Kochi is one of the most visited place in India. The capital state of Kerala, Kochi boasts as the most beautiful natural harbor of the world. Also known as "Queen of Arabian sea", Kochi attracts many tourists to enjoy its backwaters which is famous in the world. Because of the backwaters, kochi is often compared to Venice of Italy.
Backwater boat drive was such a serene and peaceful experience that it helped us to connect with self and to enjoy the nature at the best. We also enjoyed watching people enjoying the boat water ride, waving hand to them, and witnessing the life of people in those areas. It was amazing to have look into the life of people whose daily livelihood was directly linked with water.
We reached to Kochi at 3:00 am in the morning. Being deprived of sleep whole night because of 2S seat, we had no option but to sleep in the platform after we reached Kochi railway platform. So as to make ourselves safe, we choosed the clean place outside of Railway station manager to sleep. It was such a sound sleep that we didn't hear any disturbances in spite of the bustling train passing through the platform.
Early in the morning we searched for accommodation and finally got one near famous Marine drive of Ernakulam, Kochi. It was difficult to manage our travelling in and around kochi because of tourist attraction being scattered apart in contrast to that of Kanyakumari. We felt a kind of shock when we heard that Kochi was in the process of being a dry state and sales of Alcohol was strictly prohibited. For me, I couldn't understand the logic of making a famous tourist destination a dry state. Apparently we could see some of its direct impact when we saw bars shut down, lodges prices dropped down and not much of tourists hanging out inspite of the time being a tourist season.
Inspite of not being able to drink we made sure to enjoy yourself by visiting some of the beautiful places of "Gods own country: Kerala" and enjoyed its natural beauty. One point to support dry state would have been to make tourist enjoy Kerala naturally and I couldn't disagree.
We managed to visit following places in Cochin, Kerala.
1) Alappuzha Backwaters ride
This was one of the most beautiful and serene boat drive I had ever experienced in my life. We hired a boat house and went off for 3 hours boat drive in the backwaters. Alappuzha is one of the most preferred location to enjoy the backwater drive in Kochi. Also known popularly as "Venice of the East", Alappuzha also boasts of picturesque canals, beaches and lagoons. We could enjoy the natural environment the most and were mesmerized by the natural beauty of backwaters. And one thing not to miss was the warm hospitality of the people of Kerala, esp those involved in tourism industry.
2) Marine Drive
Marine Drive of Cochin was nearby to our hotel so we managed to visit it during the evening time. I along with my friends were excited to visit it imagining the fun of sauntering around the marine of Mumbai. Plus, the googled photos of Marine drive of Cochin had added more excitement to us. But to our surprise the Marine drive of Cochin was small, not properly maintained, arranged with poor lights and was not the most happening place for evening walk. Thus Marine drive left us disappointed.
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| Our group in Marine Drive |
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| Googled photo, Marine Drive in its Decorated structure. At present it is not well maintained |
3) Fort Kochi
Fort Cochin was on our list on the next day of our trip to Cochin. We took a government ferry from Marine drive to Fort Kochi at a cost of INC 4 each. It took us about 20 minutes to reach Fort Kochi. We wandered around for some time until we decided to hire a cycle and took a ride around the island. We could also spot some Nepali speaking guys while we were trying to find cycle for rent. Finally we got some cycles and went off to see the Kochi Fort. We made visit to Mahatma Gandhi beach, Dutch Palace, Jewish museum and street, beautiful church named as Santa Cruz Basilica Church, etc
We also enjoyed visiting the local market in Fort Kochi, purchasing some souvenirs, and enjoyed the seafood etc. With this our South India tour came to an end. We boarded a train to our station on evening. And from the next very morning we were again back to our same old routine.
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| Chinese Fishing net in Kochi |
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| Santa Cruz Basilica Church |
We also enjoyed visiting the local market in Fort Kochi, purchasing some souvenirs, and enjoyed the seafood etc. With this our South India tour came to an end. We boarded a train to our station on evening. And from the next very morning we were again back to our same old routine.
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