Cochin - 28

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So pleased with this one, we are. Sprinted—well, okay, stumbled and huffed and panted and lumbered—along the bank to get to the spot where the fisherman would be in the ripples lit by the rising sun, found flat spot to place camera in lieu of tripod, got the shutter speed just right, and after five shots, he obligingly bent over to haul in his net just as the shutter opened. All at 10x zoom. *chortle, chortle*

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These chaps paused as they were about to pass each other and stopped to chat. P'raps they were talking about where the fish were biting. Or maybe it was about the evening's toddy-drinking plans.

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No, we didn't stay up all night to take these shots. No, this is not the Invasion of the Body-Snatchers. We had actually gone to sleep before 10p.m., and were up before dawn! And was it worth it!

(This and the next 13 shots — 15 to 28 — were taken off the shore of Micheal's Land, part of the Kondo Syokai group.)

Ishmael, please*

I’m floating on my back, in a blood warm-sea. Land is a thin smudge on the horizon. There’s not a sound to be heard except the stray seagull, and the watery patpatpat of the swell against my body. A voice yells my name. I raise an ear out of the water; Kedar, leaning over the rail of the Rosa, is demanding that I turn over and swim for the camera. Damn. Duty must be done. I flip over, and execute a few energetic freestyle strokes.

That's the first paragraph in a piece we wrote for Outlook Traveller's May edition. It will appear is now on Your cheque.. in due course.






Pictures by Kedar Bhat, who was the pro photographer on the trip, with his fancy-shmancy camera.

*Coffee's on us if you sniggered at the title within 5 seconds.

Cochin 14

The Mattencherry waterfront.

Cochin 13

Haven't a clue what building this is. And don't want to know.

Cochin 12

How to make sure you get credit for this construction: get your name painted in larger letters than those used for the name of the project.

Cochin 11

Cochin 10

Kind of, um, varied, this coastline, no?