Or, the day we became foreigners in our own country
Kochi is in Kerala – and we had fallen in love with Kerala after our short maiden visit.
We had never travelled to Kochi before.
These reasons were enough for us to book our tickets to New Zealand via Kochi because, in the flurry of activities, we mistakenly thought we were getting a good deal. But that’s a story for another post!
First impressions: Kochi airport and solar panels
An early morning flight into Kochi meant that we had an entire day for exploration. The Cochin International Airport is a perfect case of a non-metro airport. With wooden chairs and sofas in the waiting areas and limited eating options, it wasn’t exactly teeming with people. It did lack the swanky look that the T2s and T3s of Mumbai and Delhi.
We had booked a place in the Fort Kochi area of Cochin as that is where all the “things to see in Kochi” are – which is something we are just not used to do! But this stay in Kochi was essentially a “transit” stop. We decided to be a tourist and stay close to the action!
Our homestay in Fort Kochi
There were some superb homestay options in Fort Kochi. This was our little scope for local interaction in the midst of all the tourist activities.
Fort Kochi is around 40 km from the Cochin airport and daytime commute would easily be around 2 hours. Luckily, there was a good air-conditioned bus service from the airport to Fort Kochi. The combination of the rising heat, traffic and our early start worked perfectly for us to catch up on some sleep.
Henry, in whose homestay we had booked a room, had given us perfect directions to get to his place. We got off the bus, walked for a couple of minutes through a lane of coconut trees. Even in the afternoon heat, it was cool inside the house, thanks to the ample of trees around.
Henry himself had lived an adventurous life. He used to work in Kuwait as a driver for the US army trucks. Carrying supplies from Kuwait to the US army bases in Iraq. He had seen his friend being killed when a shell hit the windscreen of a truck he was driving.
Which is when he decided that the risk was not worth the money. He came back to India and worked at the port in Cochin. During which he expanded his house to start a homestay. His sincerity and dedication were visible in the way he operated the homestay. Anything his guests needed, he would try his best to provide.
Chinese fishing nets at the beach in Fort Kochi
The evening started with a visit to the beach which was just a few minutes through the leafy lanes of Fort Kochi. A brilliant show of colours, a cruise liner entering the Cochin port and of course this cool phenomenon of Chinese fishing nets.
All these questions fill your mind as you see the nets being lowered into the water. You can pay the fishermen a tip, and they’ll let you photograph all you want. You can even arrange to be with them when they actually set their nets down for the catch.
If you have access to a kitchen/someone to cook it for you, you can buy some of the fresh catch for a seafood meal. In any case, there is no dearth of options to have some delicious fish and coconut dominated curries with the luscious appams.
A Kathakali performance at a cultural center in Fort Kochi
We had seen this cultural centre on the way to the beach. We were still undecided whether we wanted to see a Kathakali performance. The heavily painted faces of the Kathakali dancers were a childhood scare and the memory lingered. But when a guy from the centre caught us on the street, handed us a pamphlet saying if we went early, we could see the dancers applying makeup and getting ready for the Kathakali performance, it wasn’t something we wanted to miss.
This helped us understand the story being told in the dance performance – the victory of good over evil. The music and the expressions of the Kathakali performers came together beautifully to keep us at the edge of our seats through the fast-paced performance.
Hiring an auto rickshaw to explore the churches, temples – and shops
The areas to be explored in Fort Kochi are a good walking distance, but the day was hot and humid. And we had a long flight to catch early the next morning. We took Henry’s advice of hiring a local auto rickshaw to see around.
This is how “tourist sightseeing” operates at most popular tourist destinations. But this is when things got interesting – we couldn’t be Indians. Because Indian tourists didn’t fetch him any coupons, only foreigners did! We were aghast and appalled.
But two little boys were waiting for some T-Shirts to be gifted by daddy. They couldn’t be disappointed when all it took was some pretence. We had already joined the bandwagon of tourists, why not up the ante and be foreign tourists!
Top tips for a visit to Kochi
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- We stayed at Kevin’s Placid homestay, located at a very convenient location in Fort Kochi.
Kochi is well connected with other cities in Kerala like Trivandrum and Alleppey, famous for the backwaters of Kerala. It is just a short, beautiful train ride away. Kochi is an ideal getaway for the best places to visit in Kerala.
- Kochi is a good option to take your low-cost flights to destinations in Southeast Asia.
22 thoughts on “Explore Kochi through the eyes of a foreigner”
This was a much needed read before planning a kerala tour, thank you so much.
Nice pics. It looks so refreshing from the point of view of a foreigner. You mentioned about Chinese fishing nets at the beach in Fort Kochi. I have been in Kerala but not been there. Next time sure we will visit Fort Kochi for sure. I’m gonna find some Kerala restaurant in Pune today and will order fish curry. The dish looks so yummy.
Lovely experience you are enjoying and very well explained, like it. India is a lovely country full of excitement all around in fact I have been there three time, my last trip was in 2008 and now am planning a trip for next christmas with my son and my wife from Madrás to Pondicherry passing to Kancheepuram and Mahabalipuram. Only have 12 days so short distances are ok. Hope we all three have fun !!! Am excited … I love photography and yours and great ! By the way any recommendations in the cities mentioned above ? Already booked a hotel in Madrás. Thanks very much.
Hello Vincente, you have chosen a good time to visit Chennai (Madras!) and around. The weather should be as pleasant as it can get in Chennai 🙂 We haven’t been to Kancheepuram or Mahabalipuram, so don’t have any specific recommendations. Though, since you are fond of photography, try to be at the temples for the golden period – around sunset or sunrise. Those massive temples bathed in the golden light should be magnificent to look and photograph. We have written a post about monument photography (it focusses on Taj Mahal, but the tips can be applied to all).
In Pondicherry, do walk around the leafy lanes and colourful buildings of the French quarters. We had enjoyed our dinner at Hotel Le Dupleix.
Beautiful 🙂
Thanks 🙂
Glad that I discovered your blog via IndiBlogger. Enjoyed reading and sharing your post about the city I come from. Some of the places you have mentioned are my favourite places too!
It’s always special when someone from the city likes the post 🙂 We will definitely be coming back to explore Kochi at leisure. This was just a stopover trip.
I want to visit Kochi after reading and “seeing” your article! what a splash of colours!
Thanks, Sapna! Kochi sure is a vibrant city in Kerala.
Heck to know about the blackmail and surprised to know that the stored were majorly run by Kashmiris!! Being a mallu, I never have been to Kochi. But I loved how you guys have portrayed your experience. Sound photography too!
Hey, thanks! The Kashmiri stores came as an even bigger surprise than the request to change our nationalities.
An informative post with an amusing tale of disguised Indians!
Yeah, it was funny posing as someone else. Never done that before!
You both just took me on a wonderful trip through your amazing images and great text, Kerala is on my list for my second trip to India, after I have done Rajasthan and surroundings over a year ago. Thank you ever for sharing
Kerala is well worth a dedicated visit. We haven’t explored it much as yet, but the visit to the Kerala backwaters and the beaches have given us enough reasons to want to travel far and wide across the state. And the mountains are as inviting as the coast. And north Kerala – that’s a whole new undiscovered ball game!
Thank you Sandeepa for responding I really appreciate your travel advices.
Nice picture and waiting for more detail story about your future travel. Want to see more picture from this trip.
Beautiful pictures and you caught some unique ones. So glad you had a great time in my small town.
Hey Johann, we will definitely be going back to Kochi to explore it with more…dedication. This visit to Kochi was just a transit stop on the way to a longer travel to New Zealand. Have a feeling we haven’t done justice to Kochi. But yes, whatever little time we spent there, we loved the vibe. It probably was also a lot to do with our homestay host Henry. Nothing makes the experience of a new place special, like conversations with someone from that place.
Do let me know and maybe I could give you a walk around the corner and tell some more tales. ☺ So happy you had a good time and to meet a local like Henry is even better.
Johann, I am definitely talking to you before the next time we come to Kerala.