Day 85 - KOCHI (COCHIN), INDIA

 Date: 3/30/2024     Day 85                       Port: KOCHI (COCHIN), INDIA

Description: Popularly referred to as the ’Queen of the Arabian Sea,’ Cochin (Khochi) has been a trading post since early Roman times, due to its strategic location between Europe and China. From the court of Kubla Khan to the captains of Europe’s great Age of Exploration, travelers and merchants from far-off lands have been coming here since ancient times in search of spices, sandalwood and ivory. Explore St. Francis' Church, the oldest existing European church in India. View one of the oldest synagogues in the world – a jewel of incomparable beauty with its brass columns, Belgian hanging lamps, and exquisite hand-painted, blue-and-white Chinese porcelain tiles.

Planned Excursion: HIGHLIGHTS OF COCHIN

4.0 Hours                           Moderate Activity                           # COK-001: Free

See the influence of the many traders and colonists that came to Cochin.  Marvel at the highly unusual Chinese fishing nets that are operated from shore.  Recognize the impact of the Portuguese through several architectural gems.  Visit a Jewish community whose heyday was the late 1500s.

Today's Update: When we arrived in port today the ship's Internet went down and remained down all day. Not until we left port again and were out to sea did it come back to usable bandwidth.   

We all had to go through Indian Immigration, face to face with an official.  Once cleared we received what is called a printed landing card.  We have to use this card to pass through Immigration each time leaving and returning to the ship.  This process delayed by more than a hour getting folks to their excursions or land tours.  We had 140 leave us for overnight(s) sea/land tours.  

I am going to post this now before getting into our next port of call.  The Internet may go down again for the day. 

Evening Update:  Yes once were back out to sea the Internet was restored.  It's making it difficult to update my blog postings and upload pictures and video.  

We did have a good first excursion in India.  It was a hot day walking through the points of interest.  India is in an early heat wave.  As I write this update we have left our second India port stop, Mangalore, India.  

Please check back to this post for updates when I am able to upload pictures and video.  Many thanks for reading our blog and following along with us on our World Cruise.