Day 62 Cochin, South West India

We were very excited about reaching India, it's a place neither of us had been to before and we could only imagine what would be waiting for us! We were told to expect to see beggars with limbs missing, don't drink this, don't eat that but we're still alive and I didn't see anything untoward! We took a taxi ride to Fort Cochin, where many of the historic buildings were built by the Dutch and Portuguese. This area is dominated by Catholic churches and a Cathedral by the name of Santa Cruz with beautiful paintings inside. We went to the Chinese fishing nets, so called because it's thought the Chinese bought them into the country more than a thousand years ago. Our taxi driver must have thought we wanted to go shopping because he stopped at most carpet and silk shops along the way!We ended our morning's tour at the Taj Malabar Hotel, which is a 5 star hotel close to where our ship was docked. We had a drink, then lunch and Phil said it was the best curry he'd ever had. I chose a typical chicken dish of the Kerala area cooked in spices and served with Kerala bread and I have to agree, it was delicious.