Day 11: Kochi (formerly Cochin), Kerala
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A return to India and a full day
excursion to the famous Kerala Backwaters for a
cruise on one of its tranquil lagoons.
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Wednesday 26th February 2025
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It was early in the
morning when we arrived in the Port
of Kochi, where we would have two full days to explore
the area in and around the city of Kochi.
Visiting the Kerala
Backwaters was one the reasons we came on this holiday,
so hot weather plus the prospect of a long day of travelling
were not going to deter us. We were among the first to
disembark the Hebridean Sky at 8:00am.
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There was little way
from the ship to the immigration and customs building, but
after a day at sea we were quite happy to walk. |
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Transport was provided
for those less able to walk. |
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These vessels reminded
us of our trips along the Volga many years ago and looked
like they had seen better days! |
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When we saw crowds of
people disembarking from the ship behind ours, we worried
it might take ages to get through immigration. Thankfully,
they had arrived from another destination within India and
didn’t need passport checks - we were relieved! |
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The immigration officials
were very pleasant and apart from the usual somewhat long-winded,
paper-based processes (lots of stamping), we were all processed
quite quickly and were able to board one of the coaches
awaiting us on the other side of the building. |
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The coaches were a bit
basic and a bit cramped for a longish journey, but we did
admire the highly decorated ceiling. |
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Today’s journey
took us south from Kochi’s Emakulam Wharf on Willingdon
Island, to Alappuzha, a popular tourist town celebrated
as the gateway to Kerala’s backwaters. Often referred
to as the “Venice of the East” Alappuzha is
famed for the network of narrow canals that weave through
its historic centre. |
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Slightly more detailed maps, focusing on
our start and end points. Our daily programme suggested
that the journey from the port to the comfort stop at the
"KTDC Ripple Land Restaurant", not far from Alleppey
Backwaters, would take around 1¼ hours. Google Maps,
however, estimated 2 hours. In reality, the trip lasted
2¾ hours, including the brief stop of around 15 minutes.
The main cause of the delay was pretty clear; for at least
half the route, the road is being rebuilt as a motorway
on stilts directly above the one we were travelling on.
In other words, we found ourselves driving through an enormous,
ongoing construction site. This was hardly a new project,
so such delays could easily have been foreseen.
That said, perhaps it was just as well we weren’t
warned in advance. Had we known, we might have skipped the
excursion altogether and that would have been a real loss,
because despite the long journey, the day turned out to
be unforgettable for all the right reasons.
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Leaving the port, we
drove south on Willingdon Island before crossing the "Gateway
of Cochin Bridge" and travelling through Palluruthy,
a region of the city of Kochi. |
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We crossed the bridge
from Edakochi to Aroor, on the aptly named "Aroor -
Edakochi Bridge" noticing several chinese
fishing nets as we drove across. |
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A seemingly never-ending
slow drive along a road that was under construction followed.
We were happy to arrive at the "Ripple Land" (wonderfully
named budget resort complex), for a toilet stop, knowing
that we were not too far from our destination. |
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A short(ish) drive from
there (well, around 20 minutes)... |
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...until we arrived at
the starting point for our cruise in Alappuzha. |
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Although the boats were
a bit basic, three of them were booked for us and with around
30 people on each one, there was plenty of space and we
were quite comfortable. |
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Departing from the jetty
at Alappuzha
(also known as Alleppey), we set out on our cruise through
the Alleppey Backwaters. Our route, marked in red, began
and ended at Boat Jetty Road (left). We first travelled
along a narrow channel, then turned north upon reaching
Punnamada Lake. For the next hour and a half, we drifted
slowly through winding waterways before stopping for lunch
at the Sterling Lake Palace restaurant. Afterwards, we
took a short, 20-minute crossing back across the lake
to return to our starting point.
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The experience of cruising
along the calm waterways was lovely. Quiet, calm, dreamy,
with lots to see along the way. We quite forgot about the
long distance we had travelled to get here and relaxed completely. |
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Kavunkal Sree Bhagavathi
Temple. |
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Just as we were starting
to feel a bit peckish, our lunch venue loomed into view. |
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Looking
very elegant, this is the Sterling Lake Palace Resort (not our photo,
obviously). |
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Lunch was served buffet-style.
Things were a little pressured at times, because our entire
group arrived at the same time, but the food was plentiful
and delicious. |
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After lunch, we returned
to our boat. |
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Bruce was envious of
our guide's flowing locks. Those days were a long time ago
for him! |
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From here, we had a
twenty minute ride back to where we had started. |
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Neil decided to have
a power-nap on another boat to fortify himself for the return
coach trip! |
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Once we got back to
Boat Jetty Road, it was a quick transfer onto the waiting
coach, after which we set off for the return journey to
the ship. |
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Knowing what to expect
on the return trip, it seemed a little shorter than the
outbound trip. This is the customs hall at the port before
we went through it and back to the ship. |
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It was good to be back
on board in air-conditioned comfort. Geoff treated himself
to a "Cosmopolitan" before dinner. |
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In our absence, the
on-board team had worked very hard to prepare a wonderful
barbecue on the Lido Deck. Neil marked the occasion in true
Indian style! |
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The roasted suckling
pig was a highlight!
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By popular demand, the
man responsible for the beautiful food carvings was summoned
from the kitchen to pose with his creations! He seemed very
happy that so many people appreciated his skills. |
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After dinner, two members
of the team showed off their singing and guitar-playing
skills. Everybody seemed to love it and many even showed
their appreciation by singing along with them and dancing. |
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We have travelled with
Sue and Wendy on cruises several times before and really
appreciate how hard they both work to keep us all happy.
It was lovely to see how much they seemed to be enjoying
the evening. |
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There would be no sailing
tonight. We were spending the night in port and looked forward
to seeing more of Kochi itself tomorrow. |
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