Gone Fishin'

Chinese Fishing Nets

Today, we took a ferry ride over to Fort Cochin to walk around and see the sights.  The 20 minute ferry ride cost less than 5 Rs for two tickets.  Remember... 50 Rs is about $1.  I'm sure we'll go back over again...since it's so cheap and all.  This is broken up into two blog posts because I have lots of pictures! 

One of the neatest attractions that Fort Cochin is known for are Chinese Fishing Nets.  This form of fishing dates back to around the 1400s and require four men to operate.  They lower these large fishing nets into the water for a few minutes and bring them up. The fish are sold instantly to those on the shore.  While we were walking around, one of the men invited Kat and Peter to walk on one.  Jason and I noticed and quickly followed.  This man was so nice and was telling us all about the process.  They loved us taking pictures of their fishing net and even them.  Of course we tipped the guy.. it was fun and he was the only one that let us walk around on it. 

Jason, Peter, Mary and Kat

Modern fishing techniques have made the nets less profitable over the years so many places no longer use them.  The nets are used at high tide in the morning so we didn't get to see one in action, but there were a few men fishing with their own net.  This guy caught a few fish.....and an eel.  He flung it back into the ocean, but caught it again (unless it was a different one?).   

All along the walkway, anyone can buy fresh fish, prawns, lobster, octopus, crabs.. you name it, it's probably there.  Some even had flies.. but I guess that doesn't matter if you're grilling it anyway, right?

Before.

Instead of buying our own, we stopped for dinner at a local restaurant.  When ordering grilled fish.. you literally pick out with one you want.  That was pretty neat.  I had never done that before, but other people on the road had.  The fish I picked isn't the red snapper.. but it's one that's on top.   

After.

Jason's "after" prawns

Jason got these jumbo prawns - sorry the picture is blurry.  I hate posting blurry pictures, but the lighting was terrible in the restaurant and if my pale skin isn't enough to make me look like a tourist, I was also the one taking pictures at dinner.  Anyway, these prawns were huge.  What they considered small was still big....and they were tasty.  I'm sure we'll be making another trip across the water to Fort Cochin for seafood dinners.  Afterall, it was 0.107 of a dollar.