To market, to market...

The hardest thing about being home again, apart from failing miserably to adjust our sleep cycle back to Perth time, is the thought that we may have to start shopping in ordinary shopping centres again....aaaaagggghhhhh. After weeks of haggling and wandering in markets and bazaars all over India and in Turkey, and having laid eyes on the mind-boggling array of olives, cheeses and assorted delicacies (marinated eggplants, capsicums, tomatoes) in small supermarkets in Haifa, not to mention the luscious treats on display in sweet shops everywhere we went...how can we ever face going back to Coles again???

The truth is, supplies have run low in our fridge and pantry but neither of us are game enough to venture out of doors...I opened a can of tuna for dinner last night and Shanks went without! The area we live in isn't exactly renowned for the fresh produce on offer. There are no fruit and veg markets nearby...the only hope we have is our little Italian grocer about 10km down the road and a cheese shop across the railway line (where we buy our supplies of parmesan, mozzarella and ricotta). The other difference is that shops and markets in India are open till late at night...often 10pm (in Perth everything shuts at 6pm) and wandering the streets of Istanbul and Haifa it was easy to find small delis open even later (no such luck in Armadale)!

Also, being in India, and witnessing the daily lives of hardship and suffering lived by so many thousands has also made us reflect on the life of excess it is so easy to lead here. Maybe changing spending habits on an individual level doesn't affect the quality of life for others the world over, but we will certainly start looking at our purchases more carefully from now on.

Anyway, here are some more marketplace photos (just from India) to tide you over until we have a chance to fill in the gaps from Israel and Turkey. Check out our friends' blog, http://allanmuna.blogspot.com/, for pictures of the markets that we never quite made it to in Haifa and also of their recent trip, like us, to Turkey (some of you will remember Allan - he was the celebrant at our wedding and has recently moved to Haifa with his wife, Muna).

Fruit stall in Ernakulam, Kochi

Another vegetable stall owner keen to pose with the towering Aussie in Ernakulam!

Quality control

Sweets, sweets and more sweets...

...makes it a very hard choice for Christian!

Chillies anyone?

Lentils, pulses, garlic and pasta-type things on display in Ernakulam

Shopping for sarees in New Delhi

Christmas decorations, Indian style!

Remembering Kochi

Lorraine:
Years ago I faintly remember travelling to Kochi (Cochin) with my family as a young girl. My memories were pleasant ones...mainly of sipping fresh pineapple juice by the beach and taking a cruise along the river at sunset. My anticipation was great. The Lonely Planet guide also painted a picture-perfect scene...winding alleys, spice markets, Chinese cantilevered fishing nets gracing the shoreline...

Shanks, Christian & Astrid talking to one of the fishermen who operates the Chinese fishing nets at Fort Cochin

And then we arrived, and the realisation struck hard and fast that all the other Western tourists in Southern India must have been thinking the exact same thing as us! The roads leading to our chosen hotel were literally overflowing with tourists - something that we neither anticipated nor were prepared for.

One of the joys for us as tourists (or 'travellers' as Shanks prefers to describe himself), is that as much as we enjoy looking at the locals, they also enjoy looking at us! We are as curious to them as they may be to us! So we have enjoyed being considered something of an oddment and being asked various questions - the most common one is "Which country you are coming from sir/madam?", to which we reply, and then the mandatory association is made to various members of the Australian cricket team! We have enjoyed chatting with the locals, eating at tiny little restaurants tucked away in side alleys where the entire restaurant grinds to a halt as they gaze upon this hapless bunch of foreigners trying to master the art of eating food only with the right hand and work out the correct ways of doing things (often to be met with a shake of the head or a smile). So in a way, there is a little bit of give-and-take - there is enjoyment and fun on both sides.

Not so in Kochi. Or to be more exact, Fort Cochi, a peninsula, away from mainland Ernakulam. Here, tourists are a commodity, not a curiosity. Here, Western tourists seem to outnumber the local population by 4:1. It is not altogether unexpected that where large groups of tourists gather, they tend to associate predominantly with one another and so slowly the restaurants and businesses start to cater for Western tastes and culture, and so slowly the real experience of India is obliterated. Going out for dinner the first night was the first time that when we placed our order the waiter politely enquired "No spice?" to which he was met with four equally aghast faces as we all tried to signal "NO! Lots of spice - Indian style not Western style"!

On the bright side, Kochi was our first experience of traditional classical Indian music and the Kathakali music/theatre/dance phenomenon. Although the shows attracted a wholly-tourist crowd, the evening was well worth it. We particularly enjoyed one evening concert featuring flute and two traditional Indian drums (which names we have now forgotten). The performances of the three musicians as they played together were nothing but superb and their mastery of their instruments was enough to send our senses soaring.

On our second day, Shanks and I headed away from Tourist-ville over to the mainland on a ferry. There we engaged in one of our favourite activities - visiting the maze of markets that every Indian town or village can lay claim to. The scenes in these markets are always so bright and colourful that I did away with my embarassment and whipped out my camera to take a few photos. This was what many stall-holders were waiting for as they eagerly asked for us to take pictures of them, and better still, pictures of them with the tall Westerner accompanying me! Shanks and Christian are big hits wherever they go...they even managed a game of cricket with some lads in one of the playing fields in Fort Cochin...I just hope they did Australia proud!

Some on field action from the Aussie contingent in Fort Cochin!