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I’m writing this for my first full day here at Fort Kochi, which also happens to be St Patrick’s Day.  A little coincidence that the India and Irish flags have the same colours and that they both start with the letter ‘i’.  It’s sunday today and the bustle of Formula 1 on the roads has tempered to more like a rush hour in a Cotswold village.  Overnight was a great sleep, the mosquitos did not come thanks to my bath in repellant and the 360 degree netting.

Leisurely breakfast and for all purposes a British Sunday morning was with me.  I opened up the iPad Papers and sat back looking out at the beach while sipping my coffee.  The beach was more popular today with the locals using their day of rest to socialise.  It is funny how simple things please people.  A man who I would say was about 50, more slimline than me, is doing handsprings across the sand.  I don’t think I could do that these days, but he had more grey hair than me so I guess that makes us even.  But I had to start experiencing the local stuff soon, so a constitutional walk across the sands sounded good, with or without gymnastics.

The hotel is a secure area, so I headed out through the front gate as I couldn’t see the back gate.  Actually I could see it, but it looked like no one had trodden that way before.  I always think if you can’t see the path grounded by years of trailblazers then avoid being a Livingstone.  How many countless missionaries have met their maker after the short conversation…”Livingstone I presume?”, response “nope!”.

Like passing some kind of mission impossible type sensor, I triggered a hail of “hey Taxi?”  A couple of Tuk Tuk drivers lay waiting in anticipation for something to make their morning worthwhile.  “No I am just walking to the beach”.  He seemed bemused with my argument that I wanted to get to the beach, as I was already there so must have that ticked off my do list.  I kept walking but he continued to give me his tourist offer.  I said maybe later, but he kept talking as he was now looking at me stepping onto the sand. “Hey, I’m Noshad!, what’s your name?”.  Thinking quick I shouted back “Eric”.  His reply, “David?, OK David, you come for tour when you have finished on the beach!”  How did that happen I thought.

Lots of people are just strolling too, but being a six foot white man they do tend to stare at you with an inquisitive look.  I wasn’t even wearing a pith helmet.

I hadn’t walked for 15 minutes when Noshad appeared again to ask if I was ready.  I rebuffed him again and said that I just wanted to walk.  “Ok, I will see you after the fishing nets” he said and pointed across the next large section of beach to the Chinese Fishing Nets.  These  Nets are used as huge scoops on a sort of cantilever to catch fish.  Also used to catch free Tourist labour to do it for them at a fee to the tourist.  Well this is entrepreneurial India.  I carried on and just 100 yards from the Nets up pops…we agreed the price on an hourly rate and he was going to show me a few of the sites and various faith temples.  Oh and a few of the shops that pay him to bring in tourists.  I had time so agreed and what he didn’t know was that I just wanted to ride in a Tuk Tuk.

So we did the various churches and temples, a washing area, I think he called it a ‘Dobby’  which was interesting and real.  Concrete cubicles of people rubbing clothes on stone and then organised washing lines and Ironing.  Some of the irons were huge charcoal filled and others were heavy electrical ones I imagine that Edison would have knocked up in his laboratory.  Noshad said that all of the washing from Hotels, Wealthy People and Hospitals comes into the Dobby.  I had thoughts of my M&S briefs wafting in the breeze.

We moved onto a range of shops, with some ‘historical interest’, not shopping, important areas!  After one he asked whether I like shopping.  “I hate shopping!, no more shops”.  It used to drive Sue mad that I would walk into a shop and select things immediately…”I’m done!”

Noshad asked me for a favour, “could you do one more please, as I need the point”.  At least there was a bit of honesty.  I did it, looked, discussed the finer details of how they could ship to the UK for free and avoid Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and then Noshad dropped me back at the Hotel.  90 mins of Tuk Tuk for 200 Rupees, 3 pounds.  By now  the midday sun, 30 degrees C and time for a well shopped Beer.

Hot spicy grilled fish for lunch with chapatis.  It is funny that the hotter the weather the appetite for hot things does not wane.

After lunch and a semi-siesta, I watched the beach fill up with more and more locals.  Mostly they were watching nothing but the sea and talking but that’s what friends and families do here.  The kite seller is doing well with his wares and the breeze is pleasantly up.  The large tree by the side of my balcony terrace is a graveyard for kites that he had sold only 100 yards from it.  Some kind of eagles are gliding around competing with their imitators.  The people suddenly lined up across the beach by the wash of the waves as we approached 6pm ish.  The sun was dropping and it was starting to glisten across the water.  Absolutely gorgeous.  I have seen these sunsets before when in the Maldives and I had half a mind to go get my camera, but spoilt I thought, I will be sitting here again watching this tomorrow.

The evening ended with the band playing a mixed medley of old rock classics while I downed another spicy fish dish from Kerala.  A german tourist, a wedding photographer by trade, struck up a conversation and I sensed he had travelled.  When he said that he had just come from Rajasthan and was travelling on to Oman before heading back home I could tell that he was really thoughtful in where he picked.  And for photography he said, I look for a long while then take 2 photo’s not hundreds.  I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I had my setting on 4 frames a second.  We talked Camera’s and thank god, he said I had picked a good one in an Olympus.  That could have really miffed me 1 day into my 3 and a half month trip.

A few more big ships passed in and out of the estuary and that was it for me.  I also had my facetime calls planned for Jon and Tom.  Duly done we caught up.

I spied a Gekko on the wall in my room and thought someone had sent another mosquito catcher to help me through the night.  Let’s hope he has an appetite and good night vision.