Cochin, India

Several days at sea in the Bay of Bengal had many passengers sea crazy. It was a rough crossing as indicated by the pools being closed for most of journey because they behaved more like washing machines than swimming pools. The ship looked like a parking lot at a nursing home, walking frames in every corridor. Finally we reached Cochin, India

Cochin is a large shipping port handling 5 million tons of cargo a year. Cochin is actually a cluster of islands connected by bridges and ferries.

The Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama led an expedition at the end of the 15th century that opened the sea route to India by way of the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.  King John III rewarded him by making him Indian Viceroy, but he soon became ill and died in Cochin on Dec. 24, 1524. He was buried in the St. Francis Church, the oldest in India. The history of St Francis church mirrors the colonial struggle of India. It started as a Catholic/Portuguese church, then Protestant/Dutch, then Anglican and now the Church of South India.

Cochin is a small place with a only a few but significant landmarks; the St Francis Church, Fort Cochin and Mattancheri. We visited all of these in 35+ degree heat in a tuk-tuk, the dominant local transport. The day was uneventful but hot, hot, hot…….