In a continuation of our bid to see as much of India as we can in our time here, we spent last weekend in Kerala. Phil needed to travel there for work so arrived a day earlier than me and left a day later, leaving time for a relaxing weekend between his work commitments.
In short, I LOVE Kerala. In the middle of its monsoons (Kerala has two, one has just finished, the other about to start), it is lush, green and beautiful. In the south of India, the climate is tropical and landscape covered with palm trees (coconuts are an important commodity) and backwaters, and all with much less litter than we've seen elsewhere in India. The way of life is in stark contrast to Mumbai; laid-back and relaxed with no-one in a rush to get anywhere. It is the perfect place for a weekend (or longer) away.
I took Friday off work (Phil arrived in Kerala on Thursday) and caught a lunchtime flight from Mumbai which only had about 20 people on it. This was great, I had a whole area of the plane to myself, and we landed at Cochin airport on time where I travelled by taxi to our destination, Fort Kochi. Fort Kochi is 40kms from the airport by road although this distance can be cut down considerably by making use of the car ferries joining different parts of the coast. I told the taxi driver that I was happy to go on a ferry and it was all rather fun. We were slightly delayed when the ferry driver went on a tea break; but it was all worth it to see the amazing number of cars, motorbikes and people that could be crammed onto a small ferry. It was quite astonishing.
I arrived our hotel, the Brunton Boatyard Hotel, shortly after 1700. The hotel is only 14 years old and commands a beautiful position of the seafront of the old fort. It was restructured from a former shipyard and designed to look like an old heritage property incorporating lots of original features. This included large "punkhas" hanging from the ceiling of the reception area and colonial style wooden furniture in the rooms. A highlight was the tea chest in our rooms which included loads of different types of tea. A tea chest has gone on my "to buy" list!
The hotel ran a complimentary "Sunset Cruise" around the harbour at 1730 which ended up being a private trip for me as no-one else was there! Kochi is interesting and with many attractive features (Chinese fishing nets, lots of litle colourful boats) but, as with a lot of India, the view is somewhat spoilt by large industrial monoliths plonked in the middle of what would otherwise be a lovely view. Ho hum. Anyway, the trip was lovely and sunset well worth watching. Phil arrived at the hotel shortly before 9 so we enjoyed the food in the hotel restaurant (including a lovely coconut version of creme caramel, highly recommended).
Fort Kochi is a historical town with British, Dutch, Portuguese and Indian influences. After a tip-top breakfast in the hotel (which kept us going over lunch too), we spent Saturday morning wondering around seeing the sites, including the original buriel place of Vasco da Gama. We hired an autorickshaw driver to take us round the town which was a good move in the heat of the day. He asked for an embarrassingly low 50 rupees per hour for his services (we paid him more than this), and did a good job of taking us to the key sites and providing some history and context. A highlight for me was visiting the ginger warehouse and spice market, the aromas were incredible, and seeing the old Chinese fishing nets (no longer used in China to my knowledge).
After tea and cake in a lovely cafe called Teapot, we spent the afternoon cooling off in the hotel's swimming pool and then visited a local bar overlooking the harbour to have a beer and watch the sunset. This was fairly rowdy but authentic, and once the sun had gone down, we went round the corner for a feast of Kerala fish curry and coconut prawns at a local restaurant.
On Sunday, we booked a half day houseboat trip along the backwaters close to Kochi. Kerala is famous for its houseboats and its possible to hire these to travel for a week or more along the meandering small rivers and lagoons for which Kerala is famous. We were keen to have a short trip to get a feel for whether we would go on a longer houseboat holiday in the future.
The houseboat was fun and very relaxing though a little bizarre....our group had only four people (there were 16 seats on the boat) and we had a guide although he was strange to say the least and didn't tell us anything whilst on the boat throughout the trip. It didn't really matter and we did visit a coconut farm and rope weaving centre, so my coconut knowledge has increased! Travelling along the backwaters is magical, though I think I'd want a more luxurious boat if I was staying on it for any period of time. It would be a good thing to do with a group of friends.
I am though aware that the popularity of these trips is putting pressure on the environment. One of the best things about our boat is that it was all manpowered (like a Oxford-Cambridge combo punt, with one person at the front and one at the back) rather than motored so at least it was good for the environment in that respect.
After a late lunch, I went back to the airport to travel to Mumbai whilst Phil stayed for work on the Monday. We will be coming back to Kerala soon!
In short, I LOVE Kerala. In the middle of its monsoons (Kerala has two, one has just finished, the other about to start), it is lush, green and beautiful. In the south of India, the climate is tropical and landscape covered with palm trees (coconuts are an important commodity) and backwaters, and all with much less litter than we've seen elsewhere in India. The way of life is in stark contrast to Mumbai; laid-back and relaxed with no-one in a rush to get anywhere. It is the perfect place for a weekend (or longer) away.
I took Friday off work (Phil arrived in Kerala on Thursday) and caught a lunchtime flight from Mumbai which only had about 20 people on it. This was great, I had a whole area of the plane to myself, and we landed at Cochin airport on time where I travelled by taxi to our destination, Fort Kochi. Fort Kochi is 40kms from the airport by road although this distance can be cut down considerably by making use of the car ferries joining different parts of the coast. I told the taxi driver that I was happy to go on a ferry and it was all rather fun. We were slightly delayed when the ferry driver went on a tea break; but it was all worth it to see the amazing number of cars, motorbikes and people that could be crammed onto a small ferry. It was quite astonishing.
Car ferry - Typical arrangement is two rows of cars then as many motorbikes as you can cram into the remaining space.
I arrived our hotel, the Brunton Boatyard Hotel, shortly after 1700. The hotel is only 14 years old and commands a beautiful position of the seafront of the old fort. It was restructured from a former shipyard and designed to look like an old heritage property incorporating lots of original features. This included large "punkhas" hanging from the ceiling of the reception area and colonial style wooden furniture in the rooms. A highlight was the tea chest in our rooms which included loads of different types of tea. A tea chest has gone on my "to buy" list!
Colonial-style furniture in our bedroom
Tea
The hotel ran a complimentary "Sunset Cruise" around the harbour at 1730 which ended up being a private trip for me as no-one else was there! Kochi is interesting and with many attractive features (Chinese fishing nets, lots of litle colourful boats) but, as with a lot of India, the view is somewhat spoilt by large industrial monoliths plonked in the middle of what would otherwise be a lovely view. Ho hum. Anyway, the trip was lovely and sunset well worth watching. Phil arrived at the hotel shortly before 9 so we enjoyed the food in the hotel restaurant (including a lovely coconut version of creme caramel, highly recommended).
Men pulling the fishing nets in at the end of the day
Sunset looking over the Chinese fishing nets
Fort Kochi is a historical town with British, Dutch, Portuguese and Indian influences. After a tip-top breakfast in the hotel (which kept us going over lunch too), we spent Saturday morning wondering around seeing the sites, including the original buriel place of Vasco da Gama. We hired an autorickshaw driver to take us round the town which was a good move in the heat of the day. He asked for an embarrassingly low 50 rupees per hour for his services (we paid him more than this), and did a good job of taking us to the key sites and providing some history and context. A highlight for me was visiting the ginger warehouse and spice market, the aromas were incredible, and seeing the old Chinese fishing nets (no longer used in China to my knowledge).
Brekkie
Chinese fishing net - a top attraction in Kochi
Santa Cruz Basilica
Jain temple, complete with many pigeons and a pigeon feeding ceremony
Ginger being dried out in the sun
Entrance to the spice market. We've bought some home with us!
More spices
St Francis Xavier
After tea and cake in a lovely cafe called Teapot, we spent the afternoon cooling off in the hotel's swimming pool and then visited a local bar overlooking the harbour to have a beer and watch the sunset. This was fairly rowdy but authentic, and once the sun had gone down, we went round the corner for a feast of Kerala fish curry and coconut prawns at a local restaurant.
Teapots in Teapot
A dip in the pool
On Sunday, we booked a half day houseboat trip along the backwaters close to Kochi. Kerala is famous for its houseboats and its possible to hire these to travel for a week or more along the meandering small rivers and lagoons for which Kerala is famous. We were keen to have a short trip to get a feel for whether we would go on a longer houseboat holiday in the future.
Our transport for the morning
The houseboat was fun and very relaxing though a little bizarre....our group had only four people (there were 16 seats on the boat) and we had a guide although he was strange to say the least and didn't tell us anything whilst on the boat throughout the trip. It didn't really matter and we did visit a coconut farm and rope weaving centre, so my coconut knowledge has increased! Travelling along the backwaters is magical, though I think I'd want a more luxurious boat if I was staying on it for any period of time. It would be a good thing to do with a group of friends.
Making rope out of coconut fibres
I am though aware that the popularity of these trips is putting pressure on the environment. One of the best things about our boat is that it was all manpowered (like a Oxford-Cambridge combo punt, with one person at the front and one at the back) rather than motored so at least it was good for the environment in that respect.
After a late lunch, I went back to the airport to travel to Mumbai whilst Phil stayed for work on the Monday. We will be coming back to Kerala soon!
Glad you enjoyed Kerala - we had a wonderful time there visiting my sister on her gap year. We too went on a boat trip through the backwaters and had a delicious thali served on a banana leaf. I also remember eating lots of fish and dishes with coconut - quite different to the rest of India. If you go back I would recommend going up into the hills to see the tea plantations, e.g. at Munnar, one of the hill stations. We also visited a spice plantation which was very interesting to see how they all grew.
ReplyDeleteWe're very keen to go back and visit the tea plantations, I've heard great things! Kerala does feel different from the rest of India as you say, and I'm a big fan of both fish and coconut which is probably partly why I liked it so much. Hope all is well with you all!
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