I’ve had my fair share of traveling around the world but strangely enough, I’d never been to India. To my delight, Class 95 and SilkAir gave me the perfect opportunity to change that!

I always feared going to India because I hate seeing images of poverty and sadly, there is a lot of it there. However, I know what treasures and stunning landmarks India possesses and I’ve been curious.

So when the opportunity to visit India came along, I said, ’this is it. Its time to visit God’s Own Country” (apparently a term originally coined in India!)

The flight to Kochi on SilkAir was fast and pleasant with good food and a comfortable Business Class Seat, and as we came in for a smooth landing, I gazed out over the dark, 1045pm landscape and noticed that most of the lights from Kochi were fluorescent. Very Green! Yay! It was like staring at a starry night.

Most of the roads in Kochi and the general layout reminded of Bali and Phuket, with pretty much one straight road to and from the airport, loads of coconut trees, but way more advertising on everything! Walls, billboards, any inch of space that was available was rented out to the next interested advertiser. And my husband Wayne noticed something interesting: pretty much all the signboards were in English! Turns out, Kochi’s population are 99% literate and English speakers!

The good thing I noticed throughout the trip was that there was no abject poverty, or begging in the streets; the usual misconceptions of India’s big cities. That was a big sigh of relief. J

The hotel we stayed in was Travancore Court Hotel; apparently owned by a Bollywood star! Plus we saw a film crew filming in the lobby the next morning! What are the chances of being in India and watching a film crew create a Bollywood movie? Probably pretty high actually cos India releases about one thousand movies a year! Bollywood is the largest film producer in India and one of the largest centers of film production in the world.

First day, we traveled 1 and a half hours out to Allepey to experience the backwaters of Kerala on a woven rattan houseboat! Don’t get me wrong though cos this rattan houseboat had air-conditioned bedrooms and full kitchens!

We spent the entire day just floating around Kochi, watching the locals living and using the waters in their daily routine. Many ladies in colorful sarees were doing their household laundry by standing in front of very large granite stones, smacking each piece of clothing against it and you get the sense that with the amount of force they were using, any morsel of dirt would definitely have been subdued!

Others were brushing their teeth using only their fingers, some were fishing as the evening drew closer and others were bathing. We didn’t stare J

The next day was spent at Fort Cochin, exploring the rich history that is evidenced by the old Basilica with its very colorful and skillfully painted walls and ceiling, and the St Francis Church with its old Dutch cemetery. Abandoned cannons served to remind us that war touched every country.

The Mattancherry Palace wasn’t spectacular but it held little treasures like info about and artifacts from the Royal Family and do look out the window and you just might see the secret pool with granite walls, covered in moss, with a few turtles peeking out from the surface of the water.

Fort Cochin is not a Fort in itself but a general area that was closest to the beach, where locals chilled and ate ice cream, socialized and general enjoyed the temporary relief of a hard day’s work.

This was also where we saw the legendary Chinese Fishing Nets left behind by, well, the Chinese! Huge, graceful and strange to a new eye, these towering nets were essential for not just the daily catch, and the tourist draw, but also the reminder of the rich history and culture left behind by various inhabitants.

Shopping is not the main thing to do, but when you do chance upon a good street filled with glass lanterns, beads, wood sculptures, gold jewelry, marble pots, or coir mats and hammocks, do spend and bargain a little. The exchange rate is so favorable, that the amount is really nothing to quibble about.

Make use of the local tuk tuks, but be prepared for constant honking and do hold on for your life because there will lots of overtaking and swerving!

We didn’t have a bad meal at all in Kochi! The houseboat chefs were especially good! The local fish in all forms of curry must be savored but expect to only drink local beer as the strict alcohol regulations there are in full force.

Kochin is small as a city, huge as a backwater attraction and large as a city that’s on the brink of either decline or a commercial upswing. I couldn’t really tell cos I didn’t have a yardstick as to what Kochi looked like say, 10 years ago.

But it certainly does have its charms and the backwaters are an experience that must not be missed. I’m glad I set aside my backward conceptions and visited the treasure that is Kochi, India.