If you've never been to India, brace yourself. Scary does nothing to describe those first few moments when you leave the port, whether in a tuk-tuk, car or coach, and discover that things on the road are not quite as you're used to at home.

Horns parp, cars overtake -- never mind the traffic coming in the other direction -- vehicles pull out from nowhere. It's alarming if you're not used to it, but the best thing to do is relax. These drivers might seem crazy, but they know what they are doing. Mostly.

Cochin, or Kochi to use its Indian name, is one of the favourite cruise ports in India. It's in the southwest, on the Malabar coast, sitting in a natural harbour that was created by a flood in 1341. Make sure you are awake for the sail-in to watch the sun rise over the misty water and the colourful local boats make their packed way from one side of the city to another.

Cochin is believed to have had trade links with China and Arabia for 2,000 years; 500 years ago the Europeans arrived. First were the Portuguese, when Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India and set up a trading station in 1502. In 1503, Fort Cochin, the first European fort in India, was built.

The British arrived in 1635 but were forced out by the Dutch in 1663. However, they returned in 1791 and stayed until independence in 1947.

The city is divided into two halves -- Mattancherry on the south side and Fort Cochin. (You'll see an area that was within the fort, rather than battlements.) The new town of Ernakulam is to the north. There are museums, shops, restaurants and hotels in Ernakulam, but essentially, it's a most modern city. Visitors usually stick with the south side, as that is the most attractive and historic area of the city.

A few hours of exploring in Fort Cochin is time well-spent, but one of the biggest attractions of the city is that it is the gateway to the Kerala Backwaters, a drop-dead gorgeous network of canals, rivers and lakes that twist and turn for about 1,150 kilometres. It's incredibly peaceful and offers a fascinating glimpse into another part of life in India.

You can visit the backwaters alone or on an excursion -- the best cruise-line tours use houseboats for the cruising part of the trip. These boats are hand-built, thatched-roof vessels with up to four rooms and can be hired for a couple of days if you are staying in the area. One note, however: a trip to the Kerala Backwaters involves a solid (and life-risking) two-hour ride, each way, from the dock. So it's a full-day tour that precludes time to explore Fort Cochin.

It's nearly impossible to see both Fort Cochin and the Kerala Backwaters in just one day. Ultimately, the biggest downside of a visit to Cochin is choosing between the two.



Cochin, the historic port of ancient maritime trade attracted traders and merchants from the great civilizations of both the Western and Eastern worlds. In Biblical times, during King Solomon's reign the Queen of Sheba presented the ruler with gold, ivory, pepper and other exotic spices which is believed to have originated from Cochin.In 1000 B.C. the Phoenicians who were trading with Cochin supplied the Pharaohs of Egypt with aromatic oils and spices which were used to preserve the embalmed bodies of the Egyptian Kings and Queens after their death. When Rome conquered Egypt they discovered this trade route which was a closely guarded secret; and soon Roman galleys were carrying the same goods to imperial Rome; where pepper, the most prized import was worth its weight in gold.St. Thomas arrived in the first century AD. bringing Christianity to these shores and established Christian Communities here even before Rome.

The Jews arriving here in the wake of the Diaspora were given sanctuary and titles of land and established a flourishing trading community in Cochin.For the next thousand years the spice trade was controlled by the Arabs who supplied these exotic wares through the Italian City State of Venice.

Marco Polo in his travelogue writes about a flourishing trade between Cochin and China when he visited these parts.In order to break the Venetian stranglehold on this lucrative trade, the Catholic Majesties of Spain and Portugal financed independent explorations to discover a direct sea route to Cochin.Christopher Columbus under the patronage of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain began his journey by sea to Cochin; but eventually discovered the continent of the Americas. Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer(1498) directly established, for the first time, a sea route between western Europe and the Orient.The rest is recorded history. The Dutch in their quest for colonial expansion fought the Portuguese in a major sea battle in the Harbour of Cochin and established a Dutch trading port. In the 18th century, Cochin came under the British rule and became an integral part of their empire. Being naturally blessed with an all weather harbour it soon became the premier port and commercial hub of South India.

A cluster of islands and narrow peninsulas, Cochin or Kochi is perhaps the second best poet on the Western Ghats. Known as 'Queen of the Arabian Sea', it reflects the best of all that Kerala has to offer. A rich past and a vibrant present, Kochi gained the status of the business hub of the region long back. Comprising of mainland of Ernakulam, the islands of Willington, Bolgatty and Gundu in the harbor, Fort Cochin and Mattancherry on the southern peninsula, and Vypeen Island north of Fort Cochin, all the parts of Kochi are well-linked by ferries.


Being a seaport, many foreigners came to the place and one can clearly see the influence of Chinese, Jews, Arabs and Europeans in its culture and lifestyles of the natives. It boasts of the oldest church in India, the famous old-traditioned Chinese fishing nets, 500-year-old Portuguese houses, old tiled houses built in the Chinese pagoda style, synagogues, a Jewish community whose roots go back to the Diaspora and mosques. The harbor is still hale and hearty and the main exports of the region are pepper, seafood, rubber and coir. However, it attracts tourists because of its serene backwaters, beautiful lagoons fringed by swaying coconut palms and picturesque islands. The older parts of Fort Cochin and Mattanchery look more like a fusion of medieval Portugal, Holland and an English country village into one and are situated on the tropical Malabar Coast. Today, Cochin is one of India's largest ports and a major naval base.

Tourist spots in Cochin

Chinese Fishing Nets, Fort Kochi, Fort Kochi beach, St. Francis Church, Fort Kochi, Vasco House, Fort Kochi, Santa Cruz Basilica, Fort Kochi, Jewish Synagogue and Jew Town, Mattancherry, Dutch Palace (Mattancherry Palace), Mattancherry, Bolghatty Palace, Bolghatty Island, Hill Palace, Tripunithura, Palliport (Pallipuram) Fort, Mangalavanam Bird Sanctuary, Museum of Kerala History, Kalamassery, Parikshith Thampuran Museum, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kaloor