Fort Kochi

Arrival

You can get to Kerala by train if you want to. You can get anywhere in India by train – but it will take a long time. It is scheduled as 3 days from New Delhi which I thought was a long time to spend on a train. So I decided to fly. I flew with IndiGo

6E

As airline codes go IndiGo has got a good one. I am not sure if they are allocated or requested but they use it as a play on words. If you speak “6 – E” then it sounds like “sexy” and they make use of this all over their literature. All their signs say “Hello 6E…”. I think their advertising is quite good and their onboard service was really good for a discount airline. You get water for free, however you do have to pay for food and coffee. The prices are very reasonable though.

Fort Kochi

Fort Kochi is a good hour from the airport if you take a car and a driver. Although it is quite far, all the things that you will want to see are here so I decided to stay in the Fort. I find this location to be quite relaxing with most people here having a laid back and relaxed lifestyle. Compared to New Delhi it could almost be a different country. There is little pollution and not very much traffic. People are friendly and prices are cheaper.

Little coffee shops on Prince Street

Chinese Fishing Nets

Some people in Kochi still do an old style of fishing where they dip huge nets into the water and then withdraw them later on. Apparently this is the only instance of this Chinese fishing technique used outside of China.

You can buy the fish directly from the fisherman here and you can take it to a little cafe on the beach and they will cook it for you.

In the background is a working port

Christmas

Since Kerala has a Christian population you certainly see more signs of Christmas around here than you do in the north. Some of the churches go to great lengths here to put up huge stars and Christmas lights.

Quite a large star on the front of the church in the middle of Fort Kochi