mysore to kochi

i elected to get on another overnight bus from mysore to reach kochi, which is in kerala, the southernmost province of india's west coast - self proclaimed to be "gods own country." the twelve-hour adventure south was relatively uneventful, except for crossing the provincial border from karnataka into kerala, which is also a wildlife reserve. a few small trees had been knocked over across the road and there were buses and trucks and all sorts of conveyance gathered around the trees. it was the middle of the night at apparently, a couple of elephants had gotten adventurous and decided to knock the trees into the road. they were youngsters, most likely elephant teenagers, so this made sense to me. the two elephants stood on the side of the road observing their handiwork and the chaos that it had created.

the most interesting thing about taking the overnight buses is that you arrive in the towns just as they are waking up and you get to see what goes on in the early morning in all of the different places. what goes on in the early morning is very similar to what goes on during the rest of the day - not very much. a lot of standing around and spitting, which seems to be the favorite past time for all men in india.

the bus arrived in ernakulam and i took the short ferry to kochi where i was accosted by autorickshaw drivers and hotel owners at the dock. i now refuse to give people who hassle me my business so i walked away from them and into the little town which is wonderful. it is very relaxed and full of friendly people, though i came to find that the hotel i booked into lacked hot water.

kochi is famous as a portuguese, dutch and chinese fishing and trading village from the 1500's . there are still giant chinese fishing nets on the shore at fort cochin, which the fishermen still use today. they are run on cantilevers and only used at high tide when the current is going the right way, but they are remarkably interesting contraptions that are made of teak wood and have been standing for centuries.

all in all, it was well worth the trip to kochi to get away from the chaos of the rest of india.