Rubber trees

turns out I had some more pictures that I wanted to show you

ooops

I saw all these rubber trees with "umbrellas" and it got me curious

(in Kerala)

so when I saw a man working on the trees I jumped out of the car and jumped over a wall 

ended up in a water filled field of rubber trees

he was working really fast so ....

after the usual greeting Namaste I tried to show him what I wanted and since he wobbled his head back I think he understood what I wanted

he cleaned the "track" in the bark with his special knife...

I wanted to know how often he needs to do this...every day or once a week...

but the language barrier made it difficult...someone who knows?

"trash" went in the bucket on his back...

then he showed me how the rubber runs down the holder..see..

if raining to much they put the umbrella on...to save the rubber....

and then he was off again and I kind of said thank you and good bye..

and I splashed my way back to the car

first time in a field of rubber trees

I learn new things every day !

Last day in Cochin with Monkfoot travels

we got of the boat and headed for Cochin again

and since we had half a day before our flight back to the north  

 we had to do some sight seeing

it's still exotic to see elephants on the streets 

this was a temple elephant who had blessed the people at s special puja the night before

he had so many chains around him..hmmm....really don't like

but he was a HUGE male.. 

spices spices ....all neatly displayed...

all these chinese fishing nets...all along the waters.. 

lime for the nimbu pani...fresh lime soda...salt or sweet or mixed...

yummy yummy

we met our guide at the market ...I wanted to see the fish and meat market

so no typical sightseeing for us to start with

red spinach, fresh tamarind, three kinds of tapioca and banana flower are just some of the fun things I looked at...

the squid men..

see the old scales...here called weighing machines....

so many different kinds of fish...some expected and some very unexpected..like

these baby sharks....they also had sting rays!

it was a busy market..

I'm not going to show you the meat market....I saw some things that I have never seen before

and hope I never will again....

so we headed for the Dhobi Khana...laundry place...only one still existing in Cochin...

45 family members run it..called dhobi wallah's...

electrical irons

but also coconut fueled irons...once the coconut is hot it can be used for 4 hours of ironing !

I guess and hope it's better for the environment with coconuts..

so cool that they twist the ropes instead of using washing pins

the oldest member , 85 year and still working even though blind on one eye...

now we headed for Jew Town...goes way back in time...in 1524 the jews who came to Cochin 

after fleeing from attacking muslims got protection from the Maharadja...

in the 1930-40 the congregation was a big as 2000 members but almost all emigrated to Israel.. 

wonder where she belonged before..

Jew town is famous for it's antique stores..

beautiful alleys and you find signs all over that you are in Jew Town

just look at the window...

the Paradesi synagogue was built in 1568 by descendants of Spanish, Dutch and other European jews.....

the clock towers was added in 1760

then we headed for St Frances church..the oldest church in India..

built by the Fransiscan friars who accompanied the Portugese settlers in 1500

1663 it came under the control of the Dutch who turned into a protestant church

Vasco da Gama the first european navigator to India was laid to rest here in 1524 but his remains where moved home to Portugal in 1538

old times fans...hand driven 

on the outside of the church you find the ropes that they pulled to keep the church goers cool..

cool construction...

our trip was over and we headed home

but we both really enjoyed every minute in Kerala

it's a place we want to come back to for sure

hope you have enjoyed and maybe someone got some inspiration and want to travel here

I booked everything through:

http://www.monkfoot.com

have a look at all their travel arrangements !!

traveling in India can be tricky so I strongly recommend that you book everything in advance

home stays- hotels, car with driver and house boat etc

they can help you with everything

Morning on the backwaters of Kerala

I just had to show you the backwaters in the morning also

the light was different....magical...

the water was so still...wonderful reflections in the water..

until a rain shower hit us hard
but after 10 minutes it was over

the water lillies opens up in the morning.....

it rained really hard for a short while....

this guy was struggling not to get wet...it looked so difficult...

and finally he gave up..

who wouldn't want to have one of these and just cruise along...

when we where about to leave the anchor was stuck so we had to get some help from the

mud  crew...

they arrived in their canoe and got some mud out and up came our anchor and

off they went to the next boat....

it doesn't get any better than this...

water filled rice fields  behind the wall...

the cage ready to be thrown in to catch some big shrimps...or mud crabs....

see the green rice field...

looking for the best spot.... to put the net in...

reminded us of our house back home...

how cute wasn't this...walking the goats along the waterway....

fishing in the morning....

cruising.....

the backwaters are a chain of lagoons and lakes lying parallel to the Arabian Sea coast,

known as the Malabar coast

the network includes five large lakes linked by canals, both manmade and natural,

fed by 38 rivers and extending virtually half the length of Kerala state.

the backwaters have a unique ecosystem, freshwater from the rivers meets the seawater from

the Arabian Sea

just some facts...good to know...from Wikipedia..

(credit to someone out there)

our Kerala trip is coming to an end here on the blog...

next post is about Cochin 

we did some sight seeing before flying north again.

so if you want to see some more of Cochin be sure to check in