sandeep (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} deepsan) wrote,@ 2005-11-14 16:48:00 |
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| Entry tags: | backpack, backpack kanyakumari, book, photo |
Kochi
Part of the Backpack Kanyakumari posts.
Apparatus: The Chinese fishing nets on Fort Cochin.
Slideshow of the photos
My colleague's trip(and my trip thereof) to his home town of Irinjalakuda was not confirmed until I called him up Friday night, when he told me that his friend had informed him that the roads were good and hence he was going to leave Satuday early morning. I stayed up packing my backpack(my trekking bag) with clothes, camera and a couple of books.
Of the clothes I had taken, 2 shirts and 2 pants were unused at the end of the trip; the dark green LiveIn cargo pant I wore all through the trip was very comfortable. I had put my camera and books in a smaller bag which fit in my larger bag, this way I could leave the bigger bag in the room and walk around with the smaller bag. 'Rough Guide to India' is a pretty good reference book with helpful maps; 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'(ZMM) was the other book I was reading through the trip: the book itself a journey interspersed with notes on Quality, a good book to read on a trip.
My friend picked me up at 6am, Hosur road is pretty empty in the morning resulting in a very good ride. The price of petrol in Tamil Nadu is about Rs. 2.5 less than in Bangalore(and even cheaper in Kerala). Having lunch near Pallakad, we reached my friend's home at around 4pm. I had my friend call up and reserve a room in a hotel in Fort Cochin; I didn't want to go there late and start a search for a room, atleast not on the first day of the trip. My friend dropped me at the bus stand and I was on a bus to Ernakulam at around 6pm, this reached the KSRTC bus-stand at 7:30pm.The KSRTC bus service is very good; I never had to wait more than 5 mins for a bus to my next destination; coupled with very good roads, it is one smooth ride. For local transport there are 3 types of buses, the normal red buses which stop at every bus-stop going into the smaller towns, the Fast Passenger buses which have limited stops and the Super Fast buses which have even less. Most buses don't have glass windows and are open -needed with all the humidity- but have pull down shutters when it rains.
Took an auto to the Main boat Jetty and then a ferry to Fort Cochin. The night ferry ride gives a night lit view of the port with the huge cranes and ships. Walked through some shady areas(appeared so in the night, next to the drain) and after asking for direction from 3 places, reached the hotel. While the skies had been clear the whole day, it started to rain heavily in the night while I was trying to sleep; I bought myself an umbrella the next morning.The 'Popy' brand of umbrella which I bought seems to be the most popular in Kerala; I saw their mascot(a boy holding an umbrella) even in small towns while going by bus. The other brand seems to be John's with a girl replacing the boy as the mascot. The rain that day was pretty hard too, either the gravity was more or the water just wanted to be done with it fast.
Morning, I headed for the Chinese fishing nets, but on the way had a look into the first church established by the europeans in India. The chinese fishing nets are huge but simple apparatus, the fishermen very tourist friendly calling you to take part in the fishing. I helped one group pull the ropes down, after which two of them went to get the catch from the nets: 15 fish out of which I think 11 were thrown back because they were too small; such huge nets and so small an amount. When asked about the quantity, he said that this was not the season, the sweet water(rain water) not good for fishing, the season starts from December and lasts for some 7 months when they catch a lot of fish. The boat jetty that has the ferry to Vypeen Island is right next to the fishing nets, I took the ferry(Rs. 1). After a short walk, took the ferry back to Fort Cochin. Then took a walk to the jetty that has the ferry to the High Court jetty on the mainland. On the way, had a look at the Santa Cruz Basilica. A short walk from the High Court Jetty takes you to another one from where you can catch the ferry to Bolghatty. There is a neatly maintained park here which seems to be the hangout place for courting couples and picknicking families. Two ferry rides later and a walk was back in the hotel room, continued reading ZMM, later going out for dinner.The tickets for the ferries were Rs.1,2,3 here but all the tickets had the numbers printed in paise, so it was 100,200,300.
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