Sightseeing in Kochi

Kochi is a rare blend of the old world charm and a upwardly mobile metro in the making. You have the quiet lanes of Fort Kochi, where history is preserved quite fiercely and the Kochi marina, where even the Volvo race organisers thought it befitting to change a historical route to include Kochi as a stopover for the first time. A visit to Kochi is incomplete without visiting the Jew town and the synagogue, which lends a european village charm with its cobbled pavements and shops selling antiquities. You can find the worlds biggest Brass Vessel cast or (Varpu) in one of the shops here. I have enclosed a pic of the Varpu and the Jew Street below.

Another of Kochi's landmarks (watermarks?) are the Chinese fishing nets which dot the coastline of Fort Kochi. These huge nets lowered and raised manually are a sight in itself. You can watch a demonstration of these nets and then amble across to the Fort Kochi Beach to catch a glimpse of the beautiful sunset.

Shopping for spices can be done either in the Spice Market in Mattancherry or Broadway near Marine Drive which is more of the city centre and the main shopping area. There is a Children's park near marine drive including a traffic park, where the kids can hire toy cars and drive on earmarked lanes complete with traffic lights and signals. The park also includes a toy train and boating facilities. You can see statues of some of the cartoon characters that the kids love for a photo op.