We arrived in Cochin in the evening after a very frightful flight. The plane went into some really big and violent air pockets and there were times when the plane suddenly dropped very much in altitude I was lifted off my seat! Adults were throwing up, babies were crying, some passengers even retrieved the life jacket under the seat. The pilot made two attempts to land and he was only successful in his second attempt, which prompted the passengers to clap in joy and relief.
Anyway, upon arrival, we took a taxi from the airport to the homestay that we had earlier on booked online.
Accommodation
The first homestay we stayed in was Tag Und Nacht, which is located opposite the Naval Museum on Beach Street. We moved out after one night because we found that it was quite a distance from town — there were no restaurants, internet cafes or shops nearby. But Antonio, the owner of the homestay was quite a nice chap. When we arrived in the evening and had nothing to eat, he went out and packed fried rice and fried noodles for us.
The second place we stayed in was Elite Hotel on Princess Street. Don’t be fooled as Elite Hotel isn’t really a “hotel” but more of a travellers’ lodge. Our room in Elite Hotel wasn’t as clean as Antonio’s but there’s a restaurant downstairs that we frequent, and there’s an internet cafe right next door (and another one a few doors away), and we even managed to buy our train tickets from the agent at the internet cafe! There are quite a few shops along Princess Street and there’s also a hairdresser (for women only) and an art gallery. There are a few restaurants nearby too. And most importantly, there is a very friendly tour agent called Augustine who recommends tour packages and who is always ready to suggest some places to visit or shops to go to.
Food
Being in India for the first time, naturally, I was quite eager in trying new foods. My first Indian breakfast was idiyappam and egg curry, which I found was a little too bland. The idiyappam is actually our putu mayam but without the grated coconut and sugar. Instead, you get the egg curry.
We also had tandoori chicken for lunch one day. We asked our rickshaw driver to take us to a place for lunch, and he took us to this place that served tandoori chicken and we were like, why not? Lunch was good, but also possibly because we were too hungry from all the walking-around and sight-seeing and bargaining :)
On our last day in Fort Cochin, we went to this place called Dal Roti. Both of us shared a briyani rice, if I’m not mistaken, because the owner of the restaurant was kind enough to tell us that his servings were large. Service was good and prompt, and a lot of locals go there for lunch too.
Getting around
Getting around in Fort Cochin is easy as most of the places of tourist attraction are located in two areas — Fort Cochin and Mattancherry. At first we were thinking of walking to those places in Fort Cochin and then hire a rickshaw to go to Mattancherry, one of the rickshaw drivers approached us and said that he would charge only Rs 100 (USD 2.2) to take us to Fort Cochin AND Mattancherry.
And true enough, our driver Rinu, took us to places like the St. Francis Church where Vasco da Gama was originally buried, the Indo-Portuguese Museum, the Santacruz Basilica, as well as to some cemeteries, temples, Jewish Synagogue, spice markets and bazaars. He also waited for us while we took our time whenever we visited the museum, or whenever we were busy bargaining in the bazaars.
At the end of the day, we decided to pay him Rs 150 (USD 3.3) instead, for taking us around. Plus, Rs 150 isn’t too much for somebody who drives you around for about 6 hours!
Some advice
- If you’re going to Cochin, I suggest that you stay in Fort Cochin (instead of Ernakulam) because Fort Cochin is less noisy, and more peaceful :)
- “Hotels” aren’t expensive in Fort Cochin (I’m not sure about hotels in Ernakulam), rooms are about Rs 500-600 (USD 10-13) per day.
- Before you hop onto an auto-rickshaw, ask the driver how much he is charging you. Only board the rickshaw if you are agreeable with the price.
I’ll talk about what is there to see in Fort Cochin in the next post :D
I really liked your views of fortcochin….u have made to read the blog easy that even the common people like me can understand and enjoy reading..I live in Amaravathy some what near to fort cochin..Hope u will write more about our place ….I really enjoyed ur blog today
North India food is more ‘ngam’ to our taste compare to the South. If you going Hyderabad, I recommend you to have their Briyani over there :p
Yeah, I have to admit that we did not really enjoy most of our meals. Food was either too much or spicy or too oily or had a weird taste to it or had too much vegetables in it, LOL. But it was a good experience, plus, we usually finish our food because we didn’t want them to go to waste.
Good one Pelf. Shouldn’t let the food goes into waste. By the way, did you find any roti canai in India? Is their common food is chapati and paratha? Can’t wait to visit there one day.
I would like to comment about the blog that u have written yesterday. You said that u have 300rs for 6 hours of auto rickshaw drive in fort cochin is little heavy.. I don’t think so because we give the same price that u gave for a ride.. There r two types of drivers in fort Cochin. One of them are for foreigners and other for common people. While u go with auto drivers who charge very less they may take u to some shops where they get commission for that. For each of your visit they get 200 or 150 rs. If u purchases some items from there the driver will get a percentage of
Purchase as commission. This has been ruining the life of common auto drivers.
I did not say that Rs 300 for 6 hours was too much. The rickshaw driver offered to take us around for Rs 100, we agreed and boarded his rickshaw and he took us to places for more than 6 hours. When we arrived at our hotel, we decided to give him a little tip, so we paid him Rs 150 instead. And I still think that Rs 150 is quite little to pay a driver who takes you around for 6 hours because in Malaysia, we pay RM 25 (about Rs 375) for a 15 min drive from the bus station back home.
And yes, I am aware of the commission part of the “deal” between rickshaw drivers and business owners, and I will share this in my next post :D