Our first full day in Tranquebar was dedicated to exploring Dansborg Fort. Here we are, ready for adventure ...
Since we had all the time in the world (a lovely feeling, by the way) we wandered around the village square and beach for a while first. This is the Bungalow on the Beach from the other side of the square.
And a view of the fort from the sea ...
And the old temple to the left ... Those red rocks (I think it might actually be brick) sticking up out of the waves were once part of the fort, but have been reclaimed by the Bay of Bengal. At one time there was a moat all around the fort.
Most of the Tranquebar beach is rocky, but there are a few sandy spots that we played in later.
Samuel and Daddy ...
Evie and Johnny standing on an old fort wall that's now a sort of jetty ...
Looking back up at the fort from the beach ... One thing I loved about Tranquebar was the village atmosphere. Despite the historic fort and hotel, it's far enough from the regular tourist path that village life just went on around us as usual. People were very friendly, too. Ashok drove us down and stayed in another hotel while we were there. I think he's a kindred spirit as far as exploring goes, because when he picked us up for the drive home he was full of information about the temples, churches, and organization of the village. He spent his time getting to know the locals in tea shops and at the beach. It sounds like he had a great time.
Dansborg Fort is small and not often visited, so much of it is open for climbing in and around -- our family's idea of paradise. The Danish settlement was small and had a rocky history, since the Danes didn't have the support of a significant presence along the Coromandel Coast (unlike the British and Dutch traders). Here's an interesting little history of the fort and settlement (and another here), and some information on the Danish East India Company. To pique your interest, I'll just mention that it involves smuggling and piracy (aka "privateering") and that the Danes and Portuguese mercenaries were a thorn in the side of the British for many years, though a small thorn.
Here are Evie and Johnny in part of the fort's storage area. The Danes traded mostly in spices and pepper, so that's probably what would have been stored here.
Samuel looking adorable ...
This caged area was probably meant for the storage of more valuable items ...
... but we had fun pretending it was a jail (a "whine" cellar?) ...
The Oscar goes to Evie for this look of pure despair ...
Johnny doesn't look like he minds the lock-up much ...
This was probably the 17th century method for mowing the lawn ...
... and this appears to be the 21st century method (she's using a machete) ...
The lower part of the fort was full of rooms within rooms and windows to peek through ...
Nicki: Doesn't Samuel look like James in this picture?
Here are the kids peering into the actual jail cell ...
... which was located down this dark tunnel ... I'd say that's much worse than a few iron bars out in the daylight.
John and the kids left no doorway unexplored ...
Peeking down the huge well in the center of the courtyard ...
If there's no rope, we climb the stairs (even when they lead to nowhere) ... I should just add that sometimes John climbs them even if there is a rope.
Watching the waves from the fort's top level ... Check out the state of that cannon, by the way. It looks like it's melted!
We saw lots of women collecting shells and other things along the shore, to sell, I think. The shells here were just amazing -- big, colorful and in great condition. John almost caught some pieces of old blue and white ceramic, but the surf pulled them away before he could get ahold of them. We saw this woman from the top of the fort. She's collecting shells behind what was once a fort wall, maybe part of the moat?
There's a little museum in the fort with artifacts from the old settlement. There was a ton of ceramic ware, some European and some Chinese. Mom: You would have loved it!
Neighbors ...
Samuel and Evie hunting butterflies along the top of the fort's wall ...
Some specimens ...
Coming up: The little temple on the shore ...
Since we had all the time in the world (a lovely feeling, by the way) we wandered around the village square and beach for a while first. This is the Bungalow on the Beach from the other side of the square.
And a view of the fort from the sea ...
And the old temple to the left ... Those red rocks (I think it might actually be brick) sticking up out of the waves were once part of the fort, but have been reclaimed by the Bay of Bengal. At one time there was a moat all around the fort.
Most of the Tranquebar beach is rocky, but there are a few sandy spots that we played in later.
Samuel and Daddy ...
Evie and Johnny standing on an old fort wall that's now a sort of jetty ...
Looking back up at the fort from the beach ... One thing I loved about Tranquebar was the village atmosphere. Despite the historic fort and hotel, it's far enough from the regular tourist path that village life just went on around us as usual. People were very friendly, too. Ashok drove us down and stayed in another hotel while we were there. I think he's a kindred spirit as far as exploring goes, because when he picked us up for the drive home he was full of information about the temples, churches, and organization of the village. He spent his time getting to know the locals in tea shops and at the beach. It sounds like he had a great time.
Dansborg Fort is small and not often visited, so much of it is open for climbing in and around -- our family's idea of paradise. The Danish settlement was small and had a rocky history, since the Danes didn't have the support of a significant presence along the Coromandel Coast (unlike the British and Dutch traders). Here's an interesting little history of the fort and settlement (and another here), and some information on the Danish East India Company. To pique your interest, I'll just mention that it involves smuggling and piracy (aka "privateering") and that the Danes and Portuguese mercenaries were a thorn in the side of the British for many years, though a small thorn.
Here are Evie and Johnny in part of the fort's storage area. The Danes traded mostly in spices and pepper, so that's probably what would have been stored here.
Samuel looking adorable ...
This caged area was probably meant for the storage of more valuable items ...
... but we had fun pretending it was a jail (a "whine" cellar?) ...
The Oscar goes to Evie for this look of pure despair ...
Johnny doesn't look like he minds the lock-up much ...
This was probably the 17th century method for mowing the lawn ...
... and this appears to be the 21st century method (she's using a machete) ...
The lower part of the fort was full of rooms within rooms and windows to peek through ...
Nicki: Doesn't Samuel look like James in this picture?
Here are the kids peering into the actual jail cell ...
... which was located down this dark tunnel ... I'd say that's much worse than a few iron bars out in the daylight.
John and the kids left no doorway unexplored ...
Peeking down the huge well in the center of the courtyard ...
If there's no rope, we climb the stairs (even when they lead to nowhere) ... I should just add that sometimes John climbs them even if there is a rope.
Watching the waves from the fort's top level ... Check out the state of that cannon, by the way. It looks like it's melted!
We saw lots of women collecting shells and other things along the shore, to sell, I think. The shells here were just amazing -- big, colorful and in great condition. John almost caught some pieces of old blue and white ceramic, but the surf pulled them away before he could get ahold of them. We saw this woman from the top of the fort. She's collecting shells behind what was once a fort wall, maybe part of the moat?
There's a little museum in the fort with artifacts from the old settlement. There was a ton of ceramic ware, some European and some Chinese. Mom: You would have loved it!
Neighbors ...
Samuel and Evie hunting butterflies along the top of the fort's wall ...
Some specimens ...
Coming up: The little temple on the shore ...
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