Kochi and Ernakulam, Coastal Malabar Road Trip - 5

Day 6 :

The previous day we checked in Nambiar's hotel which is in Ernakulam. We booked through goibibo for 3 nights. The stay was really good in the sense the rooms were spacious with all amenities. Our room had an additional attached utility room with no balcony. The only problem they have is car parking. Since they have a restaurant and the hotel and restaurant parking area is common and small so guests can occasionally need to readjust their parked car.

In Ernakulam, Traffic congestion gets really bad during the day and terrible at night. This is not so with Kochi which is the old heritage town. Ernakulam is more like the newer extension of the city made for malls, offices and high rise apartments. The old city charm is missing but that is the bargain one has to settle for incase someone needs quick access to shops and conveniences. We choose Ernakulam because we got a better hotel deal. With the frequent travelling we do each year, every penny saved is a penny saved for the next travel. Hehe.

But here is a pro tip for you. If you can directly check with the homestays in Fort Kochi area, you will get a better deal. There were some really nice homestays just within walking distance from Fort Kochi which were as low as 1500 per room. Just imagine! So you can just walk and see all the nearby places.This is also save you the 1 hour up and 1 hour down driving time from Ernakulam to Kochi.

This was our 3rd time visit to Kochi and so we preferred to relax and travel, no ticking off lists. We took the entire morning to stroll and explore Ernakulam city. Infrastructure has developed enormously in the coastal belt of Kerala in the last few years. Ernakulam city centre looks more like Bangalore as if a small part of Bangalore has been put here...IT hubs, offices and busy sulky office goers. Lulu Mall can give you a delusion that you are in a shopping mall in Dubai.  

In the evening we went straight to Fort Kochi to watch the sunset. If you wish to see some lovely sunset shots over the Chinese fishing nets, do check my another post here.  Old Blog

Sunset at Fort Kochi

Again a pro tip for you. If you are self driving a car, try to reach the Fort Kochi parking by 4 PM in winter, else all the parking spaces gets filled up and even if there are a few available the policemen on duty will ask you to park your car somewhere far and then come, specially if your car number shows its from neighbouring states.

This little area is very beautiful, the lanes are dotted on either side by aesthetically well done houses of rich people and many of the houses have dutch influence.There are little cafes and takeaways and scattered souvenirs shops. The sunset watch area is well done with walkways (also called the 'beach road') and sitting places. We watched the beautiful sunset on the Arabian Sea. 

For people who are interested in performing arts, for them in Fort Kochi there is Kerala Kathakali centre where there are regular performances of both Kathakali a traditional Kerala costume dance and Kalaripayattu, a martial dance. Visitors can also see how artists put on the elaborate makeup before performing the Kathakali dance.

Day 7 :

We started late around 10:30 am and reached Ernakulam 'Marine Drive' bay. Our plan was to book a private boat ride and take a tour of the Vembanad Lake. The 8 seater motor operated boats charge INR 1500 per hour. Vembanad Lake is the largest lake in Kerala and the longest lake of India. The four rivers Meenachil,Achankoil, Pampa and Manimala pour their waters into the lake. We took a three hours boat ride costing us INR 4500. 

Even though its expensive but the boat ride was undoubtedly the best thing to do in Ernakulam. We saw the Chinese fishing nets up and close, how fishermen were using the lever to fold the net and collect the fishes caught in the nets. We saw someone's private single decker mini yatch where the owner, someone in his late 60's most likely, was bait fishing. We waved and smiled at two fishermen in long canoe fishing boats wearing Chinese fishing hats as well. Yes we saw water taxis which are aircon steamers for ferrying commuters. These water taxis have started quite recently and are fast and economical way to travel. There is ticket booth counter for water taxis in Ernakulam bay area.

Our boat driver , Mr  Mathews was a jovial man and a good guide. He showed us places where people live on the lake in small islands. We saw them busy with daily chores of life, washing, cooking, fishing and some selling coconuts, chips and cold drinks to tourists who are passing by them in boats. There were traditional house boats parked as well. Mr Mathews told us that a single room house boat costs around 15 to 20 Lakhs to buy these days as good wood has got very expensive, and these houseboats needs good and properly treated wood else they will rot fast.

We were in for a surprise when we showed us a water hospital! Just image... a hospital on boats to provide easy and fast access to medical care to people in the lake. The water hospital has beds, doctors and nurses. Just like any normal hospital on land, the water hospital also provide medicine and COVID vaccines. 

For lunch on the lake, Mr Mathew stopped the boat next to an island which had a small shop that sells lunch. To our dismay, we were told that the shop only accepts cash, no online payment mechanisms available, not even UPI. With very limited cash with us, we had to settle only for a plate of prawn fried in kerala style and a bottle of mildly fermented coconut water. Lesson learnt, next time will carry sufficient cash.

Chinese fishing net

House boats

Kochi city view

Back to the hotel, we had our lunch. We got our lunch packed from a restaurant on the way because our hotel Nambiar's do not have room service.Kochi gets terribly hot even in peak winters so its always advisable to carry and umbrella during the daytime and keep oneself enough hydrated. Malayalis in general consume a lot of coconut in all its forms, whether in curry, chutneys or fresh. So there are coconut sellers everywhere and a piece of tender coconut costs anywhere between INR 30 to 50. We had plenty of tender coconut water to keep ourselves hydrated.

We had the evening for souvenir shopping. I got myself some fridge magnets and artifice carved out of coconut shells. We also went to the Church of St Francis, the most important church of Kochi. One of the oldest church of India built in 1503 and it housed the mortal remains of the great Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama after he died in 1534 on his third visit to India, before it was moved back to Lisbon in Portugal after 14 years of his demise. The church remains open for visitors till 5 pm.

Our exploration was cut short by a torrential downpour.

The next day's plan is to go to Kasargod, a coastal village in Kerala which all of a sudden had become everyone's curiosity hotspot because of the possessed dance known as Bhoota and get to know more about it, talk with the locals to know more about the facts and the fictions surrounding this God possessed dance and if luck permits, even witness it first hand.

Stay tuned for the next story coming up!