We are not untouchable

Unfortunately Maria had a stomach thing today and Jean although not as bad as Maria was not 100% so they both stayed back today while Tina and Gail made their way into Fort Cochin. Jean played nursemaid(and a fine one she was). First before we left we went to the pharmacy where for under $3 we got medication without a prescription for Maria.(who is on the mend now). Anyway, a quick overview of the day minus two... We visited a church where the Portuguese explorer Vasco DeGama was buried(but later taken back to Portugal) the church was built from mud, sand and egg whites! It's still standing! Then we visited the Chinese fishing nets which was a gift from the Chinese and they are still used today. We also saw a palace that had the most exquisite frescos of the story of the Raminyana(which is an ancient Sanskrit epic). We only got to see the Jewish temple from the outside because it closes in the middle of the day and our guide did not realize it would have been a priority. The area that it was in is called Jew town, but it's not considered derogatory. The Jews came there from Israel a long time ago and it was quite amazing the community they had there. Many years later they went back to Israel and gave the property to their friends. Anyway, after a bit of shopping (first we were given tea and treated like royalty as though we had deep pockets, and although the 500 year old ganesh statue was calling our name, and the cashmere carpet was divine on the feet) we bought much less lavish items We headed back to join the others. This evening Jean came with us to a kathakali dance performance. It was fantastic! We were only sorry Maria didn't come but she was resting up for our trip to Coconut Lagoon tomorrow. We may not have Internet for a few days as we don't know if it exists there and from there we will be on a houseboat for a night in the backwaters. So if you don't hear from us you know why! Namaste