Start: Day 0
Kochi was our start point and our end point. We agreed to meet at Kochi
as it is well connected to the rest of the world and she could fly in and out
of Kochi easily. I had lived in
Ernakulam (the town near to Kochi), but had never been to the islands. I have
always wanted to go there, especially the Chinese fishing nets at Fort Kochi.
The nets were gifted by the Chinese king to the King of Kochi and in olden
times there were more than 100 of them. Now only a few in working conditions
exist along the lake side. But still it is the official icon of Kochi.
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Fort Kochi |
Fort Kochi has a couple of churches built by the Portuguese, including
the Santacruz Basilica (the first European church built in Asia) and St.
Francis Church (where Vasco Da Gama was buried), and beautiful old colonial style buildings. It
is really nice to walk around, hoping in and out of the various souvenir shops,
art galleries and heritage complexes, cafes and restaurant. Being a touristic
place, Kochi is not really cheap. But it is still possible to get accommodation
of your budget as the place has a lot of home stays in addition to the usual
hotels.
I reached there one day in advance. We had a booking at Kimansion Inn.
It is a 250 year old building, very spacious rooms and good service. It is
about 1.5 kms from the tourist info point, but close to the river in a very
quiet corner, with enough places to eat. The location was very beautiful and I
liked the place.
Day 1:
From Kochi one gets non-stop A/C buses to the international airport and
it takes an hour to reach there. I think it is the best way to go to the
airport as it is cheap, comfortable and not to worry about the mad traffic
outside. I took it in the morning to receive my friend Gela from the
airport. And we took the same to come
back to Kochi.
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Vembanad lake |
I think she liked the place, an ideal slow start to get used to the
chaos. We didn’t do much on that day. Had our breakfast and lunch and we walked
around the lake front in the evening watching the sunset and the fisherman
selling fresh fish. One can buy the fish
directly there and ask one of the restaurants to cook it according to your
wish. We went to the tourist info at the boat stop and booked for the backwater
trip next day.
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Sunset at Fort Kochi |
The boat trip along the backwaters was not really in Kochi, but around a place called Vaikom which is about an hour ride from Fort Kochi.
Day 2:
The travel agent picked us up from hour hotel in the morning after
breakfast. There were 3 other people, a couple from Germany and a guy from
England who was also an amateur film maker. He was making a documentary about
the places during the monsoon if I remember correctly. The drive took about an
hour to reach our starting place which is along the Movattupuzha River, one of
the small canals leading to the Vembanad Lake. Our boat was a traditional
‘kettuvallam’ refurbished in the form of a small house boat. In olden times the
kettuvallams were used for transporting rice through the backwaters which were
one of the major transport systems in Kerala. The backwaters wind up through
the beautiful paddy fields and villages and extend from the south of Kerala to
the central regions. Once the road and rail transports become prominent, the
water transport reduced and the use of kettuvallams almost completely stopped.
Then someone came up with the brilliant idea of converting the old kettuvallams
into houseboats for tourist. Tourism being one of the major industries in
Kerala accepted this novel idea with both hands. A journey through the
beautiful backwaters winding through scenic paddy fields and villages while
enjoying all the comforts of a hotel and pampered with the traditional culinary
of Kerala, the tourists loved the idea. So backwater tourism became a highlight
of any trip to the God’s Own Country – Kerala. Though the old villages and the
paddy fields are fast vanishing, a trip through the backwater still has its
charms, even for someone like me who is born and brought up in Kerala.
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Backwaters |
Our boat was not motorised and so we moved at a slow speed enjoying the
wind and the scenery around. Sometimes the boat went through very narrow
tributaries of the river which is wide enough only for one boat. All the way
the guide informed us about the different parts, a little bit about the history
and the region. We stopped on the way to a women selling water from the tender
coconut. It is one my favourite drinks and at any time I prefer it over any
kind of soft drinks. It’s the first time Gela had it and she liked it.
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On the way, we stopped at a village where the coir and its products are
made. They also had a small spice garden. The coir is made from the dried husk
of coconut. And it has been one of the
traditional industries in Kerala. The guide explained how all the contents of
the coconut – the husk, the shell, the flesh, the water - are completely used
for different purposed in Kerala. All of them are environment friendly. The old coir products can be thrown out and
it is completely biodegradable. The flesh and the water of the ripe coconut are
used as an ingredient in Kerala dishes. The shell is used for cooking. But
unfortunately the industry is in a decline because of the high farm and labour
costs and the availability of cheap plastic items, though it is not environment
friendly.
Our next stop was in a house where we had a traditional Kerala lunch.
Nothing new for me, but for all others who got a first-hand impression of how
spicy the food can become. After lunch we were back in the river and then to
the mighty Vembanad Lake which is largest lake in Kerala, and it is also the
longest. The boat snailed though the strong currents of the
lake before entering one of the tributary rivers and back to the boat stop
where we started. The agent dropped us back to Fort Kochi around evening
time. We strolled around a little bit
had our dinner and went back to the hotel. A day well spend I think.
Day 3:
After breakfast we left Fort Kochi by bus to the royal Hill Palace at Thripunthra.
It was a long drive partly through the morning crowd in the city. But we were
not in a hurry. And it was also an opportunity for Gela to experience the local
life. The bus that we took from Fort Kochi was a local one with people hopping
in and out at every km. The crowd in the bus varied from heavily crowded to
sparsely crowded as the it moved along.
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Hill Palace |
Thripunitra is the erstwhile capital of the kingdom of Kochi. The huge palace
in the middle of a beautifully maintained garden was in a bad shape. I remember
seeing it in one of the Malayalam movies about 20 years back. The palace in its
traditional Kerala architecture looked majestic. The old charms are still
there, but I wished they maintained it well. As with many old architectural
beauties in India, the funding they get for maintenance is very poor and most
often inexperienced and untrained people do the day to day maintenance. There
was a museum which displayed the crown, the jewels, paintings, artefacts from
old times.
From the palace we took
a bus to the jetty and then a boat to the Dutch palace in Mattanchery. When compared to Tripunithra palace the Dutch
palace was really well maintained. It was gifte by the Portuguese to the
Maharaja of Kochi. The coronations of
Kochi Maharajas are always held here. Though much smaller in size, the museum
inside had really beautiful murals and wall paintings. We roamed around and
then walked along the streets. It is proper touristic place with lots of shops
on both sides selling handicrafts, clothes, jewellery at exorbitant prices. We
decided to have a drink in one of the silent cafeteria on the lake side. It was
a part of a big antique shop and the best part of it was the location. The
worst part of it was the price. I think it was priced too expensive even for a
foreigner. I really hate this greed in humans, and unfortunately I experienced
it quite often in India. The only place in India I experienced the opposite was
in Ladakh. I really believe that the Buddhist culture has a big role in that.
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Kathakali |
We took a boat back to Fort Kochi and then went to watch a Kathakali
performance. It is one of the traditional art forms of Kerala and the masks
used by the dancers always forms part of the tourism promotion videos of India.
In olden times the performance last throughout the night and is usually
performed at temple festivals. Now a days the length has been trimmed down to
match the busy lifestyles. The stories told in them are usually taken from the
epics of Mahabharata. To understand the mudras one usually have to know the
stories. So the organisers usually give a leaflet at the beginning explaining
the story. Even after knowing the story it is difficult to understand the
performance. But watching a Kathakali performance is one of the must do
activities in any tourist itinerary in Kerala. The elaborate costumes, the
settings and musical background is eye catching and special even if we do not understand each part
of the play. I have watched Kathakali only few times in my whole life. So I
found it nice to watch it there along with Gela.
Day 4:
We took the early morning boat to Mattanchery again today. Mattancherry is a former trading city. The destination was the Jewish synagogue and Jew street which was constructed in 1500 by the Jewish refugees from Jerusalem during the Crusades. The synagogue has a very unique architecture, and old, and includes some manuscripts from the old times. A place to visit if you are interested in the history.
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Jewish Street |
We roamed around the Jewish street and visited some
interesting antique shops. But as expected everything overpriced, clearly aimed at foreigners. Afterwards we took a bus
to visit the Bolgatty palace, which is situated in the Bolgatty island. It is the
island where the British established a Royal Residency. But it was time wasted
as it was not open to visitors! The palace is now a 5 star hotel and so you
have to book a room in the hotel to visit this historical building. From there
we took a rickshaw to Marine Drive. We just sat on the lakeshore, chatting,
enjoying the view and relaxing. Gela had some entertainment from local palm
reader. Since he didn’t speak any English it became my task to translate
whatever he nonsense he told in Malayalam to English. I don’t know how of what
he said he believed, but she was having a lot of fun. Anyway it was good to see
her laugh and relax inspite of paying him an exorbitant tip in the end against
my liking. It was a good time. We took the ferry back to Fort Kochi. We spent some
more time at the river side watching a beautiful sunset behind the Chinese
nets. It felt really good to be away from the mad crowd and the traffic and
just enjoy the simple things in life.
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Chinese nets, Fort Kochi |