Auto Rickshaw – One of the delights of traveling in India – cheap, practical and throws you right into the sights, sounds, and smells of the street. This is a short extract from a ride in Kochi, Kerala with the added color commentary from our driver. 

Kerala is the heart of spice growing in India and this is the appropriately named Bazaar Road, its main trading hub. The video cannot, of course, transmit the effect of seeming to ride straight through the ingredients of garam masala with the amazing distinct smells of cardamon, cloves, cinnamon, and pepper with hints of diesel and garbage.

Almost everybody here is wearing traditional outfits which was typical all over Kerala. We did not see one woman that was not dressed in sari or tunic and leggings, and at least half the men wore the lungi; the cotton skirt worn in different ways all over the Arabian peninsula and South Asia that Wikipedia describes as “particularly popular in regions where the heat and humidity create an unpleasant climate for trousers.” Amen to that. 

Our driver here points out a tiny church. In Kerala there are about equal numbers of Muslims, HIndus, and Catholics who seem to get on without any strife. There is also a small Jewish community that dates back to the 12th century but, after Partition in India, the Jewish families almost all upped and left for Israel.