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Add caption Been there done that   Kochi – The Chinese fishing nets of Fort Kochi ‘ Cheena Vala’ as they are called in the native Malayalam are found across the harbor towns in China. Kochi once a trading port owes the import of Chinese fishing nets as a legacy of traders from the AD 1400 court of Kublai Khan, these enormous, spiderlike contraptions require at least four people to operate their counterweights at high tide.        While such nets are used throughout coastal   southern China   and   Indochina , in India they are found in Kochi   , where they have become a tourist attraction.   The Indian common name arises because they are unusual in India and different from usual fishing nets in India. With the advent of modern fishing techniques the Chinese fishing nets are not exactly profitable, but have been preserved as a tourist  attraction.    They are fixed land...

Been there ... Done that ... Jew town of Mattancherry  1170: When the traveler Benjamin of Tudela visited India, he reported that there were about a  thousand Jews in the south. 1686:   Moses Pereira de Paiva listed 465 Malabar Jews. 1781: The Dutch governor, A. Moens, recorded 422 families or about 2,000 persons. In 1948:  2,500 Jews were living on the Malabar Coast. 1953 : 2,400 emigrated to Israel, leaving behind only about 100 Paradesi Jews on the Malabar Coast. Amongst all the must see tourist destinations in Cochin is the ‘Pardaesi’ Synagogue . Paradesi in native Malayalam means the Foreigner.  The Synagogue which is the main tourist destination is a small place of Jewish worship. The bylanes that approach the Jewish synagogue are strewn with Antique shops selling tourist souvenirs  and real as well as fake Antique Trinkets, furniture and bric a brac from the era gone by . They are all not necessarily genuine, but i...

Been there, Done that  Irish whiskey taster  Jameson’s Distillery, Bow Street, Dublin If you thought whisky was always Scotch, the Irish would be really offended. And therefore, when in Dublin they make a song and dance about educating you on the subtle nuances of whiskey. One of the main attractions in Dublin is the Jameson’s Whiskey Distillery on Bow Street.  A 3 hour tour on the still functional distillery is a tourist attraction, since they offer free whisky tasting as part of their entrance fee. Essentially according to them the world of Whiskey is divided as Irish whiskey and the insignificant non-Irish types of whisky.  Ireland has had a history of whisky making.  Much before Guinness the Beer usurped their status of a whiskey drinking nation. Irish are great storytellers and they weave an educative and interesting story which they call‘from the grain to the glasses about the process and the finesse involved ...

 Been there ... Done that  Sniffed out in Hong Kong I must confess I was adequately warned about it.  Some people I know had, had their share of misadventures with it.  In fact, that is what  raised my curiosity. I had to experience it.   You live life only once and I certainly did not want to die ignorant.   I looked up google maps,  made note of directions and walked a couple of miles into alleyways that must have carried years and years of  history and commerce with it.   It was all intriguing and fascinating.  To the eyes the place felt like Bombay for its sheer energy and enterprise.  To the body the place felt like Chennai  for its heat and humidity . To the heart the place felt foreign at the same time it felt like home.  Rich, fertile, green mountains that nurtured thousands of species of animals and plants stood in stark contrast to the sprawling...