Cochin

What a hangover—just getting out of bed was painful. We needed to reconfirm our Madras-Columbo flights, so we headed to the Indian Air offices and got our official “confirmation stamp” on our tickets. Then it was off to a bookstore and to Jew Street. Jew Street was a strange market area- with a little bit of everything from food to pots and pans to jewelry. Lunch at the Taj…. it was so hot here- you needed to find a bit of A/C every once in a while.
Then it was back on the bus…a 200 km - 5-hour drive to Coimbatore- a stop over point before we head to Ooty. The PC has been a god-sent on these trips- it makes the time pass- and makes journal keeping so easy.
A few notes:
The Indians have a strange head motion- we call it “Tic-Tock head”--like their head is on a spring. They bounce their heads back and forth. It makes them look slightly crazed- and we’re still not sure what it means.
The hotels have light switches everywhere…John has taken to unscrewing the light bulbs out of sheer frustration rather than searching for light switches.
Every transaction takes at least 3 steps and 3-4 people. Just ordering a beer from room service will involve 3 steps- one to bring the beer, serve it and collect the money, two to bring you back any change and three to then bring you your receipt to show that you’ve really paid for it. A true case of underemployment!
What do these people do when it really gets hot?