In Fort Cochin, our very helpful tour agent, Augustine, suggested that we took a full-day backwater cruise because he said that “everybody does it”. So we went on a 6-hour boat ride in the Allepey River in a non-mechanized boat. Each boat is “powered” by two boatmen who use a very long bamboo to maneuver the boat. There were 9 of us tourists on board the boat but our boatmen maneuevered the boat so effortlessly that I found it so amazing.

Half-way through the cruise, we stopped by a mini village and we were shown how the locals made strings from unused coconut husks. We were also taken on a short tour around the houses in the mini village.

For lunch, we were taken to another place by the river, where we were served a typical Kerala lunch on banana leaves. Shortly after we arrived, a family arrived with pots and pots of rice and dishes and water. Lunch was really delicious and it was the first time I had rice that BIG :D

Augustine also said that we must not miss seeing the Chinese fishing nets before we leave Fort Cochin, so upon returning from the backwater cruise, we took a short walk down the street towards the pier where the Chinese fishing nets were.

Also at the pier, there were a couple of stalls selling stickers, hats, clothes, decoration stuff, bling-blings and what-nots.

The following day, our rickshaw driver, Rinu, took us to a few spice markets because we wanted to buy some tea, cashew nuts, ginger powder, etc. At first he took us to the more expensive markets but we ended up leaving the markets empty-handed so eventually, he took us to the market where the locals buy their spices and condiments.

He also took us to a couple of churches and museums such as the Santacruz Basilica and the St. Francis Church, where the Portuguese traveller Vasco da Gama was originally buried before his remains was transfered back to Lisbon. But unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures of some of those places we visited, for example the Jewish Synagogue, the Indo-Portuguese Museum and a few other museums I can’t remember now.

But the most intereting place was definitely the laundry! The laundry is located on a big area and is divided into separate areas — the washing cubicles, the rinsing area, the drying area, the sorting area and the ironing area.

Isn’t this interesting, to say the least? :D

Conclusion
Fort Cochin is quite a charming place to visit because it is unlike any other typical busy cities. There aren’t too many auto-rickshaws and the traffic is clear on most times of most days, hence there isn’t much air and noise pollution :) People are generally very friendly and they always greet you with a smile and a subtle shake of their head.

Some advice

• If sitting in a boat for 6 hours isn’t your kind of thing, you should NOT sign up for the backwater cruise. There weren’t any narration about what this or that was, and the boatmen did not interact with us tourists in any way, so sitting in the boat for 6 hours was a little too boring for me. Especially so when I had to see an elderly man maneuver the boat with 9 people on it. It wasn’t very fun.
• Your rickshaw driver will probably take you to “higher-end” bazaars to shop though you repeatedly ask him to take you to cheaper markets. That’s because he gets to collect points when he takes tourists to these bazaars, and for every 5 points of so, he could get a liter of fuel or something.
• If you’re buying a Punjabi suit (or what the locals call Salwar Kameez), try both the top AND the pants before buying. I didn’t try on the pants and later found that it was too tight. Opps.