We have arrived at our final stop on this tour, Cochin on the Arabian Sea.  It sounds so exotic and looks a little that way too.  There are Chinese fishing nets, called so because the method of fishing comes from the Chinese not because the Chinese are here fishing.  The nets are strung on several poles accessible from the shore and then lowered as two men weigh down two of the more upright poles by walking on them.

Leaving the houseboats we saw a fisher actually catching fish with a bow and arrow!  Unfortunately he was in sitting-and-watching mode by the time I retrieved my camera.

Cochin (or Kochi) is an interesting mix of Indian and European colonial.  We are staying in an historic hotel that is lovely, just steps from the water.  There have been two waves of Jews arriving in Kerala.  One dates back to the days of King Solomon (!) and the other from about 1600.  We toured an historic synagogue and viewed the Jewish Cemetery.  It is nothing like the Jewish Cemetery in Prague, thank heavens, and more resembles cemeteries in New Orleans.

To cheer us up following the Cemetery we went shopping!  What else will work the magic of spending in an exotic country??  I of course did my part, continuing to view this trip as a way of contributing to the Indian economy.  I won’t say what I bought, other than an elephant to befriend my lonely cow.  (My children will get the reference.)

The one single thing I have not had steady access to while here is diet Coke.  Those who know me well will understand the enormity of that statement.

The only cloud on this trip was the death two days ago of one of our number.  Dale, the father in the father/son duo, passed away peacefully in his cabin on the houseboat.  He was 82.  This was a terrible shock to his son, of course, and a significant loss to our group.

I will always treasure the time I have spent with this wonderful group of people.