A baby girl standing in an Auto_Fort Kochi
Kochi, whose colonial name was Cochin is situated on the south-west coast of India in the state of Kerala (Ernakulam district), God’s own country. By the Arabian sea, this region which boasts of a world class port now was famous with traders and explorers in the past who touched its shores 600 hundred years ago. This city which is also called Gateway to Kerala showcases an eclectic mix of cultures from its past dominance of Arabs, British, Chinese, Dutch, and Portuguese. Old Kochi is famous for giant fishing nets from China, a 400-year-old Pardesi synagogue, churches, mosques, heritage dwellings and interesting home-stays. St. Francis Church is the oldest European-built church in India and it also the burial site of explorer Vasco de Gama (the famous explorer).
I will always be thankful to Nissan’s Safety Drive Forum initiative and the blogging contest by Indiblogger that gave me a chance to experience Kochi. It was a power packed short trip of 2 days that not only gave me a relief from Delhi’s chilling weather but also lots of memorable experiences.My first day had been all about sightseeing. Rahul Rathore, fellow blogger from Delhi and I had a great time exploring Old Kochi and colonial beauty of Mattencherry. You may read my experience here- Day 1 in Kochi: My Random and Colorful Clicks
Artist Making Wall Painting at Fort Kochi Beach
On the second day we were five of us- Khusboo from Mumbai, Prasad aka Desi Traveler from Gurgaon and Kishore from Chennai. They had all landed late evening the day before and thus couldn’t go with us. The agenda for the second day (Sunday) was attending the NSDF but since Ankit from Nissan team told us that we would join the event at 2 in the afternoon and from there head to airport we decided to use the morning hours judiciously. Soon after hearty breakfast, we were headed towards the city to see the Synagogue and the Jew Street, main tourist strip of Kochi.
A tourist, blogger, photographer has lots to capture at Jew Street or Synagogue Lane.
Directions for Synagogue, Jew Street and Ferry Service
Jewish Street is a tourist strip
The first Jewish church, Jewish Synagogue which was built in 1568 attracts huge number of tourists footfall.
Jewish Special Item Shops Jewish Street_Way to Synagogue Pardesi Synagogue
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More about Kochi
There is a Vasco house in Kochi, where Vasco Da Gama stayed in Kochi on the Rose Street, near to the St. Francis Church
Vasco Home-stay
Later in the afternoon, we visited Lulu Shopping Mall to attend Nissan Safety Driving Forum. The LuLu Mall spanning a little over 2.5 million sq ft claims to be the largest shopping mall in India the city of Kochi. This all-in one shopping, dining, and entertainment experience is a great shopper’s paradise for the peopel of Kochi.
Catch the activity of NSDF and my experience of the simulators in the next post.
Happy Traveling
Such beautiful clicks! 🙂
Thanks for coming around Bushra
Awesome clicks showcasing the different cultural colors in Kochi:)
Thanks for the read Vishal
Kochi! Another place I have been wanting to visit…
I got a small trip of only 2 days but yes it had been on my list also for tooo long.
good post
I enjoyed your post with various pictures of Cochin or Kochi .Cochin is known as the Queen of the Arabian Sea and was an important spice trading centre. There are various places to visit in Cochin which are remains of Portuguese, Dutch and British colonials. Its always a pleasure to visit Cochin.
Hey Manjulika was just going through your blog. That artist you clicked on this post, he passed away recently. 🙁
What a guide, I must say, your guides are awesome and I enjoy reading them. You write to the point and with clear and eye-catchy UI, your blog looks great.
I have bookmarked your website, keep posting articles like this.
Thanks!