Varkala Daze

I've added a counter to my blog (which took far too long) and when I checked discovered there had been 14 hits since yesterday afternoon. I think that means time for a new entry. It's been long enough, although we are of course doing little exciting except lazing around on a hammock and enjoying the sound and sight of the sea from our "sit-out" here in Varkala.


We arrived in Varkala from Kovalam after only an hour and a half taxi ride which included going through the capital city of Kerala, called Thiruvanthapuram (more simply called Trivandrum which is easier to roll off the tongue. Along the way I realized that Kovalam does not have a monopoly on coconut palms. The entire state seems to be covered with them - it's a marvellous sight.

The driver found our hotel easily - it's at the far end of the village area and a ways from the main strip. The main part of the tourist scene is along a cliff, with a red brick path about four feet wide passing in front of all the establishments, restaurants, hotels, shops, chemists. On the other side of the red brick path is a sheer drop to the sea. I'm not a good judge of height, but if we fall off we are goners. When we walk the path we keep to the inside as much as we can - a moment of vertigo and it's over. The little children who play along there should be equipped with parachutes!




Our hotel as I say is away from all that - we have a short walk to reach the pathway and then a bit of a walk up before we reach the more popular restarants

I have been down to the little beach in front of our hotel once, two days ago, and found the waves just a little too rough. The sea bottom is shallow though, so as long as one keeps one's head, and watches the waves, it's not really dangerous. Just stay upright and wait for the big wave to deposit one back down. Maybe I'll go again this afternoon, and maybe I'll even get Geordie to come with me. He can be life guard if he's not swimming.


We went for a long walk along the path away from the village two days ago - it seems to go on for miles. There are other hotels further out than ours, so I'm thankful we are not in one of those. I would not relish the thought of having to stay there and walk into town of an evening for dinner. It would mean eating most of our meals at the hotel, which could get boring in 10 days.

Along the path we were witness to the sight of birds wheeling above us. I have a feeling they are the birds used in crossword puzzles - sea eagles, or ernes, or erns, depending on the needs of the puzzle - is that three letters of four? The males of the species are white-fronted while their top wings are a gorgeous red-brown. The females are dark brown top and bottom, but they are all wonderful fliers who swoop around the palms, the cliffs and down to the sea for dinner then back up again. Mind you, getting a picture of one is a feat. I used my multiple shot feature and ended up deleting about 20 pictures of blank sky. The picture I did get was blind luck.


One of the main differences between Kovalam and Varkala is the age of the tourists. In Kovalam we were surrounded by folk like us, people of a certain age, many of them on package holidays from Britain. Our hotel was in fact a package place and there was even an onsite rep for the visitors who helped them arrange tours and smoothed the way for them. Here in Varkala I'm guessing the average age is more like 27, and the facilities reflect that. The restaurant we ate in our first night is called the Rock N Roll Cafe, (the music on the sound system was in fact most enjoyable - not too loud for the old fogies and not too on the edge - not even standard reggae).

While we were on our walk we found another reflection of the youthful draw in Varkala - we were offered smoke or marijuana four times. And yesterday Geordie went for a walk there by himself while I lazed around and was again offered some relaxing herbs. At least they aren't discriminating against us for age. And no we haven't taken them up on the offer. One young man in front of us at the Rock N Roll did smoke at least three small spliffs while he awaited his meal, and had a beer or two at the same time.

About the food - restaurants on the backpack trail seem to think they must be all things to all peope. The place we ate last night is a case in point. It's called the Clafouti, a French name, although they also offer the Pumpernickel Bakery on the same premises. The menu offers - American, British and Indian Breakfasts, Thai food, Italian pizza and pasta, Hungarian Goulash, Chinese food, Mexican and yes, even Indian food, along with lots of fresh seafood prepared often in Indian flavours. Oh, and for the French, ChatuBriand (sic). And of course no self-respecting restaurant would not offer Banana pancakes, chocolate pancakes, coconut pancakes - they are a mainstay of tourist haunts the world over. We've certainly had them in Thailand, Laos and Viet Nam and I'm guessing they are available in Nepal, Tibet and anywhere else considered the backpacker trail.

I'll leave you here with an image from the setting sun two nights ago. We went down to see the sun set into the Arabian Sea - here the sun sets directly out in the water - this is a very straight coast line and there is no curve of shore or bend of bay to hide the sun as it drops. However the everpresent mist means that the sun doesn't exactly sizzle in the water but disappears in a haze.


We are here for another week, and will no doubt have things to tell you about again in a day or two. Stay tuned.