In cochin for 2 days - pls help

My wife & I will be leaving for Lakshadweep ( kadmat island ) on 18th of Dec( 11 am ), hence shall be arriving at cochin on 17th Dec ( 6 AM ).

Shall be returning from kadmat at around 11 am on 23rd Dec. Will have around 7 hrs on hand, before catching my train or flight.

I wanna make a complete use of this time available.
I am not interested in temples, churches, mosques, forts, museums, palaces, etc.

I was interested in going to mattanchery ( shopping for spices etc ).

Alleppy - for backwater ride in a motorboat / ferry

Kumarkom - natural beauty , waterfall at kettuvallam, back water.

Is it possible to go to alleppy & kumarakom in one day.
I do not intend to stay overnight at either of the places.

Which of the two is better ?

This is how i have planned for 17th dec. Just catch a bus or ferry to either alleppy or kumarakom first, spend couple of hours on sightseeing and than move to kumarakom or allepy ( whichever is pending) spend couple of hours on sightseeing, and return back to cochin by late evening by bus or ferry.

Is this itinerary fine ? any suggestions ? comments ? inputs ?

Is this route from cochin to kumarakom / alleppy & back well connected by bus or tourist ferry. Pls advice.

Are kumarakom & allepy well connected ? how ?

Would like to receive recoomendations on nice restaurants in cochin for the typical / authetic kerala food ( veg & sea food ). ( No 5 star stuff pls )

I am also looking for some decent, but cheap accomodation,( Double room Non A/c betn 300 to 500) in cochin for a night.

Pls advice some nice decent hotels to stay. And by the way, which shall be a better area to stay, i mean fort kochi - willindon island - ernakulam. Pls advice considering my itinerary & budget.

ashish

This summer I was at Cochin for three nights and then at Tekkady for one night. During my stay at Cochin in one full day I covered both house boat journey and non-mechanized open canoe boat. We were picked up from our hotel at 8.30AM and again dropped at 6.00 PM We had our traditional Kerala lunch on the house boat. We enjoyed both types of boat journey in the backwater of Allepy. Price was Rs 450 per head.

I have to search a little if you want the agents phone number etc.

Next day we went to local museum, evening sunset cruise and some other places. Next day we left for Periyar Lake at Tekkady

That sounds like a hassle free way of doing the backwaters trip, without having to rush about too much getting from the hotel to the bus stand,locating and boarding a bus to Alleppey,hiring a houseboast and then making it back to Ernakulam all in a space of half a day.
And getting back by 6 PM, it would leave you enough time to board a ferry to Fort Kochi from the city.When it comes to sea food,Fort Kochi offers a lot of options.

I've done Kumarakom -> Kochi by boat (twice).

It takes hours, And hours and hours --- maybe five (one way), if memory serves: I only did it because I love boats. I wouldn't recommend it for any other reason, because apart from other boats you will see ...a lot of palm trees!

I don't think that Alleppey/Kochi would be much quicker: Alleppey is just in the other side of the lake. Probably quicker by road than Kumarakom. Kochi Allepey could be done by train.

I wouldn't bother to visit both of them on a flying visit.

I'm not sure what you'll see in Matancherry except palaces, etc etc ---oh, there is a synagogue, which makesa change from temples!

I have not visited Kochi by air since the airport was moved --- but I understand it is quite a way out now, and that will take a chunk out of your day.

If I was going to stay there I would choose, according to the priorities of the trip, between Ernakalam for easy access to shops and Fort Cochin for a nice environment and touristy things to visit.

Book a village trip with touristdesk.... relaxing time with other travellers nearly 3 hours in a house boat and 3 hours in a canoe , seems to be much better thabn Alleppey or Kumarakom in one day . Several companies do this trip . They are Tourist desk , Destination Holidays and Indo world . I recommend tourist desk . www.costamalabari.com

Please do not go for that cheap accomodation in Cochin . I would recommend Yuvarani Residency, Bharath Hotel , or International Hotel.

In this back water village trip you will be served with authentic kerala food at lunch.

Dinner I would recomend , Yuva rani residency , Bharath Hotel , Four Foods ,

On the day returning using 7 hours explore matanchery and Fort cohin . Have something from Solar Cafe if it is open if not try Kashi Art Cafe .

I was keen on staying in fort area. Could you please advice some decent, cheap / economic accomaodation. ( 350 to 500 )

I have forked out the following names. Pls tell me whether they are worth or any other fresh refrences.

Casa Linda

Hotel Park Avenue

Chirmal Residency

Hotel Sea Gull

Hotel Adams Old Inn

Delight Tourist resort

I have contact details of Casa Linda & Hotel Sea Gull only. Pls provide me with contact details of others if available.
My prefrence would be that it should be close to jetty in fort as well as the happening area of fort. Is princess street the most happening area of fort ? Any night life clues for fort area ?

Any help would be appreciable.

What restaurants would you recommend in Fort area for typical / authetic kerala food. ( no 5 star stuff pls )

Thanks, I have dropped the idea of kumarakom & allepy & have booked for village back water with tourist desk.

Hi

Delight tourist resort

Chirammel Residency

Casa Linda

Ballard Bungalow

Fort House

Anns Residency Fort Cochin

Do avoid Hotel Seagull.With a bar attached to the hotel it gets very noisy later in the evening.If it wasn't for the fact that you plan to arrive during the peak of the tourist season,I would have advised you to land up in Fort Kochi and check out the various hotels,tourist homes in the area and then choose one to your liking.However for 17/18 and 23rd December it would be taking too much of a chance.
Most of the hotels and restaurants are located quite close to each other,along Princess street,Parade ground and other streets around.All of them are within easy walking distance of each other.So distance is not an issue at all.
The Elite restaurant serves a lot of typical Kerala fare.For seafood,if you do care for that sort of thing,try the shacks along the beach where you can buy the fresh catch and then get one of the shacks to cook it for you the way you want it.
The jetty is about couple of hundred meters from Princess street.As for nightlife,there aren't any pubs or nightclubs in that area.It would be mostly people ambling about or crowded around the tables in one of the many road side restaurants.Approaching Christmas time the whole stretch would be well lit up with a generally festive air.

The websites of couple of places in your list:-

http://www.delightfulhomestay.com/

http://www.chiramelhomestay.com/

have some doubts

how hygeniclly they can do it

and very important is the ethical

they are running it without any licences on the land opened to public as open spaces.

There are some restaurants at the beginning of princess street where the authorites have alloted land for food courts

Archies roof gardesn is also worth a try

Must Eat In Kerala ( vegetarian )

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Being a foodie, I love trying all sorts of food everywhere i travel.

Any recomendations for must eat in Kerala ( cochin / fort kochi ) ( vegetarian / egg / fish )

Aviyal, I know is awesome.
Anything apart from Idli / dosa / wada / upma ; suggest something that is keralite must have.

NO 5 STAR STUFF - PLEASE

I am also fond of fresh coconut based curries.

where can i get the best biryanis in cochin / fort cochin?

which is the best reliable place to buy spices & condiments ? is that mattencherry island or something else or any particular shop?

kayikkas Biryani

Ask for Kayikkas Biriyani Hotel betwenn the ferry station and Mattanchery people will take you

Judging by how crowded the tables around those shacks usually are;and not just by foreign tourists but by those from the mainland who can be classified as the finicky 'star hotel' kind,all those people must be having really strong immune system!
Or could it just be that,even though the shacks don't have gleaming stainless steel countertops,sparkling clean grills,ovens,skillets and spoons ,they could serve up something 'hygenic' .and that too with a toqueless head.How improbable indeed!

they run those shacks on public land ....and that too in India........how unethical of them....no respect for open spaces at all.

as you wish

But how many fortcochinites dine out there

3492....oh....wait.....3491... I missed the chap who had gone home to eat the same stuff they dish out at these places.Perhaps the fact the doesn't have to pay the same rate at home might have tempted him back!

Fully agree with 2 cents
You should eat it there

It is neat and clean

But most of them are non vegetarian .


For vegetarian there is a samll place opposite to Aspinwall or in Mattanchery there are lot of good places including Krsihna cafe .

But also heard the presence of typhoid in west cochin , Except from this there is no problem with the food there . Drink only bottled water then everyhting is safe . The shack food is hot then no problem .