We had heard about the Chinese Fishing nets of Cochin but hadn’t really paid much attention to them.

But as we sailed into the port we saw them on either side of the river

Definitely worth a look, we thought

We have taken our lives in our hands and rented a Tuk-tuk for the day. We actually contacted a Tuk-tuk company before we left home and arranged to have a Tuk-tuk with a driver who spoke english meet us at the ship. It was going to cost us the grand amount of $40 for 6 hours, so we had little faith that any of this would happen.

But as we disembarked, there he was

The Tuk-tuk was a little old, and a little worse for wear, but then so am I. It was also smaller than me, which made getting in and out of it problematical. I could never quite work out whether it was easier to climb in head first and hope the rest of my body would follow, or stick my bum in first and fall in backwards. Neither way could be achieved with my usual grace, and certainly didn’t show me at my best. I noticed the driver would stand and watch with a large smile on his face, getting ready to give me a push if needed, a bit like herding cows into a truck.

Gordon of course managed to do it with ease. He can be so annoying.

Once inside it was reasonably comfortable as long as I didn’t want to see out, which of course I did. This meant I spent most the journey scooting down in the seat and then doubling over and putting my head out of the door. Well actually there isn’t a door, just a rather small gap where it would be nice if there was a door. Definitely not the ideal vehicle for a sightseeing tour, but it was an adventure. And for $40 I guess you can’t expect a door.

I told the driver that the first stop was to be the Chinese fishing nets

As we approached it was hard to make out what was happening. Giant nets were hanging in mid air like sails .

But once at the waters edge we could see how each single net was suspended over the river from giant bamboo poles precariously balanced on the end of equally precarious jetties

The entire structure, the poles and the nets, could then be lowered into the water by several rather strong looking men with ropes and a system of weights and pulleys.

One of the huge nets was already sitting deep in the water and I could see the ropes used for pulling the net up and the huge rocks attached to other ropes that served as the counter weights.

Pulling the net out of the water was clearly a strenuous job.

Just as I realised that , the owner of the net came over. He was a large man in his forties or fifties with jet black hair and silver grey roots. wearing jeans slung low over his hips so that they sat below his pot belly. His belly jiggled as he walked. Not a good look. He asked us of we would like to help pull the nets out of the water.

Gordon gave him a look that left little doubt as to his thoughts.

But the owner was not as used to Gordon’s looks as I am, and persisted. He even offered to film the process with my phone, so I said yes, and Gordon said no at virtually the same time. There was a short and friendly discussion between the two of us. The owner listened and then turned to the Tuk-tuk driver for help. He just shrugged his shoulders. Finally Gordon capitulated and we took to the ropes. (Unfortunately we haven’t been able to attach the video to this blog – so you will have to make do with a still, which is rather poor)

If the photo was better you could see the strain on my face as I struggled to pull the structure out of the water, while Gordon just posed and looked pretty with the rope in his hands and did nothing. I should have listened to Gordon (it is not often I say that). It was hard work.

At the end we were told to hurry to the end of the pier to see what we had caught. The huge net contained one very small fish which was promptly thrown back in the water.

We were obviously not born to be Chinese fisherman, something for which I am eternally grateful. At this point the owner made his pitch, cap in hand, telling us this one fishing net had to support 6 families and it was so difficult to make ends meet. We, or rather I, did all the work and he want US to give HIM money. That is not the American way!

Now dear readers, we are seasoned travelers and yet we were stupid enough not to see this coming. Our Tuk-tuk driver had told us that the average fisherman makes about $25 a month, so that should have been a clue. We had little money on us but I handed him a $5 bill, almost a weeks wages. He locked at it as if it was an insult. I have a wife and three children he said, putting on his most desperate face. If it wasn’t for the fact that he weighed well over 200 pounds I might have felt sorry for him. He was definitely not starving.

I asked him how he managed when he only caught one tiny fish today. He explained that the monsoon season was when they caught fish, the rest of the year there were very few fish.

This was not the monsoon season

He was fishing for tourists, not fish.

It was a disappointing catch.