Thursday 29 October 2009

Old Harbour Hotel, Fort Kochi



From the Kumarakom area my wife and I drove down to Fort Kochi for the next leg of our holiday. I enjoy travelling through Kerala. The landscape is always lush and green, and there is so much to see regardless of which part of Kerala one is in. But this time the drive was not as pleasant as I had hoped it would be. Some major pipe laying project was in progress and the road was in very poor shape for most of the distance.


When I was a teenager, and even into my mid-twenties, I used to visit Fort Kochi at least once or twice a year. Since I used to live only a few miles away across the backwaters, these were day trips. I recall that there were very few hotels in the area and it was difficult in those days to get food to my taste over there. That was not the case a few miles away at Ernakulam. This was about 35 years ago. Since then Fort Kochi has transformed itself into a tourist destination with plenty of hotels and cafes.


We stayed at The Old Harbour Hotel, a small but exquisitely furnished hotel, very close to the waterfront. This building was originally built by the Dutch and used as a warehouse. Later it passed into the hands of the British and was used as a tea auction house and also as a residence. Recently it was bought by an Indian and converted into the present hotel with the help of a Dutch architect. My friend, Mohan Pulimood was involved in the project, and it was he who recommended the hotel to me. I am glad I took his advice.

15 comments:

  1. Hi Balaji
    I was awarded the Kreativ blogger award and would like to pass it to you. You can copy the award and get the details from my Nov 2 post. Hope you have a great day!

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  2. I am really hoping to get to Kerala on our next visit to India. Your artwork is certainly strengthening that that resolve. Last time we only got to Bangalore and Lahore. I love it.

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  3. Bajali - Fantastic blog and sketches.

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  4. Its your art work? Amazing...I am from Cochin, and what you said was correct, now its transformed into a tourist destination,I love to wander through the streets.. its really nice like your artwork. And i would say, your choice to stay in Old Harbour Hotel was good... its a nice hotel..you know Each room at the hotel got its name from one of the streets at Fort Cochin.

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  5. Thank you Regina, for visiting my blog and commenting. I appreciate it very much.

    I love visiting Kerala, and this particular trip, which on the whole lasted less than a week, was very pleasant and extremely enjoyable. I have covered it in my blog (in commentary and sketches) in about half a dozen of my earlier postings, and will probably be posting a few more about Fort Kochi and Mattanchery before I am through covering this trip

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  6. Hi Balaji, its great that you replied to my comment,actually i expect more post about Kerala, especially about Cochin, as I stay here. More sketches and postings.. you know one thing, we really dont understand the value of anything until some one point out that. After reading all these blogs about Kerala and seeing those photos, i wonder is Kerala is this much beautiful, And really i love to read different experiences from people visiting Kerala. It will help us to know more about our places, and what are the difficulties travelers facing here. Any way thanks for your reply, waiting for your next post and lovely sketch.And you can visit my blog to know more about Hotels in Kerala.

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  7. Your drawing skills are amazing!

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  8. Nancy...thank you for your very nice comment. I am sorry that I am over a year late in acknowledging it. I had stopped blogging for a while and did not visit this post until today.

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  9. Many thanks for the exciting blog posting! I really enjoyed reading it, you are a brilliant writer. I actually added your blog to my favorites and will look forward for more updates. Great Job, Keep it up.. :)Cochin Hotels

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    1. Thank you Sreedhar. I am glad you liked this post.

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  10. Nice post. The hotels in Cochin aim at providing the guests with a comfortable and hospitable stay. Whether you are travelling for leisure or business there is surely a hotel in Cochin that will meet your needs and requirements. Check out all best 257 hotels in Kochi

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  11. Hi, I love the sketch of the Old Harbour hotel. Is it yours? If it is, do you have a high resolution version you would like to sell? If so, please contact me at grenville.eustace@gmail.com.

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