My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.
What do
you do when you visit a place for the first time? Do extensive research, or go
unprepared, ready to be surprised? I chose the latter on my visit to Fort Kochi
this summer, and within a day, I was so enchanted, I wished I could spend more
time there! My experiences were too varied to fit into one post, so this is
going to be a series... and here is the first one….
We
knew we would enjoy our stay at Fort Kochi, the moment we entered the quiet bylanes and
saw the quaint houses, seemingly from another era. The peace and quiet was a
welcome relief after the bustle of Ernakulam, and it was difficult to believe
we were so near the city! The number of boards advertising homestays clearly
proclaimed it to be a tourist hub, though we discovered that it was mostly
foreigners who came here, not the average Indian tourists. Maybe it is this
which has helped Fort Kochi retain so much of its colonial past.
The
Silverweed Homestay, tucked away in a narrow lane, greeted us with a profusion of flowers,
which brightened the cloudy day. With just two newly built rooms over the
original house, it was homely and comfortable. Our hostess was out on a medical
emergency, though our host, grappling with the domestic arrangements, welcomed
us warmly, and made sure we had everything we needed, even making breakfast for
us singlehandedly! Chatting with him about his family, and Kochi itself, over
the years, was certainly one of the highlights of our stay here!
Flowers
seemed to be a dominant part of our Fort Kochi experience. From the many flowers our hostess
carefully tended to….
To the
many rooftop
and balcony gardens we saw as we walked around the town….
Flowered
creepers
growing over abandoned walls, adding an extra dash of colour to the graffiti….
Even
the trees formed a flowered canopy for many of the small lanes we walked by, as we
explored the town.
Kochi
welcomed us with flowers, but also showed us so much over in the one short day we spent here.
Look out for many more posts about Kochi and its attractions in the coming
weeks!
Related Posts:
- Part 2: Chinese Fishing Nets
- Part 3: Indo – Portuguese Museum
- Part 4: St. Francis Church
- Part 5: Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica
- Part 6: Mattanchery Palace
- Part 7: Jew Town and Synagogue
- Part 8 : A Boat Ride
- Part 9: 3 Cafés, Three experiences
- Part 10: Maritime Museum
Beautiful! Being surrounded by so much natural color and greenery is very relaxing and soothing. I liked the bird graffiti too! More like art to me! :) I'm looking forward to more pictures and commentary about Kochi.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Natalie! I will post more pics of the bird grafitti soon. the place was full of grafitti but it rained so much i didnt click many of them.
DeleteLove Fort Kochi's quaint charm!
ReplyDeleteyou have been there during the biennale right? it must have been great then! I completely enjoyed my time there!
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