Kochi

Kochi (Cochin) is the commercial capital of Kerala and the gateway to the famous Kerala Backwaters circuit. The historic core is Fort Kochi — a peninsula at the mouth of the Vembanad lagoon that flourished for centuries as one of the world's great spice-trading harbours, attracting Arab, Chinese, and European merchants. The defining sight is the row of Chinese fishing nets along the Fort Kochi seafront — 14th-century cantilever fishing structures introduced by traders from the court of Kublai Khan, still in operation. Beyond the nets, the area offers the Mattancherry Palace (with vivid Hindu mythological murals from the Ramayana and Krishna Lila), the spice markets of Mattancherry, and the colonial-era godowns now restored as boutique cafés and craft shops. For vegetarian travellers, Kerala's coconut-and-curry-leaf cuisine is a revelation — try the Sadhya thali (28+ items on a banana leaf, traditionally served at the Onam festival; available year-round at Sri Krishna Cafe and Dwaraka), the Kerala parotta with vegetable stew, and the appam with coconut milk vegetable curry. From Kochi, the backwaters circuit continues to Alleppey (1.5 hours south, for the houseboat experience) and to Munnar (3 hours east, for tea-plantation hill stations). October to March is the comfortable window; the southwest monsoon (June-September) is dramatic but disrupts boat travel.