It was while visiting a friend in Ernakulam, the plan of visiting Fort Kochi and the surroundings came to our mind. After having a nice breakfast, making no delay we stepped into his car and took off. While we were leaving Palluruthy, the clock had already went past 11.30 in the morning. We took some by-roads and the scenery around was fantastic. The roads are surrounded by a number of small water bodies. The Chinese fishing nets in them were quite a treat to watch. Not too much buzz was around them as it was noon then. We continued along the Beach road, which reminded me the Trivandrum - Kollam beach road.
We stopped at the SNC Maritime Museum which is on the way. The museum gives a lot of information about our glorious naval history.
One can see models of famous Warships, Missiles, Torpedoes, Anchors, Underwater Mines and a number of other naval weaponry and instruments.
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| Weaponry in display |
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| An Anti-Aircraft Gun |
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| Compass used in Ships |
Inside the walls there are a number of beautiful paintings depicting the glorious past of our navy. There were also paintings depicting the Portuguese arrival in India, various types of ancient sea vessels, etc. I was very excited on seeing the parts of ancient ships as I've been recently following closely the documentaries related to bigger ships in the 'Megastructures' in Nat Geo. The paintings, the display of uniforms and weapons used by navy men, maps, etc., altogether shows a timeline of the evolution of Indian Navy.
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| A hand-shake with Vasco da Gama before leaving |
We reached the Fort Kochi beach in a few minutes, but the midday sun prevented us from getting out of the car. So we left the beach for another time and continued to Mattancherry. The sun was even brighter and hotter when we were strolling along the Jew Street. We couldn't enter the Jewish Synagogue as it was a Saturday. Again, left that too for next time.
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| The Jewish Synagogue |
The narrow lanes of Jew Street is lined with buildings of centuries-old style and heritage. Those were warehouses for spice trade flourished here centuries ago. Even today one can see a number of Spices shops and Handicraft outlets here. We visited a few of them. Prince Charles of England visited the Jew Street and the Synagogue, while celebrating his 65th birthday in Kerala. Thomas uncle, who runs a handicrafts shop in the street, proudly showed us the photos of the Prince's visit to his shop. The entire street is picturesque, offering an amazing canvas for photography.
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| The Jew Street |
Another attraction in the Jew Street is the number of Antiques shops. We visited a few of them, but never had any intention of purchasing anything. Buying a centuries-old empty wine bottle for 5000 odd rupees was not fascinating for us. The shop owners were very kind enough to allow us to visit their shops, even knowing already that we are not gonna buy anything. They were very polite and had no hesitation about taking photos of the antiques in display.
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| Inside an Antiques shop |
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| Another pic from the shop |
An interesting item we found in one of the shops was a body armor and combat helmet used by ancient Indian soldiers. The armor, made of iron, itself weighs around 13 kilos. The shopkeeper happily insisted us to try on it, but none of us had the guts and strength to do so. But still, two of us tried the iron combat helmet. Dressed in modern casuals, with a centuries-old helmet in their head, was really a funny sight to watch. Our tummies started rumbling, and we returned back to our friend's home.
We had a yummy meal with mutton curry, prawns fry and a couple of other fish dishes from his home. After about half-an-hour rest, we were ready, up for the next. Malls have been part of the routine in any Ernakulam trip, this time too visited one. Since I've to catch the train at 5.30 PM, we had no time to reach Lulu, instead chose the Central Square mall.
Two hours later, while standing in the railway station platform, going through the photos, my mind was saying - this place needs another serious detailed visit. Good Bye Kochi... for now...
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