Kochi

Kochi is a busy sea port known as the Queen of the Arabian Sea and Gateway to Kerala. Along with its twin city Ernakulam, it is the commercial capital of the southern state of Kerala.
The name Kochi comes from the Malayalam word Koch azhi, meaning a small lagoon. Having been the centre of the Indian spice trade for many centuries and an important sea port during the colonial days, Kochi has many monuments of historical interest. Bolghatty Palace, Cheraman Mosque, Dutch Palace ( at Mattancherry), Hill palace, (Tripunithura)now a museum, Jewish Synagogue, Pallipuram Fort, Santa Cruz Basilica, St. Francis Church are some of them. If you wish to know more about history, Museum of Kerala History and Pareekshith Thampuran Museum would be the ideal places to visit. For Nature lovers there is the Mangalavanam Bird Sanctuary. For a fun and activity filled holiday the city offers Kochi Fort Beach, boat rides to Cherai Beach from Vypeen Island and Vega Land amusement park.
Kochi is easily accessible by road, rail and air and has an international airport. Heavy rains during monsoon season could play spoilsport by causing traffic disruptions and water clogging and summers are hot and humid. Kochi is therefore best experienced from October to March when the climate is pleasant and humidity levels are relatively lower.

Best time to visit: October to March.
Languages spoken: Malayalam, English
Climate: Hot and humid summers, heavy rains during monsoon and pleasant winters
Heritage sites: Bolghatty Palace, Cheraman Mosque, Dutch Palace, Hill palace, Jewish Synagogue, Pallipuram Fort, Santa Cruz Basilica, St. Francis Church
Places to visit: Kochi Fort Beach, Willingdon Island, Mangalavanam Bird Sanctuary, Cherai Beach, Vega Land Amusement Park
Knowledge centres: Museum of Kerala History, Pareekshith Thampuran Museum

Kerala – A Trip to the God’s Own Country

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This was the best experience of all as we were on the houseboat for the first time. The person driving the boat was amazing. Thought of being on water for 22 hrs was amazing. The boat went through several lakes and canals. We saw several villages where the only means of transportation was boat.

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A Day of Religious and Cultural Tour in Fort Kochi

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The show began! At the beginning, various movements of the body, face, hands, legs etc were demonstrated to give the audience an idea of how the things are expressed in Kathakali. It was an interesting initial part of the actual play. The main play followed shortly after this.
It was a play from the epic Mahabharata, named Kichakavadam, the killing of Kichaka. The evil character, Kichaka, an-anti hero, was in the make-up of face, half green and half red. He was the commander-in-chief of the Army of the kingdom Matsya ruled by King Virata. Kichaka was the brother-in-law of King Virata. During their one year hide out, Pancha Pandava (five Pandava princes) and their wife Draupadi took shelter in the palace of King Virata. While Draupadi was disguised as Dasi (female servant of the Queen) calling herself Sairandhri……….

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Top Places to see in and around Fort Kochi

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Almost every tourist attractions in Fort Kochi have a history of their own so is the Chinese fishing net. Kochi, the ‘Queen of Arabian Sea’, was once a major centre of trade with the Arabs, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and the British where everyone had left their marks. While some claim that the Chinese traders from the court of Kublai Khan set up Chinese fishing nets to shores of Kochi that dates back to 14th century; some others say Chinese explorer Zhang He introduced the Chinese fishing nets here in early 15th century. Whatever may be the correct claim, the fact is that this system is in use for more than last 500 years.

Once a fishing accessory, the Chinese fishing nets, now have become a major tourist attraction in Fort Kochi.

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Fort Kochi – Explore Amidst the Colonial Charm

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No cannon or other displays that go along with a Fort do exist at Fort Kochi. Though there are narrow alleys but none led to any gallery or a palace of any king or queen that a fort guards. In fact there exists no fort though the name endures it. Fort Kochi is a place within the city of Kochi and lies in the peninsula. Perhaps the name takes its first part since a fort was built in this region by the Portuguese.

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Sweet and Sour Kerala Trip – Exploring Kochi

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Kerala is a paradise for sea food lovers and non vegetarians. Fish and rice is staple food of the state but if you are a vegetarian, it may be little difficult for you find variety of veg food. Same was the case with me. With only one vegetarian dish in dinner menu at hotel, we decided to look around for some other options and only ended at the Food Court of a nearby Mall. The initial idea was to roam around after dinner but since we had to leave early next morning for Munnar and it was already late we went back to hotel and retired to bed.

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Cochin – Sightseeing by cruise and Cherai Beach

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As weather was hot, this ride was giving us good relief from heat. For first 15-20 minutes it was just like a normal cruise experience similar to Mumbai Gateway of India cruise ride or cruise ride at Rameswaram. But we were happy as kids were enjoying this ride with lots of space to sit as well as to run inside the boat and to see sparkling water.On our way we got to see many boats like country type, Russian yacht etc.

Although, it was a pleasant journey but I didn’t find it worth or it’s not value for money. Boat sailor but surely took us at the midst of sea and we saw numbers of Dolphin fish. Watching Kochi Harbour, Bolgatty island resort and Dolphin were good experience. Chinese Fishing net is an icon for Kochi but I didn’t find anything interesting watching that. The total time we spent here was 02 hours and we found it tiring. We came back to Marine Drive. Marine drive is a nice hangout place with many eatery joints.We had some light lunch and icecreams and came back to our friends place at 1730 hrs.

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