Chris de Burgh quoted the journey beautifully

Folks who know me well are aware of my weekend plans, especially the plans for Friday evening but the weekend of 20th December 2019 was kinda different. Why wouldn’t it be, I was supposed to meet the love of my life, Poggo after seven long months and what better place then one of the places I had been planning to visit for a while.

Despite all my logical attempts to get some sleep before I boarded my flight at 5:00 am on 21st Dec, I know that’s a weird time slot to fly but then if you belong to a middle-class mindset, you are bound to put cost over comfort when it comes to air travels. So with sleep-deprived eyes I landed in Coimbatore on Day 1 of my trip to the God’ Own Country, Kerela.

My foodie soul missed out on the fact that Coimbatore happens to hail some amazing recipes but thanks to my OLA driver who took me to the best place in the town, Sree Annapoorna. For a restaurant of this magnitude backend by a diverse menu card, I was surprised to learn that their signature element is Filter coffee but the moment I had it, my taste buds know this is the very best coffee it ever came across. If this wasn’t flattering enough, The Ghee Rava Masal Roast filled not only my tummy but also the soul. On top of all, none of the dishes were beyond INR 200, now that’s elating.

I was back to reality when my phone rang and it came with another dream, she had landed. I rushed to the Airport and here she was, leaving behind her parents rushing to her one and only Mamu. We had another round of meals before bidding god bye to Coimbatore.

Once we were all assured that the Remy in our tummies were content we started our journey to the Queen of Arabian Sea, Kochi. Well, apart from homely conversations, there wasn’t much on the route. I will rate the road trip from Coimbatore to Kochi as dull but to our surprise, there was something more that bothered us, it was the time it took us to reach Fort Kochi from Kochi’s main city. The fact that our Ola driver wasn’t well informed about Kochi did bite back as we reached to our destination, Roses Inn all exhausted. This hotel is placed at the epicenter of Fort Kochi’s heart, The Chinese Nets. The hotel staff made us felt like we belong to the same family while the hotel interiors helped us to regain a lot of positivity. We explored most of the famous restaurants in and around Fort Kochi for the next couple of days but I can guarantee that none of them came close to the food that Roses Inn served in breakfast.

Over the next two days, we tried to cover whatever we could in and around Fort Kochi or rather I should say whatever the hot and humid climate let us cover. This came as a shock as we expected it to be a bit pleasant at least in December. Nevertheless, we enjoyed shopping in the Jewtown, the iconic Chinese nets & cherished the Kochi seafood variants including the likes of Pollichathu (fish cooked & served in banana leaf) & Kerela fish curry. Not to forget the yummy King prawns. The preparations all along ensured that the weather doesn’t mess up us. Special mention for Cherai beach which is located some 20 km in the north of Fort Kochi. The water is sparklingly blue and the beach is speckless. The seafood served at Lilliput was lip-smacking 🤩

While we couldn’t experience the famous Houseboats of Alleppey, we did a memorable backwater trip amidst the villages of Kerela. We visited Kochi when the energy level amongst the tourists as well as the native folks. The whole city was filled with the Christmas vibes. One place in Fort Kochi needs a special mention, Teapot cafe.

By 24th December, we all had received our set quota of suntanning (irrespective of the fact that I can’t tan any further) & desperately needed some relief from the humid weather. In the next part, I will be covering our journey to Munnar.

To be continued…