Southern India - 11 February 2012 (3)

Evening in Kochi

I woke up as we entered Kochi.  As we made our way through mainly residential streets, I was strongly reminded of Urubamba, where I lived for three months during my “round the world” trip.  I don’t know whether it was the low, whitewashed buildings, the farm animals roaming free around the streets or the smells, but it really brought back some memories.

Our hotel in Kochi was the Hotel Bright Heritage.  It was still undergoing refurbishment, but looked very nice inside.  From the outside, it looked more like a shopping emporium as half the frontage was an arts and crafts shop.  We were welcomed in with garlands and a blessing instead of a drink.  When we were asked to sit down, I felt as if we were going to be sold some carpets.

We had to walk along a tatty corridor to our room on the first floor.  Once we were in our room, we were very impressed.  It was huge and had lots of lights, surfaces to put things on and a kettle.  Unfortunately the plug for the kettle didn’t fit in the socket, but we discovered that the fridge had an adapter which we could use to get a cup of tea.

At 1915, we set off for dinner.  We walked past the bus where Guruprasad and Harish were cooking their dinner over a primus stove in the boot.  It wasn’t a long walk to the restaurant: the Lilly Grace by the Hotel Fort Cochin.  The tables were outside but under cover and they rushed to organise seating for our large group.

It was a seafood restaurant, with the only two alternatives both being chicken dishes, so I started to feel a bit despondent.  Lukose got the head waiter onto it and he offered me a veggie curry and a tomato fry.  I was able to specify the thickness of the gravy and the heat of the dish, although I was not sure if he understood “hot but not too hot”.  Anyway, it was very nice when it arrived, especially the tomato fry.  With lime soda and rice, it came to a very reasonable Rs330.

The others split their orders between fish curry, fish of the day in banana leaves and grilled fish.  In all three cases, the fish was sear fish, which Sue said was like marlin.  It was a very meaty fish and looked a lot like tuna when it came as a steak.

Towards the end of the meal, it started to rain.  It got so hard that the diners at the front of the restaurant had to move fast to avoid being soaked.  Lukose rang Guruprasad and got him to come round so we wouldn’t have to walk in the rain.

It took a long time to get the food and a very long time to get the bills.  They apologised for the long wait at the end and said that the staff were new and not used to the system.  Up to six people gathered at the till to try and sort things out, but it might have been a case of too many cooks.  An elderly lady came and chatted to Lukose.  I think she might have been the eponymous Lily Grace, but I could be wrong.  They all seemed to be good friends of Lukose, so I guess he came there often on his travels.  When the bills were finally ready, Lukose speeded things up by sorting out the change on the spot.

By the time we left, it had stopped raining and we all felt sorry for disturbing Guruprasad and Harish, who had probably bedded down for the night.  At least the bus saved us from having to wade through puddles and walk through mud.