Fort Kochi

With jet lag still waking us up in the early morning hours, our 5am trip to the airport to catch our flight to Kerala didn’t even seem that early. The streets of Bangalore are much quieter that time of day although far from empty. We easily zipped along the freeway, barely even pausing at the toll gate for the road leading to the airport.

The airport itself was bustling. We printed our boarding passes and luggage tags outside the airport but when we tried to drop off our bags at the quick drop, we were told we had to stand in the line for the main counter anyway. The line stretched beyond it’s last rope barrier and across the main floor. Despite moving steadily it still took us fifteen minutes to reach the counter.

Next up was security – also a long line. By the time we reached the scanner it was 6:30, the time our plane was scheduled to start boarding. Fortunately our gate was only a short distance from security, and we easily caught a bus out to where our plane waited on the tarmac.

The flight itself was short and ear-popping, up and right back down again. The flight attendants served meals to those who had them booked as fast as they could get them off the cart, and I barely had time to finish my tea before we were stowing tray tables to land.

The Kochi airport itself is in a lovely older building with angular red rooftops. It is not a very big airport so we quickly found our baggage and went to meet our driver.

We stopped for a proper breakfast at a shop near the airport. Mervin had egg curry and I had a vegetable curry, which we ate with appam. Appam is a type of thin “pancake” made with fermented rice batter, similar to dosa. The cooking style is different than dosa however, using a deep pan similar to a wok resulting in a steamed texture. We also had much needed strong and very rich coffee.

Breakfast finished, we began our drive to the city. Traffic was light and the roads in good condition so we moved quickly. As we were getting near the city, the driver turned off the main road into the bumpy, winding side roads of a neighborhood. This isn’t too unusual when drivers are trying to get around a known closure or accident, so at first we didn’t think much of it. Then signs for “boating” began appearing along the roadside, and the driver pulled up to a parking lot along a waterway filled with other tourist cars.

The driver explained that this was one of the best ways to see the city, and that the other tourists enjoyed it. We figure most likely he has a connection with the boat rides. But after some back and forth with the salesman and the driver, we decided the price was not bad for a private hour and a half motor boat ride and off we went.

Despite that start, we enjoyed the ride more than we expected. The scenery along the waterway was nice, there were lots of birds and a chance to see mangroves up close, and the breeze along the water made the heat more bearable. We saw some floating fish farms and the tall wooden structures they call “Chinese fishing nets.” It was a pleasant first stop on our trip.

Our hotel is located in the Fort Kochi district of Kochi, the tip of a long peninsula. The building that is now the Forte Kochi hotel is believed to have been built by the Dutch in the 1860s, and was part of a larger home of an eminent Jewish family. The rooms face an inner courtyard with a pool and outside dining. The neighborhood it is in is very walkable for an Indian city, with lots of artsy shops and restaurants aimed toward tourists. For lunch we stopped at the Cultural Coconut restaurant next to the hotel for a rice bowl featuring Kerala specialties. Kerala is known for its seafood, as well as being the only place in India you can eat beef.

In the afternoon we walked around the neighborhood to see some of the sights. It was hot and humid! Fortunately the walk was not long to the Santa Cruz Cathedral Bascilica. Originally built by the Portuguese in 1558, the columns and ceiling are decorated with elaborate frescoes and murals. From the Bascilica, we walked a couple of blocks west to the St. Francis CSI Church. This first version of this church was also built by the Portugese in 1503, then taken over by the Dutch in 1795. After the British conquered Kochi, it became part of the Church of South India as it remains today. The church is very simple, especially compared to the Bascilica, with wooden ceiling and floor tiles. There are Portuguese tomb stones on the northern wall and Dutch along the southern wall.

From the church was walked back along the waterfront pathway, catching some refreshing breeze off the water and finding the shade of huge old trees in the park.

Tomorrow we will drive south to Alleppey for our houseboat ride.