A memorable trip to Kerala-Day 1

There is more to Kerala than greenery, tea plantation,water falls and that is the strong influence of the history from dutch, portugese and chinese cultures.

If you have interest in the historical side of Kerala do visit Ernakulam. So come let me take you thorough bits and pieces of my journey to Ernakullam also known as cochi or kochi.

Things to do before starting :

1.     Check temperature for that particular month.

a.     March, April, May, June- hot sunny but less crowded .

b.     July, august, September -Ernakulam looks very beautiful, but I will not suggest rainy season for traveling

c.     October, November, December, January, February-Best time to visit cochi

2.     Book a ticket to Kerala

a.     We had done it through IRCTC, but you can also book flight tickets(according to your convenience).

3.     Book hotels and the transport mode

a.     Both were taken care by Treebomart views

DAY 1) So my day 1 actually starts from the evening , where I took a VOLVO BMTC bus to Silk board where I had to meet my companions for this trip(my crazy friends) , then from there we took an auto rickshaw to Yeshwantpur railway station. We were so excited that finally we are going to see “God’s own country”. Which has been on our travel bucket list for so loooooooooong J. After having dinner from one of the nearby restaurants we then boarded the train from Yeshwantpur railway station at 9.16 pm. According to my experience travelling through train in south is always safe. This journey became quite memorable one because of two little cute kids, they were 5 (brother) and 8(sister) years old munchkins who looked very adorable while narrating several stories to each other. I almost started missing my childhood with my brother!

Day 2) We reached Ernakulam junction at 9.30 am . I wanted to go to the hotel really bad , to get fresh and feel like human again. And by this time I was hungry too so we booked an easily available auto-rickshaw , it took around 40 rupees for 1.2 km which is quite cheap compared to Bangalore.(one perk of being in Bangalore is that transportation rate anywhere else feels quite inexpensive).

Around 11 we reached near the saritha theatre , and with a little difficulty were able to find the hotel. The hotel mart view,is not exactly on the main road . You have to go inside a lane to get to the hotel. The hotel was exactly (read even better than) what was shown in the website’s hotel gallery. (I will cover all aspects of this hotel in my accommodation post which will be coming super soon). Hotel staffs were really friendly and they helped us complete the formalities; they were kind enough to not to take any extra charge for an early check-in. As we arrived early the room was not prepped up. So by the time they were cleaning our rooms we went to Hotel Sarvana bhavan to have our breakfast, which was very near from our hotel. If you are vegetarian it’s a must visit place, try this place even if you are not a vegetarian. It has the yummiest savouries.



After having fulfilling my soul with the yummiest crispy dosa and coffee we returned to our hotel to get ready for day 1 in Ernakullam . To meander around the city we took the cab provided by the hotel(We had pre-booked the cab) which was around 2k for 8 hours below 80km exceeding to which they will charge 13 rupees per/km.

Itinerary for day one in Ernakullam(Cochin/Kochi):

1.     Mattancherry palace/ mattancherry boat jetty.

2.     Hotel sea gull

3.     St. Fransis church

4.     Fort cochin

5.     Marine drive

1.     We first went to Mattancherry , to see the famous Mattachery palace which is 12.5 km from our hotel via Mahatma Gandhi Rd , but to my disappointment the palace was close as it was Friday.
So we started to look around the place and found Mattancherry boat jetty ,(boat) which is a common medium of transportation to Ernakulam/Marine drive side, also you avoid the hustle bustle of the city traffic. 

If you want to just enjoy the boat jetty there are two options for you.

a.     Take a private tour around the lake meeting the Arabian sea and come back to Mattancherry .(1k for ½ hour)

b.     Take a private tour around the lake meeting the Arabian sea and reach Wimbledon island and then back to Mattancherry.(2k for an hour).

We chose the former one, and took a round trip of the lake meeting the Arabian sea. The sea was huge and I felt so small in front of the large endless sea.
It was so awesome at the same time quite dangerous. I was little afraid of the water but my joy knew no bounds after spotting dolphins in the sea, it was more exciting for me as it was my first time seeing dolphins in its natural habitat , Okay I admit it was my first time ever seeing a dolphin. I got quite excited and hoped to see more dolphins in the sea.



If I be blunt then I could say there was nothing more than dolphins, cargo ships, and yes a lot of open water. But the experience was something that you can get nowhere from, it was peaceful, calm and exciting at the same time, water was deep enough to bring your adrenaline levels up and was peaceful enough to calm your gushing adrenaline. It was something that you could only feel if you were there at that moment.



One tip: Always make sure either you know swimming or the jetty driver does. Also they are local people so don’t expect much of Hindi/English from them.

2.     It was around 2p.m when we finished our trip and I was super hungry . So the our cab driver took us to the Hotel Sea Gull, which is famous for its sea facing restaurant.As you as you enter the restaurant you can see an old cart and an old car in front of the hotel. The view of the hotel is amazing, it’s like an open restaurant overlooking the Arabian sea and the extended part of restaurant is actually above the sea which makes the whole view just amazing. 

My first thought after entering the hotel was wow what a view and second thought was s**t it must be quite expensive, but to my surprise it can satisfy all your taste buds without burning a hole in your pocket. The food was excellent I must say.
I could spot tourists from all parts of the world enjoying bear and sea food, basically chilling out. I really felt touristy J … We ordered chicken chilly, prawns and Jeera rice. And by the time the chef was preparing our food we took some pictures around the hotel , the extended part of the restaurant which extends on to the sea is actually not covered from the top so you can really get roasted if you try to lunch out there on hot sunny day.
The place must be very beautiful in evening with all the star lights from sky and lamps, the open water such breeze. Must visit if you go to Ernakulum. 

3.     Our next stop was the very famous St Francis church built in 1503.It is oldest European church in India. The body of Vasco-Da-Gama was buried here after he died while he was on his 3rd visit to India. After 14 yrs. his body was taken back to Lisbon, still the tomb of Vasco-Da-Gama remains in this church. I felt really privileged to be able to witness something of such historical significance, doing your homework before visiting a place can pay off really well. 

Another tip: if you are visiting any historical place either book a guide who will educate you about the historical significance of the place or gather some information about the place before visiting. Otherwise you will not be able to understand the importance of the place.

4.     Fort Kochi is almost a walk able distance from the church and it is a good,decent beach . 

       It’s a common hangout for locals and tourists. I got to see some huge Chinese fishnets and witnessed the principle behind the Chinese fishnets. It was really amazing to see such an old technique still working fine. I was lucky enough to spot some of the dolphins in the extended area of the sea.
Some more Tip: Sit by the side of the beach and let the nature do its magic upon you, there cannot be more pleasing sight to the eyes and soul other than watching sunset on the beach. It was really the icing on the cake for our trip.

5.     It was getting late and was time to get back to hotel. We all were super tired by this time, less because of city traveling, but more because the scorching sun which took a great advantage of us.

I really enjoyed the shower that day. Felt so fresh and relaxing. Although Ernakulum is a city but it will be a bit difficult to find city awake after 10PM , so we had to satisfy our yapping stomach with egg fried rice and chicken chilly(which I must say was just scrumptious.) from nearby Chinese restaurant . We played some basketball inside the hotel basketball court and called it a day.

So this is how I ended day one in Ernakulum. I hope you enjoyed this bit of my Kerala trip. Day 2 and day 3 are in queue which will be coming super soon. Please comment down and tell me your experience if you have visited Kerala .In case of any question related to this article comment down below and if you find the article useful please share it with you friends too. 

Lots of Love,

Monika