The Best Way To Get From Cochin To The Other Parts Of The City Is By Boat. There Is A Whole Network Of Motor And Other Boats. The Fares Vary Between 30 And 7ops. Most Boats Don’t Operate After 9pm. After That You Have To Take A Taxi Or Even A Scooter. The Last Bus From Fort Cochin To Ernakulam Leaves Between 9.30 And 10pm. Mattancherry, Willingdon Island And Ernakulam Are All Connected By Bridges. The Correct Fare For A Scooter From The Bus Terminal To The Main Ferry
Travelling Between The Peninsula And Islands Is One Of The Charms Of Cochin. Fishing Boats, Exciting Rowing Boats And Imposing Trading Ships All Pass By, And If You Are Lucky You May Even See A Dolphin In The Dirty Water Of The Harbour.
Related Travel Information
The Capital Of Kerala Has A Population Of 500,000, And Not Much Worth Seeing. It Is Rather A Clean And (For India) Prosperous Looking Town. It Is The Jumping Off Point For The Famous Kovalam Beach And There Are Flights From Here To Sri Lanka And To The Maldives.
Kerala, With An Area Of 38,863 Sq Km (15,001 Sq Miles), Is The Second Smallest State In India After Goa. It Has A Population Of 30 Million, And Is Densely Populated. The 575km (357 Miles) Long Coastal State Was The First State In India To Elect The Communist Party To Power, In 1956. Since Then The Congress Party Has Been Re-Elected.
This Can Be Explained By The Fact That Only Approximately 50% Of Its Population Can Read And Write. On The Street, Practically Only Malayalam Is Spoken And Understood. Kerala Produces About 70% Of India's Spices, About 70% Of Its
This Island Group Belongs To India, And Lies Between 190km (118 Miles) And 300km (186 Miles) West Of Kerala. Of The 36 Coral Islands, With A Total Area Of 32.4 Sq Km (13 Sq Miles), Only Ten Are Inhabited. The Population Of 50,000 Are Mostly Muslim.
The Main Industry Is Fishing (Tuna And Sharks). That Could Change If They Were Opened Up For Unrestricted Tourist Development. On The Other Hand The Laccadives Are A Restricted Area, And Travellers Who Want To Visit The Islands Have To Get A Permit In Delhi. The Only Exception Is The Island Of Bangaram.
Kerala Tourist Reception Centre, Shanmugham (Shunmuham) Road, Ernakulam, Ph 353 234. Open Daily From 8am-6pm. They Take Bookings For The Bolghatty Palace And Cochin Sightseeing Tours As Well As For The Hotels In Periyar Park, But You Have To Pay A Hefty Booking Fee. Govt Of India Tourist Office Near The Hotel Malabar, Willingdon Island, Ph 6 045 Open Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm, Sat 9am-Lpm. Very Friendly And Helpful. They Have Plenty Of Pamphlets About India Even If They Are A Bit Out Of Date.
Pai And Company, 1st Floor At The Southern End Of Broadway, Ernakulam, Have A Good Selection Of Books
Perumanoor (Ernakulam)-Willingdon Island: Every 20 Minutes Between 6am And 10pm, Daily 35 Services. This Service Is Not Really Of Interest To Tourists.
Ernakulam-Willingdon Island-Mattancherry: Between 6.30am And 9.45pm And In The Opposite Direction Between 6am And 9pm - 25 Services Daily. A Large Part Of These Are By F.P. Boats (Fast Passenger) Which Don't Stop At Willingdon Island.
It Is About 10 Minutes' Walk From The Embarkation Jetty On Willingdon Island To The Tourist Office And The Hotel Malabar. The Ferry Doesn't Stop At The Tourist Office Boat Jetty.
For The Dutch Palace And Jewish Quarter
Before They Get To Mattancherry, The Few Non-Fast
