Before we embarked on this trip, everyone told us that Cochin, in the state of Kerala in southern India, would be the perfect gentle introduction to the sub-continent. And so it proved to be! From the moment we stepped off the plane, Cochin and its people gave us every reason to fall in love with India!
As is our wont when arriving in an Asian or African airport after a long flight, we remained airside after claiming our bags in order to sort ourselves out, have our money in the right place, and formulate our plan of attack to deal with the hassle we would undoubtedly get as soon as we left the protection of the secure area. In Cochin, though, none of this was necessary! When we did emerge into the heat of the day, there was nobody there – no taxi drivers, porters, sellers or other people waiting to ‘help’ us. To say we were surprised is an understatement! In the end, we had to ask a taxi driver to direct us to the service bus for Fort Cochin. He pointed us in the right direction with a smile, without ever even suggesting that we might prefer to take his taxi!
The bus journey to Fort Cochin, where we had booked a hotel for our first few nights in India, was 46 kilometres and took 90 minutes – all for the princely sum of £3.10 for the two of us. We drove through the city of Cochin itself, which felt very familiar, even though this was our first time in India. The size, the number of people, the crazy driving with the hand permanently on the horn, the heat, the colourful advertising hoardings – all of this made us feel immediately at home! What was different to other Asian cities we’ve visited, I suppose, was the amount of greenery (there were trees and shrubs everywhere), the vibrant colours all around (particularly in the saris the ladies were wearing), and the number of men in very short skirts (the traditional lungis)! There was also a certain sense of order which is often lacking in Asian cities.
Once we crossed the bridge to Fort Cochin, the feeling was that of a holiday place – relaxed smiling faces, beautiful bright flowers, colourful ice cream sellers, and children eating psychedelic pink candy floss! First impressions of a place count for a lot and ours of Fort Cochin were all positive.
We had asked the bus conductor if he knew where our hotel was. He assured us he did and, at the appropriate place, he advised us to get off the bus and he pointed in the direction we should go – about 200 metres, he said. With the bus disappearing into the distance, we realised that the road name didn’t match the address we had for our hotel! I don’t think the conductor deliberately gave us the wrong information, rather it was our first experience of the Indian desire to please! Anyway, we asked a tuk-tuk (correctly called auto-rickshaws in this area) driver who pointed back the way we had come on the bus. We asked him to take us, but he refused – I think he was on his break! As we were wondering what to do, we were rescued by another tuk-tuk driver, Joseph, who happily agreed to deliver us to our hotel and, by the time he did, we knew his life story and that of the owner of our hotel because his brother-in-law owned the shop two doors down from her!
Thus, we acquired ourselves a driver for the duration of our stay in Cochin. His rates were very reasonable, his ready smile infectious, and his local knowledge very handy! What more could we want for our first days here?
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