February 8, 2021

Things To Do In Kochi – Coastal Keralan Pitstops

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THIS POST: will cover some of the Kochi places of interest we visited over a couple of days in this coastal part of Kerala. Some not to be missed, and others….not to bother with!

Top Tips!

Hire a tuktuk driver for the day to show you around town
Give the Dutch Cemetery a miss!
Absolutely MUST do a boat trip around the backwater villages
Wear something to cover your shoulders and keep your wits about you

We found that the best way to explore Kochi was to hire a tuktuk driver and let them suggest some things to do in Kochi. However, If you would rather skip certain places, just let them know. Here’s some of our Kochi pitstops:

Chai in the Jewish Quarter in Kochi

There is an area of Kochi called Mattancherry, which has a couple of lanes full of shops and some cafe/restaurants as well as the Paradesi Synagogue to visit.

The area is well known for spices, antiques and handicrafts. We opted to evade the many, MANY calls of traders trying to lure you into their premises.

So instead, we went for a chai and thali lunch at one of the cafes on the main street. The thali and chai were beautiful and crazy cheap! This is just a nice little place to wander around and maybe grab some lunch to break up the day.

The Dutch Cemetery in Kochi

Consecrated in 1724, this is believed to be the oldest European Cemetery in India. It could possibly be an interesting place to visit but it is almost always locked! Therefore it’s not that interesting peering over a fence at some graves… So I’d give it a miss.

Things to do: The Chinese Fishing Nets

These were cool. Definitely worth a visit in my opinion. There were many Chinese fishing nets strung out along the skyline and lots of fisherman around the docks. One of the fishermen invited us to board his jetty and we had a chat (and some photos) with him.

My best mate who I usually travel with, began to feel abit uneasy after some time as she had seen a fight break out between some fishermen on the shore.

You do become the centre of attention very easily here and we decided it was time to leave the boat. The fisherman was very friendly, but he did ask if we could give any money before we left. Just a heads up. Not an uncommon thing in India, though.

The Santa Cruz Basilica

This Basilica looked fairly standard from the outside but had a really lovely interior. If you like seeing churches etc this is worth a visit, but it’s not something that personally sticks in my mind as a long-lasting memory.

A Must-Do! Backwater Village Boating

This was amazing and not to be missed! Our hotel organised this day out for us and it was really wonderful. Shajasps, our tour guide was great and it’s just one of our most memorable days in India.

We got to see many backwater communities, with Kunjumon, our head boatman, pushing our reed boat through the narrow waterways. Kunjumon ended up being my favourite person to photograph on this trip of a lifetime. I shot him so much that in the end he invited me up to give powering the boat a go.

The backwater boat trip was eye-opening and is just the most immersive way to see the local village life.

I believe you can go on larger engine-driven boats but I highly recommend choosing a smaller reed boat which means your highly-skilled boatmen can navigate you through the narrower waterways.

We stopped to visit some local village workers in Kottayam including a lady who sold plaited reed mats, which could be used for many purposes including roofing and walls. This kind lady let us have a go at the plaiting and safe to say, we were rubbish. At least it gave her a laugh.

We also had an incredible lunch, served on a banana leaf with so many different dips and sauce, it was glorious! Therefore, this is an absolute MUST on your visit to Kochi!