This morning we take a city tour by boat around the coast and islands taking in various sites including the Jewish Quarter, St Francis Church which is believed to be India’s oldest European-built church and the Chinese fishing nets, this spiderlike contraption require at least 4 people to operate their counterweights at high tide. Unfortunately, modern fishing techniques are making these labour-intensive methods less and less profitable. A few of us had enough of walking around and went in search of lunch and a beach. Umm... not the easiest beach to get to after a car-ferry, local bus and a auto-rickshaw later we find Cherai Beach on Vypeen Island. First we have a bite to each and then in the water we go. Ah!!! Water is still a little warm but nice to have a swim.
Tonight we have the chance to experience a little more of the local culture as we watch Kathakali. Kathakali performances are made for tourists, but are a good introduction to the intriguing art form. Our performance started with the intricate make-up application, followed by a demonstration and commentary on the dance and then the performance. No matter how I describe this I don’t think I will be able to paint the picture of what I saw to say this least this was a very interesting experience.
