One of the oldest ports of the Malabar coast, KOLLAM (pronounced "Koillam" and previously known as Quilon), 74km northwest of Thiruvananthapuram and 85km south of Alappuzha, was once at the centre of the international spice trade. The sixteenth-century Portuguese writer Duarte Barbossa described it as a "very great city with a right good haven", which was visited by "Moors, Heathen and Christians in great numbers", and stated that "a great store" of pepper was to be found there. In fact, the port flourished from the very earliest times, trading amicably with the Phoenicians, Arabs, Persians, Greeks, Romans and Chinese.

 

Nowadays, Kollam is chiefly of interest as one of the entry or exit points to the backwaters of Kerala, and most travellers simply stay overnight en route to or from Alappuzha. The town itself, sandwiched between the sea and Ashtamudi ("eight inlets") Lake, is less exciting than its history might suggest. It's a typically sprawling Keralan market community, with a few old tiled wooden houses and winding backstreets, kept busy with the commercial interests of coir, cashew nuts (a good local buy), pottery, aluminium and fishery industries. The missable ruins of Tangasseri fort (3km from the centre) are the last vestiges of colonial occupation.