Last day in Cochin

I'm knackered!

Got up early - noise in hotel from staff. Enjoyed another cold shower. Trotted off to boat to Cochin (via ATM) and chilled out for a nice breakfast. Well, it wasn't as nice as I'd hoped and the coffee arrived about 15 minutes after I'd finished eating - so I gave them a very large note to change to make me feel better. (Stupid ATM gave me ridiculously large notes and, being Sunday, there's no open banks I've seen).

Wandered. Photographed. Explored. Watched hot men doing interesting things. Took more photos. Stopped for a drink and heard celebratory Sunday guns being shot off at a church on an island opposite Fort Cochin (Vypen). Got a ferry over to Vypen and wandered to the church, watching a wedding and staring at more hot men. Took more photos. Got chatting to a woman who invited me to go and sit by her house and talk with her and her mother. Smelled a hint of scamitis but decided to see where it would lead as not everyone IS out to get money. A lot ARE on Cochin though. "You want to visit my net? You want to pull up fishing line? You want to take photo? You want pay me?" - I'm too cynical to be gullible generally, but you never know!

Anyway, she started a soft sell about being a tour guide but didn't push it any further. She walked me back a different way and we 'just happened' to meet her neighbour, a man in his 60s and his motorbike, who offered me a tour. After getting him to agree to a very low price I agreed - well, I didn't have anything else in mind to do, and we took off to the far side of the island to visit Cherai beach - I had a lovely lunch there, a bit of a paddle and took lots of photos of women in the water in their saris; a lighthouse, lots of churches and temples and then over to another island Vallarpadam to see another basilica.

It was pretty knackering, but I enjoyed it, and looking at the landscape from the back of a bike is always nice too.

Going to go and find another massage now I think. Tomorrow - back to Bombay...