Travel blogs often highlight the grand monuments. But sometimes, the real story isn’t in stained-glass windows or centuries-old bricks — it’s in the smallest, most ordinary rides.
Today in Kochi, my wife, daughter, and son taught me this lesson. We had walked the charming lanes of Jew Town, browsed spice-scented shops, and stepped into the Paradesi Synagogue, a 400-year-old Jewish temple with chandeliers that looked like they belonged in a movie set. I thought that was our big “cultural moment.”
But the highlight wasn’t inside the Synagogue’s tiled floors. It was on a Water Metro ferry.
We boarded at Fort Kochi and cruised toward the High Court jetty. For me, it was just convenient transport. For my kids, it was pure cinema. Their eyes widened at every boat that crossed our path, every splash against the glass, every gull that soared beside us. Getting them to smile for photos at the Synagogue took ten tries; on the ferry, one wave hit the side and both burst out laughing, grins so wide the camera almost clicked itself.
And that’s when it struck me: in family travel, the ordinary moments become extraordinary. Not the UNESCO sites or history lessons, but the way your daughter giggles when the ferry honks, or the way your son waves at strangers on another boat.
So if you ever find yourself in Kochi, absolutely walk through Jew Town’s antique shops and admire the Paradesi Synagogue’s history. But don’t underestimate the Water Metro. For the price of a coffee back home, you might just capture your family’s most genuine smiles — the kind you can’t stage in front of any monument.
AnandNataraj 