Last night we wandered along the waterfront through the crowded city and tried to come back along a canal but got lost in what appeared to be a predominently muslim neighborhood. The waterfront area has these huge "Chinese fishing nets" that the Chinese sailors introduced between 1350 and 1450. The nets are lowered into the water via a pulley system for a time, and when they are brought back up the the fish and other seafood is harvested. Some of the fine looking fish is sold right there on the waterfront and you can have it cleaned and put on a grill for you.
Walking back along the canal we realized how primitive and bad the living conditions here are for this community. There are open sewers and a lot of garbage and filth. Family life does go on and you see people washing, getting water and talking to their neighbors. It was just after dusk and everybody was out when the lights went out and we had to try to continue in the dark streets. At this time the muslim call to prayer service was very loud and we also noticed that only men were out on the street. We were getting nervous about our situation and after a while found a rickshaw to bring us back to our hotel.
Today we went on an excursion to the backwaters of Kochi which is on a peninsula. We went with about 14 other tourists, most from Europe and one Indian man who owns a restaurant in London. First, we were driven about 25 miles to a beautiful spot on a wide river where we got on two boats and were paddled through some narrow channels that run through the thick, shady, palm dominated foliage. It was really beautiful. We stopped at a house along this channel and watched how the people make rope out of coconut husks. We were explained the process. Then we went to another place and saw how coconuts are used to make coconut oil which is used for cooking, shampoo and other things here in Kerala. We were told that the rope production is organzied through a cooperative and that the people pretty much share the profits. The women do this work and the men go out and try to supplement the family income in other ways such as digging sand. Also, Kerala's Communist-led government limits how much land an individual can own (15 acres max) and helps to subsidize the income of these people. We were told that education is free until 15 years old and there is free medical care too and that nobody starves in Kerala. There is also a two child policy here. Our gudie was very positive about the govenment of Kerala. Two of our group said that they had seen a workers march of several thousand people a few days ago. The unions are very strong here in Kerala.
We were also shown many different kinds of trees and plants including pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, bay leaf and other spices.
Lunch was included in the package and the tour leader had us all sit down along a narrow wooden table. Another group of excursionists, I think from Pakistan and India, joined us. We were given a green banana leaf which served as a plate and then the servers came around and dished out rice and a variety of stews and other tasty concoctions to eat together with the rice.
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