The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.
As I waited for my bus, in the lounge, I couldn’t believe I was finally embarking on my first trip alone. Being an introvert, and an extremely shy guy, this felt tremendous. In my mind, I thought I felt eyes on me, judging me for being alone, but in reality, people didn’t care. I just blended in.
Now, back to the journey. The comfort of a multi-axle Volvo was not lost on me. “Sleep like a baby” was the tag-line on the bus, and it more or less was up-to the mark.
Day 1:
Reached Ernakulam at around 7 in the morning. Ernakulam felt like any other Indian City. I was told to be wary of the auto drivers who were known to fleece tourists, but the chap I landed was pretty cool. Reached the boat jetty to travel to Fort Kochi and the place was beautiful. The price of a ticket to travel to Fort Kochi was just Rs 4/-. The experience was refreshing. The mild hum of the jetty was actually, not joking here, quite relaxing. Couple that with the sight of an occasional cruise ship passing by and Flying fish skimming over the water (yes, that’s a thing!) .
I’m a sucker for beaches. I always love spending time there. Before I even checked into my hotel at Fort Kochi, I strolled to the beach. The beach was pretty empty at around 8 in the morning. I most probably couldn’t have done this traveling with a group of friends. Let’s check in first bro.
Post checking in, breaaaakfaaasssst. At the famous Kashi Art Cafe. Tomato and Cheese omelet served with slices of Watermelon, slices of toast and a huge dollop of Butter. This was unbelievably brilliant. Oh, I did forget to mention the scrumptious chocolate cake. (Hey,this counts as breakfast too!) Chocolate cake for breakfast? Bro, are you crazy?
The humidity coupled with the 33 deg C reading did make it a bit uncomfortable to be out, so i decided to take a nap. Woke up at 2, didn’t feel hungry so decided to take a walk. Saw the famous Santacruz Basilicca and St Xaviers Church. Noteworthy they are and visit, you must. (See what I did there?). Noww, lunccccchh. I strolled into Upstairs, an Italian restaurant, and had me-self a pizza. Great one too! Olives, cheese and capers. Post the late lunch, went back to the room and took another nap. Making my own itinerary, remember? Want to sleep again? Bro, why did we even come here then?
Now, the magical part. Sunset at Fort Kochi. I reckon this is something one must do if they’re in this part of the world. Watch the sunset at the Fort Kochi Beach. The Chinese Fishing Nets are a sight to behold! It’s just stunningly beautiful. The calmness of the beach, the swarm of travelers just soaking in the sight, and the multitude of languages in the air makes this a magical experience. In case I didn’t mention this before, Fort Kochi is also sometimes known as ‘Mini Europe’ due to the fact that the vast majority of travelers are from Europe. Anyway, sitting on the shore, looking at the sun, and just being with yourself. Cool, the sun’s gone down, let’s do something else. What is even there to see here now?
Strolling back to the hotel, I noticed this small shop selling traditional articles and a few souvenir. I stopped by and bought a couple of things for a friend and had this lovely conversation with a fellow traveler from Australia. There was just something about her which was fascinating. She left with a friend after a bit and I left too.
On reaching my hotel, the receptionist suggested I go on a 7 hour boat cruise the next day. I gladly agreed, because the Backwaters of Kerala are famed and I wanted to experience them. 7 hours on a boat just drifting? Let’s take the 3 hours package broo.
With the night drawing to a close, I couldn’t help but think about the girl from the shop.
Day 2:
Headed to the rooftop for breakfast where I met Loma and Daniel. Loma was a banker from London, but was of French Descent and Daniel was from Brussels. Both of them had apparently met at Vietnam and found out that they shared the same love for traveling, and were traveling through India together. They told me they’d be joining me on the boat cruise.
The van arranged to transport us to the boarding point arrived and I was surprised(well, not really) to find out that I was the only Indian on board, and the rest were foreign travelers!
After an hour long journey, we finally made it to the boarding point where we got onto a house-boat of sorts. It was here when I actually looked at my fellow travelers. She was sitting right in front of me. She smiled at me and introduced herself. Her name was Emily, and her friends’ Claire. During the cruise, we didn’t talk much. Everybody was busy admiring the beauty of Kerala. The backwaters were pristine! It was so peaceful and so calm! The banks were littered with trees and you could see an occasional boat filled with produce passing by. 3 hours of bliss followed. We then stopped for a traditional Kerala meal which was pretty good. No wait, it was insanely good.
Post lunch, it was an open boat cruise. The boats were 10 meters in length but hardly a meter in width. I was seated next to Emily, yaay! We were shown the canals near the Perumpalam Island. Everybody was blown away by the beauty of it all.
With this, the boat cruise came to an end. We were dropped off near the beach, when I invited Emily and Claire to accompany me to Kashi. We had the crazzzzzy chocolate cake and then, I remembered, my time in Fort Kochi was coming to an end. I was leaving that night. 2 days passed by extremely quickly.
Regrets? Only one: Should’ve stayed for a bit longer.
Takebacks? Quite a few. Sitting by the beach, traveling, walking through the markets made me learn more about my myself. It gave me the space and time to think about a certain few pressing issues on my mind. I also witnessed the beauty of Kerala, which is spectacular.
If you ever get a chance to go to Kerala, do not think twice. It’s beautiful 🙂
Thanks for reading. Do drop a comment to let me know what you thought about this 🙂
-A
Penning from the heart. Well, sort of. 