Kerala Trip. Day 2. Kochi

It was the sound of somebody knocking on the door that woke me up. Bright sunshine was streaming in from the window. I got up lazily and opened the door. It was the hotel service guy asking if we wanted our breakfast. After he left I woke up bhanu and we got ready for the day ahead. Our plan for the day was to have breakfast in Allepey in our hotel and immediately depart for Kochi and to check-in in a hotel by afternoon.

We took the state RTC bus from the bus stand. An hour later we entered Kochi. As I sat looking at the city passing by I saw a huge Church which was followed by a huge Temple and then a little later a huge Mosque.Unity of religions is very strong in Kerala. A little bit later I saw the Lulu Mall, said to be the largest mall in India.Soon we reached the Main bus stand. Guided by the zomato app, from here we walked around to a nearby restaurant called the Taimur Kachi Biriyani. The outer glass panels had this huge portrait of the king Taimur. I wondered about this strange choice. We marched in and found ourselves in a small swanky looking space. It was deserted with no customers as it was still quite early for lunch. We sat down and nonetheless and asked for the Kachi Biriyani with a couple of side dishes. It was delicious. 

After a hearty meal we immediately left for our hotel. Bhanu had booked this hotel online and we were a bit apprehensive about it. Our apprehensions turned out to be true. It was the creepiest hotel I ever stayed in. It was huge with total 5 floors and each floor having around 10 rooms. For the total duration of our stay I did not see any other guest except us. None whatsoever. Everything was neat and in order but simply no people. The coffee shop on the ground floor was deserted. The restaurant empty. It felt as if we were the only people in the hotel except the guy in the reception and a cleaning lady. The only sign of other life was when we were coming back to our floor after having dinner outside. I could hear the sound of laughter coming from somewhere in the hotel.We were not able to pinpoint the location.I could think of multiple horror movies which this hotel resembled. 'The Shining' was the best fit. Then there was 'The Haunting'. A perfect match. Just this thought sent a chill down my spine. I remarked to Bhanu that had I been alone at that time I would have checked out right then and there.

We took a short nap there in the afternoon and by 4 pm we went to the Fort Kochi area for a stroll. As our auto crossed the Willingdon island, I spotted a huge ship anchored nearby. I was thrilled ! I just loved this whole coastal city look! 

Near Fort Kochi Area the first thing we did was to go to the Maritime Musuem. It was mighty interesting with all the guns and missiles on display. I will write a separate post about it soon.Next,  we started off on a casual stroll along the Fort Kochi beach. The place was packed with crowds. To our right along the beach was spread a number of shacks and shops selling souvenirs and eatables. To our left was the sea. At some distance we saw the famous Chinese fishing nets. We went there and tried to understand the workings of the net.

There was a demonstration being given by a local to a couple of foreigners and we watched from our spot. As we were watching, a commotion just ahead of us attracted our attention. A small crowd had gathered and something was going on inside. We hurried to the group and I fought my way into the Centre. There was an auction going on. A man was pulling out huge fishes from a boat nearby, freshly caught and auctioning it off to the highest bidder. A metre long fish with a sharp pointy nose was the one which attracted the most curiosity and I which I assumed sold for the most.It had intense bidding. Nearby in a stall I spotted different types of sea creatures. There were many types of fishes, prawns, squids and even an octopus in a tub. This was certainly the highlight of our walk in Fort Kochi. The sun was slowly descending into the horizon and we started our way back. The fishing nets looked spectacular in the setting sun. A huge ship passed by creating waves in the sea. I squinted my eyes trying to figure out the name of the ship. Later when I googled it I got to know that it was heading towards Lakshadweep. Now I was standing in the mainland looking over to the ship.Someday I hope I stand on the deck of the same ship and look towards to the Kochi Beach. 

It was soon dusk and we took an auto back to the hotel. We had dinner in a local restaurant and soon checked out from that creepy hotel. I was spending the last day of the 3 day weekend in Bangalore so soon we left at 9pm in a private travels bus.

My first trip to Kerala was done and I had a wonderful time.

 

Kerala Trip. Day 1. Allepey

I arrived at the Kochi International Airport all tired and weary after a nights journey to Chennai and then to Kochi. It was a bright morning with the sun shining warmly as I walked out of the airport.After much asking around I caught a bus leaving for the city.It was the most convenient and cheapest way for me. Bhanu was joining me for this weekend trip and was waiting for me at the city bus stand from where we planned to take the state transport bus to Allepey.

We reached Allepey around 12 noon. The warm sunlight of the morning turned harsh now and by the time we walked to our hotel by the beach side we were soaked wet with sweat. After the formalities of checking in, we were greeted with the most awesome view of the beach from our room balcony. We just stood there for some time taking in the sight.

Later after a refreshing bath we went out to take a stroll around the canal ridden town. The sun was still strong over head and we started perspiring again. Presently we came across a juice vendor and we bought a bottle of mazaa. There we met a man in crisp shirt pant who asked us if we had done boating yet. Maybe he overheard us talking in Hindi and correctly assumed us to be tourists. We had a discussion with him and decided to hire a boat from him. We booked it for 2 hours and it cost us Rs 1200.

His boat was parked in the canal running right across the road. A 'driver' was waiting for us and after checking his credentials (just to be safe) we started off on our leisurely crawl along the canal.It was mesmerizing. At first we were in a crowded part of the canal. Our boat made its way past other boats parked along both sides of the canal and under a bridge. We passed by passenger boats run by the Government, then we spotted a couple of hospital boats that looked like they were abandoned long ago. Slowly we came out in the open into the huge Great Backwaters. The boat crawled along the smooth water in a relaxed manner. We were seated comfortably on a sofa and the calmness around me was lulling me to sleep.I even fell asleep sometime later only to be woken up by the horn of another boat passing us.There was only one stop at a small hotel where we had a nice strong cup of coffee. Our boat trip winded up 2 hours later and the boatman dropped us near the bus stand.

After this relaxing boat ride we took an auto to the lighthouse. This was quite an old lighthouse. To our surprise there was a small museum attached there. At the top a few people were already there enjoying the evening breeze. We sat here for some time taking in the views. Later we checked out the museum. It is spread out in a small space, the size of a small room and contains equipment used in the old lighthouse. There was a long telescope which is the only thing I found of interest. From there we went to the beach nearby. There was a huge crowd here. We started walking on the beach in the direction of our beach hotel. As soon as we were just in front of our room we sat on the sand and waited for the sunset. Soon the sky turned orange and the sun set, slowly departing into the depths of the sea. This was a completion of a minor milestone for me. For many years I had seen the sunrise on the eastern beaches of Puri, Digha, Vizag, Machilipatnam and Mypadu. Now I had seen a sunset from the western beach. The loop was closed now.

From there we went back to our room.Got some rest and started planning for dinner. On checking the net we found that Halais restaurant was the best one to check out the local non veg fare. So off we went to Halais. We ordered some four different types of items including chicken,mutton,fish and prawns. Back in the hotel ,we settled down in the balcony and had a hearty meal. The food was delicious. All this food soon made us sleepy and we decided to call it a day and slept by 11pm.