#TheKochiDiaries

It's funny how this trip even came to be. I'd been whining about the fact that I'd been to more places abroad than within my own country, and how I was missing out on immense opportunities for cultural enrichment, because of my family's fixation with Jaipur and Agra.

And then, comes this amazing phone call. My cousin brother was all set to get married, and guess where? KOCHI. It was to be just a registrar marriage, which for us Punjabis is like no shaadi at all, to hell with it all being legal. And though the call was more on informational grounds than invitational, my mother's amazing brain whirred, and there we were, our bags packed for what were to be 3 amazing days in the land of the Gods.

Our journey began super early in the morning, early enough for my Bua and Dada to be having an indepth discussion about the various problems of "clearing"(read, defecating) at 4 AM. I, with my young metabolism and digestion, looked superior throughout said conversation.

After 5 hours of flying and several airplane selfies, we finally landed at Kochi airport, which is BEAUTIFUL. The architecture is simulatneously colonial and Kairali, a juxtaposition of austere and welcoming. However, that did not detract from the WAVES of heat, practically bowling us over. This place was 10 times hotter than Delhi, which at that time was experiencing "gentle, pleasing weather with light wind and rains". Another one and a half hours of driving was ahead of us before we reached our destination- Fort Kochi.

Fort Kochi is THE place to be in when one visits Kochi. For one, all the touristy attractions of Kochi are practically walking distance, save the backwaters trip. And second, it is amazingly picturesque, with all its Boutique hotels and proximity to the beaches. And luckily for us, we were putting up at one of the most beautiful places in all of Kochi- the Naval Mess, which apart from being built right along the shoreline, also boasts a private beach and some of the tastiest food I've ever eaten.

Autorickshaws are the preferred mode of transport in Kochi, not counting the weirdly awesome window-less buses, as we discovered when we set out to explore the Fort Kochi area.

                                                   Our first stop was David Hall, which is a cafe-cum-art gallery. You will find a lot of such places in Kochi, with most of them serving fresh homemade

food, with the freshest ingredients they can get their hands on.

A visit to Kochi is incomplete without visiting the Chinese Fishing Nets and the Vasco Da Gama church, popping into the Boutique Hotels along the way. These hotels are amazingly pretty, homely and bursting with unique flavor. Le Colonial, one of the most select boutique hotels, where one can be paying upto INR 18,000 per night in season, is run by an aristrocratic French couple, who incidently own an island off the coast of France too. Each piece of artwork in the hotel is an original from Christie's or Sotheby's, valued at millions of dollars a piece and all in keeping with the colonial theme of the hotel. However, my personal favorite was The Old Harbor Hotel. Visiting this hotel is like stepping into an arsty, kitchsy wonderland. And the amazing food didn't hurt too.

And when one talks of Kochi, how can one forget the Backwaters trip? A lovely woven cane boat, with chairs that could give La-Z-boys a run for their money, and the complete silence... it was my idea of heaven. Not to mention the numerous stops along the way, whence they show you the roap-making cooperatives and how to make fresh Toddy, the local beer-like liqour, only twice as potent, made from fresh baby coconut sap which is allowed to ferment over the day, which means you will get progressively drunker with every sip.

The highlight of this amazing trip for me was the traditional Kerala meal, served on banana leaves and amazingly light and healthy. The Reception party for the newly married couple (remember, I said I'd gone for a wedding? :P) was held at the house, I should actually say mansion, of one Chucco and her German partner(whose name I can't remember for the life of me), owners of Malabar House, the first boutique Hotel in Kochi. The house had its own deck, decorated with twinlkly lights. And yes, the buffet did serve the Kairali delicacy of one WHOLE huge ass fish. As we danced late into the night, it did feel like the end that such an amazing trip deserved.

My verdict: GO VISIT KOCHI NOW. Its beauty, the warmth of the people, the slow pace of life, the pleasure of just strolling down Jew Street, or buying kilos of spices at the Spice Bazaar, and even indulging in the sinful chocolate cake at one of the cafes, is unparalleled.