The Bahamas-flagged Explorer ISE arrived in Kochi this week with 1,280 people, including 360 crew members. The passengers on the Explorer comprises students sailing as part of the course ‘Semester at Sea’. They are attending cultural and literary programmes in and round the city.

After that came the Italian Costa Deliziosa with about 2,164 passengers and 890 crew members. Discovery, a luxury liner, has 756 passengers and 318 crew members onboard. Aida Diva, a large luxury cruise liner, will be arriving with 2,004 passengers and over 900 crew members.

Luxury Liner Seven Seas Voyager will arrive here with 660 tourists. The inflow will continue till about March 20. By March end, the Cochin Port would have handled 50 cruise vessels. The cruise terminal and pavilion used by the Volvo Ocean Race earlier will be made available for passenger facilities. Other major vessels to call at the port are Cunard’s ‘Queen Elizabeth’ and Royal Caribbean International’s ‘Brilliance of the Seas.’

Visit : www.lakshadweepcruise.com

The exhibition was opened on Sunday. The participating artists are Anto George, Suvitha K V, Upendranath T R, Reghunadhan K., Bhagyanath C, Bhaskaran Bara, Gipin Varghese, Leon K.L., Sanam Narayanan and Sebastian Varghese.

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The place is located on the Perumpadappu backwaters and is surrounded by evergreen mangroves. We can arrange mechanised country boats for backwater boating for our guests. Houseboats tours to and from Alleppey backwaters can be arranged on advance requests from the guests (day cruise as well as day and night stay). The tariffs vary according to the season and advance booking days.

Address: Palluruthy, Perumpadappu, Cochin-682006
Distance from city: 15km
Nearest Railway Station: Ernakulam Junctions
Nearest Airport: Cochin International Airport, Nedumbaserry (36km)

Tariff: Rs. 1000 – Rs.1500

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You can be assured of utter luxury when you’re here. Pamper yourself with Ayurvedic massages, go for a swim or laze around on the veranda. The hotel will take care of airport transfers, currency exchange, cultural tours, sightseeing and wellness solutions for you. When you go shopping, do let us know; we’ll get you good discounts at selected stores. If you’re interested in yoga and meditation, we can arrange classes for you. The same with cooking classes. Backwater tours are a great option if you’ve a day to spare. Watch life in the villages go by as your houseboat cruises down the lagoon.

Napier House’s multi-cuisine restaurant specialises in Nadan cuisine (traditional local food). The homely food is too good to let by. There’s an open kitchen, too, for those who want to experiment! Make your own dishes or but fresh fish from the nearby market and order our cook to serve it up according to your tastes.

Napier House is easily reachable by road. Instead, you can take the ferry from Ernakulam Jetty as well.

As part of the upcoming District project to conserve the nets, a seminar on ‘Conservation of the Chinese Fishing Nets of Fort Kochi’ was also held. The nets will be mechanised and metal parts repaired and replaced. New ones will also be set up along the shores.
It is not enough to just set the nets up or clean the premises, the beach and the nearby areas need a facelift. Welfare of the fishermen and fishing net workers will be taken care of and the Fort Cochin Heritage Zone cleaned well. Live open air dance, theatre and art performances will enliven the evenings in the beach area – tourists will be able to learn about the culture and heritage of Fort Cochin and surrounding towns.

Another idea is to start a guided walking tour from Fort Cochin to Vypeen along the coast – this will definitely give tourists an idea about the lifestyle of fishermen and locals around the shore areas. The DTPC plans to have a deep-sea-fishing tour to be organized in trawlers.

Swimming, Scuba diving, boating, kayaking, snorkeling and angling are common activities that you can take up here. Agatti Island has a superb scuba diving school. You can choose between amateur and professional courses. There are introductory dives, scuba dives, open water course, rescue course, night and early morning dives. You can also choose guided snorkeling courses. Some of the dive sites have more than 20m visibility.

There are several packages: from eight days to twenty-six days. You can enjoy the sights and sounds of Agatti island and go around it within two weeks or so.

Visit : Hotels in Lakshadweep

Somewhere around 116 B.C., a Greek sailor set sail to the East in search of the source of this black gold. He reached India’s southwest coast successfully. This led to the establishment of Greek and Roman spice trade in the following years. They are the ones who named it pepper: in Latin, it is “peperi”.

By 3 A.D., the Romans lost their position as the top traders. Then came the Arabs, who regained their hold in the trade. Venice started overtaking the Arabs, and the competition between the two led to the huge rise of pepper price. Western Europe was in the search for an alternative. In the mid and later 15^th century, Portugal revived the thirst for the search for the Eastern spices. With stronger ships and avid travllers and explorers, Vasco da Gama set foot on Indian soil, by reaching Calicut in northern Kerala in 1498 A.D. The Portuguese now dominated the very rewarding spices trade.

Years later the Dutch entered the scene. In 1663 A.D., they defeated the Portuguese and took over the spices trade from their hands. And, almost 200 years after their successful reign, the British took over the power in India. Even now you can see spices shops lining bazaars and areas in Fort Kochi and Mattancherry in Cochin. On a walk, you can visit them and buy spices.

The homestay is located in Fort Kochi, has eight spacious and airy rooms. Six of them are AC Deluxe rooms and two are non-AC ones. The en-suite bathrooms are comfortably accessorised. There’s a cozy balcony from where you can view life in this part of the city. You sit here with a coffee in hand and relax with your friends and family. The kitchen and dining area of the house is accessible for all guests at all times. The house is built in traditional Kerala architecture, complete with a wood and cane décor, wide verandah and soothing colours.

Manoj and Safeena are the hosts that will take care of your stay here. This young couple loves to entertain guests and spend time meeting new people. Safeena is an advocate Manoj is a businessman. He has over seven years experience in the travel industry. Manoj has a passion for nature and wildlife photography. Safeena is great at cooking traditional Kerala dishes. She, along with Manoj’s mother, offers you some of the tastiest dishes you’d ever have had!

Daffodil Home stay provides a family atmosphere, which guarantees you personalized service and hospitality. You can use ISD phone and internet on request. Bus, train and flight tickets can be booked for you. Any travels within Kerala and Tamil Nadu can be arranged for the guests. Houseboat for overnight cruise, art and cultural performances, Yoga training, Ayurvedic massages and treatments, bike and scooter rentals and cooking classes can arranged for an extra nominal fee.

The Daffodil Homestay is within walkable distance from Santa Cruz Basilica, St Francis Church, Dutch Cemetery, Portuguese Museum, Chinese Fishing Nets and other monuments and places of interest in Fort Kochi.

Bristow, the multi-cuisine restaurant serves food a la carte and buffet style. Although the best dishes are seafood ones, you can also pick up Indian and Continental cuisine here. At Anchorage, you can sink into the lounge chairs, with a cocktail in hand and carry on a lively conversation with your friends.

The four conference halls can be used to hold meetings, seminars and weddings and can accommodate up to 500 persons. Laundry service, travel desk, currency exchange, safe deposit lockers, mail service, housekeeping, 24-hour front desk, chemist and druggist, car rental services and doctor-on-call are some of the facilities that you can enjoy at the hotel.

The hotel’s staff is well-trained and the facilities provided are grand. The ambience and the landscapes are perfect for a great vacation. If you’re planning to visit other parts of Kerala, the hotel’s travel assistance will guide you to pick up the best travel packages.

The hotel is accessible by road, rail and air. The Ernakulam Junction railway station is just a taxi ride away. Cochin International Airport is 36km away.