Indian independence followed quickly by Israeli independence in 1948. Now only a small number remain, and the only woman of child bearing age would have to look elsewhere for a husband. It may be that no one is left very soon. After being measured up for a top and seeing the spice market we left our guide and had lunch. It was a very intense historical morning and we were happy to wander back through the market and take a short ferry ride back to the hotel for a swim and a rest before the entertainment.
Kathakali, a unique form of local theatre is held in 5 venues around Kochi. Our guide had obtained front row tickets for the show, particularly useful as part of the fun is to watch the make up being applied. Google it and you will see why, as it is face painting taken to the extreme. Both characters in the short drama were played by males though one was a female part. The first bit of the show was an introduction to the facial and other gestures and what they meant. An older actor had us spellbound as he rolled his eyes round his head. His control of facial muscles was amazing. The second part was a story told in music by the two we had seen earlier, now in fabulous costumes. It reminded us of our pantomime days. The very good looking young man became a lovely lady, very coy but in the end she turned into a demon and was killed by the prince! It was a great piece of theatre. We had a meal at the hotel with much milder dishes and were very moderate with our choices.
A phone call later led to some consternation as the person claimed to have picked up a bag containing our passports from the street. Until then we had not noticed that it was missing. Usually it was kept round the neck, but on this one occasion had been placed in a bigger bag. Having checked with him that the credit card was still there we agreed to pick it up in the morning. It was not a comfortable night thinking of what might have been.
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