God's Own Country's Trip - part 4
(Another Cruise along Cochin harbour, visit to synagogue at Mattancherry, 22nd May 2006)
This is the last part of the trip travelogue. Also loaded substantially with photos.
Trust me, going on a trip is one thing, trying to belt out posts about it is something altogether different, though the reminiscences are pretty entertaining themselves.
Here are parts one, two and three of the trip, in case you were lucky enough to have chanced upon my blog for the very first time and are still stupidly curious to know what the hell I've been talking about all this time. If you're really dumb, press alt + f4 to see God.
Just as on the day before, we rented "Hari Krishnan", this time for three hours and decided to check out the synagogue at Mattancherry. (Link directs you to the Cochin wiki page, please search for 'Mattancherry' for more information).
Being the pro-Jew person that I am, I badly wanted to see a synagogue and visit it, just out of extreme curiosity, and I also remembered my Mum having mentioned something about a Jewish settlement in Cochin in the early 17th century-types. After checking out with Kutty and Shaavi, and consulting wikipedia, I zoned in on the fact that the synagogue was on my must-visit list.
After a relaxing boat trip that dropped us at Mattancherry, we headed for the synagogue. Jew Town is the actual name by which the entire location surrounding it is referred to as, and it was quite a surprise to have actually seen such a thing. The streets were narrow, and were littered with antique shops owned by non-Jews (we found out eventually that there are only 14 Jews living in Cochin), who sold a whole lot of things that weren't Jewish relics or excavated Semitic memorabilia.
The path to the synagogue was a small paved alley, which had buildings on either side that prevented the sun's rays from penetrating through. This was some sort of a blessing, given the extreme temperature.
We were able to see a single shop that actually sold Jewish prayer shawls and some other religious items and the Menorah, the symbolic seven candle-stand, which is also present as the Coat of Arms for the state of Israel.
Below is Neville standing in the alley, the photographer's back is towards the synagogue.
(All pics uploaded on flickr. Click for the 'bigger picture'.)
When we finally reached the place, we saw a notice in big, bold letters outside, in both Hebrew and English, in that order, which said (and I paraphrase here) "Entry permitted only to those modestly dressed. People clothed in sleeveless clothing/ shorts/t-shirts/ short skirts are not permitted within the synagogue".
Jai. Full disappointment.
Kutty and I had worn shorts to beat the summer heat, and it was proving to be our undoing. Gaurav, Neville and Shaavi on the other hand had worn pants or something close to their ankles, and hence were permitted to visit the synagogue.
It would have been extremely unfortunate for us not to have been able to see the place, as I had been looking forward to it so much.
Desperate times.
Kutty and I decided that we'd take pants from the other guys once they came out, so that we would go without missing out on something we had come so far to see.
To cut a long story short, Kutty and I eventually went into the synagogue, modestly dressed and all, while two of our friends stood in a narrow cul-de-sac next to the place, one of them wearing Kutty's shorts, for they had the same waist-size, while the other unfortunate person, who wasn't able to fit into my shorts was standing there, praying for my speedy return.
The entire story has, fortunately or otherwise, been documented on Gaurav's handycam.
This is an inside view of the synagogue. The entire place is steeped in history, and if you're really interested in the place, google it!
At the end of the cruise, after playing the fool and talking about a whole lot of stuff we don't really remember, and soaking in the wonderful atmosphere, Gaurav decided to actually go ahead and soak up some of the harbour water where it was at its dirtiest. Before anyone of us had realized, our man had jumped into the water, and thankfully, he knew swimming.
There were unconfirmed reports of a tidal wave that occured at Lakshadweep, washing away a tourist couple, around 8 minutes after Gaurav took the plunge, though it would be too arbitrary a conjecture to relate the two incidents.
Gaurav was fished out, dripping wet, to mark the end of yet another brilliant cruise. Our trip had come to a fitting end.
Thats it with them travel blogs, though there are quite a few arbit rantings to follow in subsequent posts. Stay logged on, I say!!!
Trust me, going on a trip is one thing, trying to belt out posts about it is something altogether different, though the reminiscences are pretty entertaining themselves.
Here are parts one, two and three of the trip, in case you were lucky enough to have chanced upon my blog for the very first time and are still stupidly curious to know what the hell I've been talking about all this time. If you're really dumb, press alt + f4 to see God.
Just as on the day before, we rented "Hari Krishnan", this time for three hours and decided to check out the synagogue at Mattancherry. (Link directs you to the Cochin wiki page, please search for 'Mattancherry' for more information).
Being the pro-Jew person that I am, I badly wanted to see a synagogue and visit it, just out of extreme curiosity, and I also remembered my Mum having mentioned something about a Jewish settlement in Cochin in the early 17th century-types. After checking out with Kutty and Shaavi, and consulting wikipedia, I zoned in on the fact that the synagogue was on my must-visit list.
After a relaxing boat trip that dropped us at Mattancherry, we headed for the synagogue. Jew Town is the actual name by which the entire location surrounding it is referred to as, and it was quite a surprise to have actually seen such a thing. The streets were narrow, and were littered with antique shops owned by non-Jews (we found out eventually that there are only 14 Jews living in Cochin), who sold a whole lot of things that weren't Jewish relics or excavated Semitic memorabilia.
The path to the synagogue was a small paved alley, which had buildings on either side that prevented the sun's rays from penetrating through. This was some sort of a blessing, given the extreme temperature.
We were able to see a single shop that actually sold Jewish prayer shawls and some other religious items and the Menorah, the symbolic seven candle-stand, which is also present as the Coat of Arms for the state of Israel.
Below is Neville standing in the alley, the photographer's back is towards the synagogue.
(All pics uploaded on flickr. Click for the 'bigger picture'.)
When we finally reached the place, we saw a notice in big, bold letters outside, in both Hebrew and English, in that order, which said (and I paraphrase here) "Entry permitted only to those modestly dressed. People clothed in sleeveless clothing/ shorts/t-shirts/ short skirts are not permitted within the synagogue".
Jai. Full disappointment.
Kutty and I had worn shorts to beat the summer heat, and it was proving to be our undoing. Gaurav, Neville and Shaavi on the other hand had worn pants or something close to their ankles, and hence were permitted to visit the synagogue.
It would have been extremely unfortunate for us not to have been able to see the place, as I had been looking forward to it so much.
Desperate times.
Kutty and I decided that we'd take pants from the other guys once they came out, so that we would go without missing out on something we had come so far to see.
To cut a long story short, Kutty and I eventually went into the synagogue, modestly dressed and all, while two of our friends stood in a narrow cul-de-sac next to the place, one of them wearing Kutty's shorts, for they had the same waist-size, while the other unfortunate person, who wasn't able to fit into my shorts was standing there, praying for my speedy return.
The entire story has, fortunately or otherwise, been documented on Gaurav's handycam.
This is an inside view of the synagogue. The entire place is steeped in history, and if you're really interested in the place, google it!
Once we were done visiting the synagogue, and all of us had our pants/shorts back on, we picked up some toddy (Rs.24 per bottle + Rs.3 as bottle deposit) and got back on our boat.
The toddy wasn't enough, though it did get us quite jolly with a somewhat bad aftertaste in the mouth. We had to stop at the same place we did on the previous day for more beer, after which it was beautiful scenery all over again!
Featured below, are the famous Chinese fishing nets.
The toddy wasn't enough, though it did get us quite jolly with a somewhat bad aftertaste in the mouth. We had to stop at the same place we did on the previous day for more beer, after which it was beautiful scenery all over again!
Featured below, are the famous Chinese fishing nets.
Under slight influence, we thought the ship's name was...erm...."no smoking"!
Neville walking on the water here. He is also probably a little high.
At the end of the cruise, after playing the fool and talking about a whole lot of stuff we don't really remember, and soaking in the wonderful atmosphere, Gaurav decided to actually go ahead and soak up some of the harbour water where it was at its dirtiest. Before anyone of us had realized, our man had jumped into the water, and thankfully, he knew swimming.
There were unconfirmed reports of a tidal wave that occured at Lakshadweep, washing away a tourist couple, around 8 minutes after Gaurav took the plunge, though it would be too arbitrary a conjecture to relate the two incidents.
Gaurav was fished out, dripping wet, to mark the end of yet another brilliant cruise. Our trip had come to a fitting end.
Thats it with them travel blogs, though there are quite a few arbit rantings to follow in subsequent posts. Stay logged on, I say!!!
posted by Hari Shenoy @ 9:23 PM
3 Comments:
And I'll second that! Jai Internet. Jai Al Jal Jira! :p
Down with complex verification strings though! :(
wat happened to Neville?
inspired by DVC, he thought he was of the 'royal bloodline' and tried walkin on water?
*smirk*
awesome pics though. Wish i cud have been there to do a sunset sketch :(
@ aslan: In total agreemeent with u.
I actually typed out "kstvbvtq" now. WTF??
The GDJ bashing continues full-flow. Actually LOL'ed reading the last few para's on gaurav's spot selection and also the supposed consequences of the li'll dip he took :P
@ stan: Cock up. I was trying to do a titanic though. But my physique didnt lend the photo as much as grace as i would have liked it to. :|
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