[jacs]

Keralites please bear with me for the text content already known but it will help others while planning a trip. This is going to be a Photo-walk with not too much text but I am setting the context why so much excited about this short trip.

It’s now one year since I relocated to my hometown Kottayam after 8 years of stay in Bengaluru. And I commute to Kochi for work on Train or Bus or Car on weekdays. Life in Bengaluru was very eventful with drives, shopping, meeting friends, partying and what not over the weekends. I really miss those fun filled days but what I earned from this relocation is priceless too. Not sure how long my career would permit my stay here but I am gifting some fond memories to parents and kids even if its just a year or so.

Unfortunately my parents hate travels restricting any weekend drive to some relative’s place which is very well within 20-30km radius. My DSLR pack found a place to rest in the cupboard enjoying the humid Kerala weather. Oh! No, my lenses are graduating to "Lens with Fungus" group as our beloved BHPian and Photographer Shajufx rightly pointed out. And every surf on FB shows some grinning photos of my buddies flying around the globe sharing the fun they had. Sigh! Desperate to click and always looking for opportunities which never barge in; I decided to be more optimistic and create rather than waiting for one. Let me see what Internet has to say about Kochi which is my daily travel. Lot many places of Interest and just see how beautiful is Kochi in Google map. Water everywhere!




See how many Boat Jettys Kochi has. (Source: Wikipedia)




To my virtue, a not so expected holiday for most of my offices except for Kochi found in my Calendar with no meetings or customer deliverables. I wanted to keep it as simple as possible and hence decided to leave the car at home and explore public transport alone. The eve before the travel day, took away all the unwanted stuff including the laptop charger, books etc. from my backpack to shed weight. Just my fully charged laptop along with data card to support any official emergency and the cam with kit lens fully charged. I love my 50 1.8 prime but 18-55 kit lens gives me a wider range for framing a travel album.

Got up early as always and caught passenger train till Kochi South Station; I have a season ticket and hence no additional cost. Reaching around 9’o’clock in the morn; took a prepaid auto to KSWTC Boat Jetty at 30 rupees. KSWTC Main Boat Jetty is very near to the Marine Drive just after Subhash Park. Its morning and road side shops are just warming up for business. No busy faces anywhere around the place as I walked towards Jetty. Some tourists are also walking along.

My dismay as I reached the ticket counter, no tickets sold until next boat arrives and one just left to Mattancherry. Oh! I can see a fully loaded boat sailing off from the Jetty. Ticketing officer asks me where I am going. Replied "Fort Kochi" which came to my mind first as not planned much and was open for any experiments. And to be honest I was under the impression the boat is same touching all Jetties in one go. He pointed me to the counter on the other side and to the time table.

Mattancherry, Fort Kochi, Vypeen and Willington Island are the main transport services operating from Main Jetty. Two paths of travel for these destinations which is via Embarkation or Vypeen and each has a designated ticket counter. Ticket charges are very nominal and the longest journey will be still less than 10 rupees. Transport service on main routes starts as early as 6AM and service till around 9PM in around 30 minutes interval.

So our next boat is 15-30minutes away! Check the below route map highlighted with where I am and my destination of travel. But please note that High Court Jetty is not the main Jetty but Park jetty is as highlighted. (Source : Wikitravel)




I thought of having a quick walk around the Jetty. Could see some private boats also anchored nearby.




There comes my transport boat, let me run for my tickets.




It’s the second ticket counter this time. "How much to Fort Kochi?" I asked; received "two rupees fifty paisa" as the response! Not able to understand how government is running this service paying wage for 2-3 staffs along with fuel cost and regular maintenance.

Boat is quite large with seating capacity around 60-70 people but just half filled not being a rush hour. I found a seat to get best visibility to outside world. Boat engine is a Ashok Leyland make, same old Cheetah engine sound! Driving a boat is an interesting thing. You would have already noticed the driver cabin on top of the boat. But actually his role is just steering the boat or rather let’s call it navigation. Engine is managed by another guy who is in passenger compartment taking care of acceleration, forward or reverse gear engagement etc. Check out this picture, did you notice a hand pumped bore well look alike in front of the engine driver. Function is similar too, fetching water out of the engine compartment when needed.




Boat started sailing away from the Jetty. Overall a pleasant weather but slightly cloudy. Looking back to the banks of Kochi city made me say "Wow". Kochi never looked so beautiful to me as always my experience were through busy streets and shopping hubs. A foreign feel, somewhere it resembles the view from Bangkok ferry service. One can notice the Marine drive Walkway in the second picture.






Calmly enjoying the scenic cruise, I clicked a co passenger to show the actual mood.




Now one will understand how great writers and poets are born


(to be continued)

[jacs]

As we sailed further, could see a red vessel anchored in the nearest island port. The tall cranes we see from Jetty and visible behind this vessel is the Vallarpadam International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT). You can also see another transport boat coming towards Park Jetty from Fort Kochi side.





We are reaching near the red vessel and it’s quite large than I thought. Looks like an oil tanker. May be our Navy man Dhanush can help me naming the ships and boats correctly.







And we are now very close and GOLD EXPRESS gives me a pose for a click with a message to the readers “NO SMOKING”.





Yes this is the Kochi International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) alias Vallarpadam Terminal which is the first trans-shipment port in India. Vallarpadam Terminal also has the title of largest single operator container terminal in India and its first in the country to operate in a special economic zone. I recollect some 15 cranes came from Dubai out of which 6 of them are Mammoth size intended for Mother Vessels. And the first Mother Vessel from Africa “MV Kota Hormat” anchored in Vallarpadam on February 20, 2013 which is a milestone in the history of foreign trade.





Panorama of Kochi city.





As we approach the Port Trust office, noticed a huge ship anchored near Willington Island. Shall share you a closer shot from my return journey later.





Could see lot of fishing boats as were getting near Fort Kochi, most of them got back from work and some of them were still arranging the nets after retiring for the day.







Noticed a vintage building on the banks…I have seen this somewhere! Took a minute to realize this is the building used for the recent hit Malayalam movie “Trivandrum Lodge”.




Also attaching a sample banner to give a quick comparison. (Source : Metromatinee.com)




There comes the Fort Kochi Boat Jetty, just adjacent to Coastal Police Station. Good moves to ensure tourist’s needs are attended without delay.




As we reached the Jetty, the fleet of police patrol boats in front of the Police Station




(to be continued)

[jacs]

Fort Kochi Jetty is quite small and it’s a concrete platform pillared to lake. It would get crowded with off-boarding from a single boat. And once the boat is left, its alienated with even ticket counter closed. Just saw this cyclist on-boarding the boat, looks like people are tourist friendly here.




However I was wondering what this lady would have been doing with cycle in this water world. More surprised when I moved to exit. Both sides with cycles parked tightly.




I quickly checked with a local guy about what to see. “Dutch fort is towards left and Beach is towards right”. Let me check the beach first before sun hits hard and its walkable distance anyways. Roads are but good and very less traffic; so it’s fine though not wide. A cyclist gang passed by with full enthusiasm and now I know what is a cycle doing in this water town.




I walked further enjoying the street, each shop or house has something to convey to the tourists about the heritage of Fort Kochi. Not sure how many times I pressed the shutter button as I reached the Junkar jetty. Spices is what brought the foreigners here, Wiki can give you a quick tour on the history of trade in Kochi. Here are some of them I felt worth sharing here. Tea packers! never thought of finding one here when TATAs and all others are sweating in the misty hill stations of Kerala. And this security guard conveys the peace of mind when stationed near a police station.




Found a Pepper House which is still digging on to history before confirming when they got established.




Hotel Seagull still serves good sea-food starters maintaining the mood of 1980s.




Found a beautiful window in the street.




While preserving the culture heritage, Fort Kochi never fails to serve what customer wants.




The tricycle diaries…Che still live in us.




Just look at these walls. Can you believe it’s an art work which is the after effect of the famous Muzris Biennale. For those who are still surprised, it was a very good initiative from the Cultural and tourism ministry by setting up a platform for the artists across globe to exhibit their talent to outside world. And Kochi became Kerala’s first Mural city.




Here I am, in front of the Junkar jetty. The vehicles seen are not the ones coming but going in reverse inside the Junkar for the ferry. So if you are driving on your own next time, you need not miss the fun of ferry but take your ride across the lake rather than driving all the way through the busy city.




(to be continued…)

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Travelogues. Thanks for sharing!

[mallumowgli]

jacs, great to see a travelogue of yours after quite some time. Great snaps of the life around Fort Kochi - I too have never visited Fort Kochi, but always wanted to, after seeing our dear Sam Kapasi's travelogue. Now your photos has made the urge stronger - will make it immediately after this monsoon!!

Eagerly waiting for the rest of the day's report

[dhanushmenon]

Very nicely covered photologue jacs. This rightly gives the over view of the city for any wanna be visitor. The junkar ferry service in Kochi is something which many isn't aware of. Thanks for covering that. You could've touched a bit on the chinese fishing nets too and the cherai beach.
Additionally, you can also give the distances from various places to here would've turned this to a one stop answer to all questions.

[jacs]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

jacs, great to see a travelogue of yours after quite some time. Great snaps of the life around Fort Kochi - I too have never visited Fort Kochi, but always wanted to, after seeing our dear Sam Kapasi's travelogue. Now your photos has made the urge stronger - will make it immediately after this monsoon!!

Eagerly waiting for the rest of the day's report

Thanks Praveen. Yes, its a should visit place considering its just a day trip if you decide to. I shall come up with my next episodes quickly.

Originally Posted by dhanushmenon

Very nicely covered photologue jacs. This rightly gives the over view of the city for any wanna be visitor. The junkar ferry service in Kochi is something which many isn't aware of. Thanks for covering that. You could've touched a bit on the chinese fishing nets too and the cherai beach.
Additionally, you can also give the distances from various places to here would've turned this to a one stop answer to all questions.

Thanks Dhanush. Chinese net is on its way in next episodes. Distance yes, I shall include. thanks for pointing out.

But we need some enlightment on the below query . Please feel free to correct me on these terms.

Originally Posted by jacs

We are reaching near the red vessel and it’s quite large than I thought. Looks like an oil tanker. May be our Navy man Dhanush can help me naming the ships and boats correctly.

[dhanushmenon]

Originally Posted by jacs

But we need some enlightment on the below query . Please feel free to correct me on these terms.

Your assumptions seems correct. It looks like an oil tanker to me too.

[jacs]

I walked beyond the Junkar jetty towards beach and took a deviation to the narrow path through the banks of the lake than sticking on to the main road. What I got extra is a closer look to the fishing industry of Kochi.

A beautiful wooden fishing boat. I loved the contrasting colours on the boat and nets. Name "Japamala" means "Rosary".




Boats and the Chinese fishing nets. Also a ship sailing away in the backdrop.




Chinese fishing nets in action. These nets were brought to Fort Kochi by Portuguese from Macau, once a Portuguese colony. As per the news sources, only 11 nets are there in Fort Kochi totalling to just about 20 nets including the ones in Vypeen. This dip in number is due to high maintenance cost which doesn’t justify the business volume. Trolling boats enjoy the volume business these days











About 4-5 Manpower is required to operate a Chinese net and the catch is not so much. They sell it then and there to passer-by people. This is the outcome from one net, you could notice it’s not enough to fill even one box.




Found this interesting fish from a catch. It’s a tiny one decided to not to give up and decided to stay alive. Holding its fins so strong, it stood erect! They left it back in water after few minutes.




Direct selling is not a multinational concept anymore. These small road side shops sell fresh fish but sometimes expensive than market prices due to the effort versus outcome challenges.







(to be continued…)

[laluks]

Fort Cochin never looked so beautiful.
What an awesome travelogue jacs.

My five stars for you.

[foby.sebastian]

Thats awsome , please continue.

[NPV]

Jacs, Wonderful travelogue and pictures, thanks for sharing, looking forward to more here.
Many times, we just don't seem excited or pay attention to the places that we frequent! And of course a well deserved 5 stars

[rjstyles69]

jacs wonderful compilation man, brings back a whole lot of memories from my beloved Kochi. I spent a good time of my school vacations around Thoppumpady, Fort Kochi and mattanchery.

Did you make a trip to Kumblangi and Andakaaran azhi yet ? If not do it trust me its worth your time and the drive.

[jacs]

Originally Posted by laluks

Fort Cochin never looked so beautiful.
What an awesome travelogue jacs.

My five stars for you.

Thanks Lalu. I am a big fan of your travelogues and your 5 stars are certainly valuable.

Originally Posted by foby.sebastian

Thats awsome , please continue.

Thanks Foby, I am putting the next batch of clicks soon.

Originally Posted by NPV

Jacs, Wonderful travelogue and pictures, thanks for sharing, looking forward to more here.
Many times, we just don't seem excited or pay attention to the places that we frequent! And of course a well deserved 5 stars

Thanks Narayan. And yes, I realize many places around me which I am yet to cover.

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

jacs wonderful compilation man, brings back a whole lot of memories from my beloved Kochi. I spent a good time of my school vacations around Thoppumpady, Fort Kochi and mattanchery.

Did you make a trip to Kumblangi and Andakaaran azhi yet ? If not do it trust me its worth your time and the drive.

Thanks a lot Riju. Happy to know my pics made you nostalgic about your younger days.

Kumblangi is still pending, have in my list. Andakaaran azhi was our last TBHP meet spot but unfortunately I joined the convoy from Arthungkal only. Point noted.

[lloydofcochin]

Jacs,

Superb log covering my Hometown. I'm from Fort Cochin and all these places that you have visited are just 1-2km from my house.

The Ferry & Jhankar were my commuting options daily since I did my schooling for 8 years in Vypin.

It is a lovely town and I miss it so much when I'm here in Bangalore and that is a reason enough for me to drive / take a bus to visit my home at least once a month

Pls continue. My 5 stars added.