An emporium of international trade in the Old World, a land extolled by Marco Polo and Ibn Batuta, Quilon or Kollam as it is known today, is much more than just a land. A destination whose sands are sodden with adventures and legacies waiting to be explored, Kollam has had a strong history of commerce since the days of the Phoenicians and Romans. Rich with tales of a bygone era of the Dutch, Portuguese and British, Kollam is today the heart of the country’s cashew trading and processing industry and the Ashtamudi Lake here is the gateway to the magnificent backwaters of Kerala.