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Ladakh - Planning The Trip

Over 2000 Km by road, in around 10 days. Stunning landscapes, wonderful people. That sums up our Ladakh trip. But how did it actually work? How did we make it happen? Read on to find out!  Leh, the capital of Ladakh , is accessible by air and road. Flying into Leh is the easiest, and time-saving option, while the road is the time consuming one, but with the added advantage of driving past some of the most beautiful landscapes in our country. Each option has much to recommend it, and we chose the road for just one reason – altitude sickness. Altitude sickness was one of my biggest concerns, since I suffer from motion-sickness. Yes, I do travel a lot, but that is despite my condition, and, over the years, have learnt how to handle it. I struggled with it when we visited Nathu-La in Sikkim, and wondered if I would be able to manage a week at the even higher altitudes that we would encounter in Ladakh. This was the reason we stuck to a basic plan, of only 9 days in Ladakh, thoug...
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Fort Kochi - Part 1: First Impressions

What do you do when you visit a place for the first time? Do extensive research, or go unprepared, ready to be surprised? I chose the latter on my visit to Fort Kochi this summer, and within a day, I was so enchanted, I wished I could spend more time there! My experiences were too varied to fit into one post, so this is going to be a series... and here is the first one….
We knew we would enjoy our stay at Fort Kochi, the moment we entered the quiet bylanes and saw the quaint houses, seemingly from another era. The peace and quiet was a welcome relief after the bustle of Ernakulam, and it was difficult to believe we were so near the city! The number of boards advertising homestays clearly proclaimed it to be a tourist hub, though we discovered that it was mostly foreigners who came here, not the average Indian tourists. Maybe it is this which has helped Fort Kochi retain so much of its colonial past.



The Silverweed Homestay, tucked away in a narrow lane, greeted us with a profusion of flowers, which brightened the cloudy day. With just two newly built rooms over the original house, it was homely and comfortable. Our hostess was out on a medical emergency, though our host, grappling with the domestic arrangements, welcomed us warmly, and made sure we had everything we needed, even making breakfast for us singlehandedly! Chatting with him about his family, and Kochi itself, over the years, was certainly one of the highlights of our stay here!



Flowers seemed to be a dominant part of our Fort Kochi experience. From the many flowers our hostess carefully tended to….





To the many rooftop and balcony gardens we saw as we walked around the town….





Flowered creepers growing over abandoned walls, adding an extra dash of colour to the graffiti….



Even the trees formed a flowered canopy for many of the small lanes we walked by, as we explored the town.




Kochi welcomed us with flowers, but also showed us so much over in the one short day we spent here. Look out for many more posts about Kochi and its attractions in the coming weeks! 
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Comments

  1. NatalieGJuly 20, 2014 at 7:06 AM

    Beautiful! Being surrounded by so much natural color and greenery is very relaxing and soothing. I liked the bird graffiti too! More like art to me! :) I'm looking forward to more pictures and commentary about Kochi.

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    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJuly 22, 2014 at 3:20 PM

      Thank you, Natalie! I will post more pics of the bird grafitti soon. the place was full of grafitti but it rained so much i didnt click many of them.

      Delete
  2. R Niranjan DasJuly 20, 2014 at 10:21 AM

    Love Fort Kochi's quaint charm!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJuly 22, 2014 at 3:21 PM

      you have been there during the biennale right? it must have been great then! I completely enjoyed my time there!

      Delete

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