Where have the spices gone....

I am fascinated by Kochi.....It has an old world charm. It speaks of Vasco da Gama landing and swooning with the aroma, redolent of spices.
It speaks of the gracious Raja who not only allowed Jews to settle in his kingdom but permitted them to build a Synagogue.
The antique shops always a pleasure for a quiet afternoon of browsing.
What intrigues me however are these majestic doors, beautiful doors leading to once prosperous warehouses laden with spices of such a variety.
What stories do these doors speak off? Surely they must be narrating tales of those glorious days when the spice trade was at its peak.
On one of my walks around, I stumbled upon an open door leading into a vast courtyard, which touched a river. The courtyard had its own wharf and I could imagine, coolies staggering under heavy sacks, crossing a plank, dumping those sacks laden with precious spices bound for distant shores.
On that day however, there was hardly any activity, the air was warm, scented with the smell of drying ginger did it have the spicy tinge of cardamom, it did.
On a wooden bench slept an old man and on the arm of a chair slept a tabby cat, what a picture of contentment a picture of peace....

Mattanchery and its magnificent antiques......

One thing you can always be sure of in Mattanchery are the antiques, so many shops and such a variety. Whether an antique lover or not there always will be something for you.....Sadly much of the stuff is hardly of a good quality and the prices are well, sometimes very expensive.
But one place that really has very good stuff although expensive is the  Crafters Antique store.  A huge store it has practically any article you are looking for, ranging from huge wooden columns and intricately carved doors to tiny lamps and metal statues.
Browsing through its well organised rooms you are lost in time, the rear of the showroom overlooking the sea, women polishing wooden articles and everywhere you are enveloped with the smell of wax polish.
So much to see......Out of those thousands of articles what really caught my eye was this lion trying to look oh so ferocious, did he succeed maybe he did, it is after all in the eye of the beholder 





Another article which never fails to amaze visitors is a huge Varppu, now a Varppu is generally used in Kerala to cook rice  and this one could have fed an entire village. Made specially for Crafters Antique it has a diameter of 12 feet and weighs 3184 kgs.
No do not try to buy it. It is not for sale !

Mattanchery a piece of quiet away from bustling Ernakulam.

Just one of the many boats that pass by. View from the Anchor house

The magnificent Port Trust building also taken from the Anchor house

If you want a trip which takes you back to those days when the intrepid Vasco da Gama braved the seas, turned around the mighty Cape of good Hope or Cabo das Tormentas as it was then known, head to Cochin. 

Getting to Bazar Road Cochin, is a trip through the land of ‘hoardings'’. Ernakulam is full of them, on both sides of the road, huge giants looming out of the darkness, advertising real estate and Gold. Kerala brides are bedecked from top to toe with the yellow metal, no part of their body left unadorned, just a tiny  square of their faces.  

But once in Cochin it is a different world altogether, a world of peace and quiet.

Anchor House, where we stayed for a couple of days is a little gem tucked amidst warehouses that once must have been the hub of the spice trade much before Vasco da Gama landed in Cochin some 500 years ago. When you walk down the road you see a lot of these disused warehouses, some in ruins and you realize with a pang of regret that the spice trade has moved to Ernakulam. 

All these warehouses have their own wharves and a wave of nostalgia and imagination, carries you back in time when Arabs sailed down the sea in their dhows, the bargaining and haggling, the hustle and bustle, the noise and colour, the exotic smells of ginger, nutmeg, star aniseed and of course pepper. The sound of waves lapping the sides of these wharves transports you back to a time long gone by.
Bazar Road is now a sleepy area, with baby goats running around, some wharves are used for mundane activities such as drying prawns and clothes. Other more enterprising owners have converted these warehouses into hotels, the little wharf usually the dining area, the view always magnificent. One such place is Fort House Hotel which has amazing food.

Anchor house is very comfortable, the service excellent and everyone very friendly. The best part of the hotel however, are the dining areas, both overlooking the harbor. You can spend hours watching all sorts of boats and ships passing right in front of you. It was a favorite spot to sit with a cup of tea. Gulls flying overhead, fishermen discussing their catch, fishing boats docking alongside to refuel, fishermen getting their pictures taken by guests and of course gulls quarreling over who should get the best of the catch. Some fishermen fish late at night in little canoes which can be seen only because of a tiny kerosene lamp. It is really peaceful but for the mosquitoes which are taken care of with the ubiquitous mosquito coil. 

Anchor house is located somewhat between Mattanchery and Fort Kochi and is a renovated Warehouse. When you walk down the road you see a lot of disused warehouses, some in ruins and you realize with a pang of regret that the spice trade has moved to Ernakulam. 

All these warehouses have their own docks and you can imagine Arabs coming out of the sea, the bargaining and haggling, the hustle and bustle, the noise and colour, the exotic smells of ginger, nutmeg, star aniseed and of course pepper. The sound of waves lapping the sides of those wharves which once upon a time carried a brisk trade in spices. Bazar Road is now a sleepy area, with baby goats running around, warehouses with huge doors, you peep in and see the little dock now a place for drying prawns and clothes. 

Some warehouses have been converted into hotels, the little dock usually the dining area, the view always magnificent. One such place is Fort House Hotel which has amazing food.

Go down the road towards Fort Kochi and you get to the very elegant Brunton Boatyard which is truly unique and sophisticated. Unique because nothing has been changed, it truly is a place where time has stood still. The place is enveloped in a silence, added to this is the all pervading Dutch influence. The lobby with its old fashioned fans (punkhas) in pristine condition, little tables laid out for afternoon tea, the lawn so green and inviting, everywhere artifacts and curios of the Industrial age of steam and sail. Brunton Boatyard is truly a classy place to be in. 

Fort Kochi has a lot of very elegant boutique hotels, one of them the Koder House. 

However Menorah the restaurant was quite disappointing it did not serve authentic Jewish cuisine as promised but only seafood which you get all over Cochin.

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