Asia III: Sri Lanka - South India - Laos - Myanmar - Brunei - Korea

After the cruise, we were dropped near the Jewish Synagogue. The synagogue was constructed in 1568 after allowing Jewish refugees from Jerusalem to settle here during the Crusades making this the Commonwealth's oldest Synagogue. This is one of the very few functional synagogues in India and the structure is unique due to influence of native Hindu-Christian architecture as well as the only synagogue having two bimahs. Many Jews lived in the area until the creation of Israel, today there is only a handful. Jew Street is a heritage zone with several antique/handicraft shops. Unfortunately, photos were prohibited. However, there are many nearby interesting antiques shops and stores for photos.

Kochi is considered one of the finest harbors in the world, and where tradition and modernity meet. After breakfast, the shuttle came to pick us up at our homestead for a half-day backwater cruise through the serene lakes of Cochin that are lined up with coconut trees. The backwaters make one enjoy beautiful sights of the local and migratory birds, local villages and more.

We bought the ticket to see the performance in the Kerala Folklore Theatre Museum in Cochin. The theater was Created in Kerala style from ancient temples and beautiful old houses collected by its owner, an antique dealer, the family-run folklore museum houses a priceless collection of over 5000 artefacts and covers three architectural styles: Malabar on the ground floor; Kochi/Portuguese on the 1st; and Travancore on the 2nd (top). The fine top-floor theatre has an 18th-century wood-carved ceiling depicting Hindu gods, as well as colourful Ramayana and Mahabharata murals. It's 4.5km south of Ernakulam Junction. We saw the actors doing the elaborate facial make up for nearly one hour. The dances are based on a story depicted by dancing with hand, finger, eye, chin gestures. We had seafood dinner at a nearby restaurant rooftop after the performance.

We wake up after a 12-hr bus ride from the high ground to the Indian Ocean city Kochi which is a cosmopolitan city in Kerala with a bustling commercial port. Kochi is the financial capital of Kerala and one of the major tourist destinations in India. We rode a ferry directly to Fort Kochi which forms the upper part of the Peninsula with neatly arranged colonial buildings, narrow well-paved roads, Anglo-Dutch influenced structures, churches, and large antique shops. We ali’s walked in the beach area and saw the Chinese Fishing Nets ( Cheenavala), as the official icon of Kochi and are a testimony of relations between Ancient Chinese Empires and the Kochi Kingdom. They were gifted by Chinese Emperor Kubalagi to Kochi King in 14th century. There were more than 100, though currently only a few remain in working condition.

After a gormate seafood curry lunch in a high end AC restaurant, we visited the inside of the Mysore Palace which has Intricately carved rosewood doors and ceilings with inlaid ivory work, marble figurines, collections of caskets, paintings of the members of the royal family and other objects of personal use exhibit such opulence, though age as worn them out a bit with slight discolouration. I had only two bananas as dinner prior to the 12-hour VIP (reclining AC) bus ride into Kochi. It was a tiring ride.

After breakfast at international youth hostel of Mysore, we walked 4 km via a wonderful natural lake park to Jayalakshmivilas mansion/ folk museum within the campus of University of Mysore. It was built by H.H. Vani Vilasa Sannidhana ( Maharani Regent of Mysore: 1895-1902) for her daughter Jayalakshammanni, and has around 200 rooms, an exotic dancing hall and a kalyanmantap with intricately carved wood pillars. It is converted into a museum and it stores artifacts pertaining to local folk performing arts, tools and object of various artisans and other archaeological findings. Unfortunately, inside photos were prohibited.