Ft.Cochin, last day

Hi, This is so typical of travel. When I ued to go a lot to Mexico, my driver or someone else would often say "Oh, there was a Maria here from Canada just last week. Do you know her - she was from Canada too." Yesterday one Indian said that to me about some woman who had been here - and why not, there is a 1/36million chance I might know her. The reverse of that is a young man I heard in a cafe saying he telephoned his mother back home and she said "I read there was a train crash in India, are you OK?"
This morning is sunny and not too hot yet, but by noon the big clouds will come in and we will have heavy rains. They are so powerful that several times a day, after the storms, there is water everywhere.
Tourism is way down here - 40-50% and the fancy, expensive hotels (all over $200 night) are empty. I had a very nice dinner at a four month old restaurant owned by an Errol Flynn lookalike - I couldn't help but smile a lot as he looked as tho he stepped right out of some 40's or 50's film set. He is young and smart and said that Indian tourism had been doing well until it dropped off a cliff and things have been tough here -and everywhere in India. The young are still travelling, altho they spend a lot less than working older adults. The newspaper here was lamenting that Lonely Planet had changed its rating of Kerala and Cochin from reasonable to expensive. They feel it will damage tourism a lot.
I have to say that the travelling population I have met this trip is exceptional. I know you hear a lot of negative things in the u.s. hypermedia anxious for sensational news, but I never, ever meet or see or hear of other travellers with interest other then nature, history, people etc. Being a man alone, years ago offers would often come across the street, but no more - but I might have heard of the more disreputable levels because of that - but I never. Ok there were always at least three women in front of the Starbucks in Bkk., and one day there were 10 in a line. Not one of them will ever see the south side of 30 years again, and only a U.S. evangelist or talk show host, could turn them into young girls. I meet a lot of Germans here and get to struggle along with a my degenerating German. They take travel seriously - as you would expect.
In the morning, i fly to Dubai for a few days and on Monday the 16th, I board an Emirates A380-200 for a 13 hours flight to Old Crusty arriving there late afternoon.
I hate to stop this trip, but one does tire of eating other's food, sleeping in other's beds, petting other's cats, and admiring other's kid goats - sorry I forgot I don't have a goat. One German said to me that the A380 will be interesting on take-off and landing just to see if it can actually do both and inbetween will be uninteresting. Leave it to a Deustcher to get it said right.
Kevin