Easily a place I could go back to : again and again. Fort Kochi. Wander around. Soak in the sights and sounds. Familiar corners. Tashi art cafe, the fishing nets and the synagogue.
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The last time I visited, I stayed at this rather small but cosy guest house on Petercelli street. It was called Raintree Lodge and it didn’t take me long to discover why. Just behind the guest house, a huge rain tree spread it’s magnificent branches and covered most of the road and a lot of other houses. Fort Kochi has some beautiful trees and if you’re visiting you must take some time to observe their beauty and grace.
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The lodge has rooms on two levels including the ground floor. If you’re visiting try and check if they have one of the balcony rooms available. It just seems much nicer when you can open your door into a balcony and get some fresh air in. There’s no view as such as the guest house is adjacent to a road but the it’s very quiet street so you won’t get much noise here. The interiors are comfortable and the furniture is minimalistic but all old Kerala style.
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Edgar, who manages both this and the Old Harbour Hotel (another lovely place indeed) made sure I was comfortable and settled in well. My room was on the ground floor and I could open my back door into a little corner space. I had a visitor on the adjacent wall : a cat that would perch itself there for most parts and sneak away if I came too close.
The only downside is that there is no catering facility available here. So no tea or snacks or meals served. The upside is a lovely terrace garden where you can watch the colourful sunset or just laze around and read a book. I couldn’t spend enough time there since I was out a lot, but I really liked the place.
For food, I would drop in at TeaPot which soon became my favourite haunt. There I would sit and while away my time, order tea, appams and whatever caught my fancy. And since it was on the way to the lodge, I always found an excuse to drop in.
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Details here:
Raintree Lodge
Fort Cochin, Kerala
Tel :+91 (484) 3951489
Mob :+91 98470 29000
Email : mail@fortcochin.com
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Nice :)
Shall make a stopover sometime if I ever get to visit the place.
Posted by Prasoon | September 4, 2009, 10:59 am@ prasoon: you must and don’t forget teapot :0)
Posted by Anita | September 4, 2009, 12:10 pmYou are absolutely right when saying ‘Easily a place I could go back to – again and again’. I feel the same every time I am in Cochin right from my childhood days. I love that place and I can spend hours together walking around, sitting and staring at the sea, taking a ferry, etc.
Posted by Anwin | September 5, 2009, 10:58 amthanks anwin! saw some of the pics on your blog — you’re lucky to be able to go back there frequently! i need to make a trip there sometime soon :-)
Posted by Anita | September 6, 2009, 10:27 amI heard about the place from you — but they did not have room when I visited — but it looked like a great place — hope to stay there the net time I am there — btw, I mentioned Raintree Lodge in a piece on Fort Kochi I wrote recently :)
Posted by charu | September 6, 2009, 11:45 amBeautiful pictures. I will sure keep this in mind when I visit that area next time around. There are indeed many a gems if you dare tread the road not taken and leave the ‘trusted names’ that dole out crappy service..
Posted by Madhu Rao | September 7, 2009, 1:08 amThe pictures are beautiful esp. the rain tree.
Posted by Solilo | September 9, 2009, 12:10 pm@ charu: pity… where did he land up staying? i think they tend to get busy in season — i went off season.
@ Madhu: do that! and i have his number somewhere in case you need it!
@ Solilo: thanks! it was a lovely rain tree!
Posted by Anita | September 10, 2009, 2:14 pmlovely.
Posted by Radman | September 12, 2009, 2:41 amsounds charming! i liked ur tea-house story too, and if i am not wrong its from kochi again right? i am ammazed u get the time to re-visit these small pockets so often :). I’ve been meaning to go back to hampi, and 3 years later still haven’t!!!
Posted by Ms.N | September 13, 2009, 3:00 pmyes Kochi do seem to have a lot of natural beauty, in fact entire India is very beautiful. I liked ur pics very much. Thanks!!
Posted by Trip to Bhutan | September 18, 2009, 11:56 pm