The antique shops of Fort Kochi

In the quiet bylanes of Fort Kochi, there exists a world of spice traders, Dutch palaces, a fast dwindling Jewish community and of course the ubiquitous antique shops that are expected in such a tourish mecca. I've always been fascinated by the treasure trove feel to these antique shops- you walk in through a front door feeling like Indiana Jones walking into the Inca temple in Raiders of the Lost Ark, not knowing what lies inside. Inside, the antique 'shop' is more of a warehouse (which is what it must have been once) that extends into the street that runs behind. Inside the rooms, piled up on the floor, along the walls and almost extending till the ceiling rafters are tons of furniture and curios.

The in-your-face items are the lineup of Victorian era (and made-in-Kochi replicas) bedsteads, candleabras, bookshelves, bureaus and what have you. Moving up the ages one comes across Art Deco period advertisments ( "So easy to take home the six-bottle carton" (Coca Cola)), cookie jars, tin soldiers... In addition there is the fantastic and the unusual- Prow section of a snakeboat, crystal balls, large scale models of an Indian Railways diesel and carriages (saar, thaat is onlly for sale to fourr-in-errs!!), Christian figurines, and some undescribable things that looked as if they might have been best employed for Chinese torture.

Will soon be heading back to Cochin for a friend's wedding- can't wait to see what else has been added!