Although India seems vast the land here in Cochin, or at least the street we are on, is precious. Very little is allotted for human traffic much less passage of automobiles, motorcycles, tuk tuks, trucks, and everything else you can imagine. This area or street is also used for parking. Sometimes it is difficult to figure out which vehicle is parked and which is moving. The secret of course is the moving vehicle is blowing its horn. Mingle all this with goats, dogs, and humans and you have an idea of what it is like. Tolerances are much closer here. Riding in a tuk tuk is an adventure unto itself. I’m sure if we continue we will eventually be involved in the negotiations between the tuk tuk driver and his victim. They come so close to pedestrians their tuk tuk luck cannot continue.

Everywhere you cast your eyes there is something of interest. Most buildings are on the verge of collapse. The roofing tile is simply defying gravity by staying aloft. I wonder how much it will hurt when one are more falls on one of our heads. There seems to be a great deal of grain distributors on Bazar Road near the dock where Dora Mac is berthed. These are small operations but the trucks that drop off the bags of grain are huge. I know a driver must grimace when he sees Bazar Road on his delivery sheet. It is so difficult that the trucks I have seen carry their own traffic organizer. He walks along in front of the truck motioning traffic to the right or left depending on the situation. He also guides the driver as there are only inches to spare on either side. I suspect more than once he has had to track down a parked car’s driver to encourage him to get on his way.

There never seems to be a sense of urgency. I suppose when the day ends the workers have the same amount in their pockets whether they get anything done or not. That’s the way it looks anyway. The waiters in the restaurant where we have eaten three times still doesn’t get it that I want a cold beer in my hand five minutes after arrival, and that Ruth wants a club soda with lemon. This is not a busy restaurant as we have never seen more than a dozen patrons at once. The waiter’s favorite past time is standing around chatting with other waiters.

I can’t make derogatory remarks about the food though. It is wonderful and cheap. Today I had a beer; the beers here are the same size as a wine bottle, 650 ML. I had a rice dish with chicken. Ruth had her club soda and vegetable tempura and the bill was less than $7.00 USD.

The tuk tuks are also cheap. One will buzz you halfway across the island for 60 Rupee, about $1.30 USD. I’d love to have one back home but of course being the sides are open, it would be for fair weather only. If Ruth has not posted any pictures yet I’m sure she will.

We are still exploring and I’m sure there will be a barber shop in our future and maybe a longer car for hire ride.