We took a taxi from the airport at Cochin to Varkala, which is about 5 hours south. I had already booked us one nights accommodation as i knew that we would be arriving late. Eventually after our taxi driver getting hopelessly lost we pulled into the place at 1.30am. When we woke up we had a lovely view of the sea from the top of the cliff our hut was balanced on, but no beach. The reason for coming here was to chill and top up the tan for the last couple of weeks, so this was not part of the agenda. As it turned out we were on the wrong side of the cliff, so we made out way to the other cliff.
Now i think that we have been spoilt when it comes to beaches but black beach just was ok. It was pretty small and it didn't look like black sand, it looked dirty. It was a 20 minute walk along the top of the cliff then a precarious climb down the rocks to get there.
The locals were quick to tell us that later in the season there is a beach all the way along, but it is not there year round. Anyway the truth of it was we were here, and we were pretty skint, and neither of us could really be bothered to move. So we have basically spent the last couple of weeks doing nothing, reading, sunbathing, and traipsing along the top of the cliff.
There are meant to be some amazing beaches in Kerala but we had heard that they are quite over developed and full of resorts. There were some stunning beaches north of Varkala which we came across on one of our few days out on the motorbike. I think some of my pictures make Varkala beach look quite nice though.
There was lots of time to take pictures of flowers, butterflies and bugs, mainly from our balcony. We had a hut at the Kerala Bamboo House, which was set in a lovely garden.
The few days we went out on the bike we found some really lovely deserted beaches and some that were the centre of fishing villages.
Kerala is famous for the backwaters but our budget would not stretch to a trip so we made do with what we could see from the road. There are some really pretty spots where they meet the ocean.
We came across were some pretty and some odd religious arches....
The Varkala cliffs are pretty odd, the restaurants and hotels and literally clinging to the edge. The erosion is incredible, and there are big chunks off cliff just waiting to fall off. There have been warnings from the Government to the locals about the rubbish build up and the need to move 10 metres from the cliff edge. There are some shops at the moment whose entrances are less than 2 metres from the cliff edge. There is some fencing some of the way along, but most of it is not. To be honest I thought it was a bit of a death trap, definitely not a good place to walk drunk in the dark!
A little way from the main tourist area is the Holy beach, where Hindus go to make offerings to dead loved ones, and its gets really busy down there..........
Most places in Varkala don't sell alcohol or they don't advertise that they do. So we decided the cheapest and best option was the Government run liquor shop in town. When we arrived the queue was massive and of course everyone was staring at us. We joined the end of the queue and straight away a very kind man told us that women don't queue and i could sneak in the exit as it were. Its hard to describe but behind the metal barrier you can see below is a counter with a cage all around it and two little holes. You are meant to order and pay at one end then walk through and pick up your bottle at the other end. The space between the counter and barrier is just enough for one person, so trying to go in the exit as it where took quite some manoeuvring.
Just a quick note about South Indians mens wardrobe, you will notice in the above photos they are all wearing sarongs. They can be worn to the floor or tucked in to above the knee. I am sure that they very cool especially as most of the men don't seem to wear anything underneath them. This you see repeatedly because they don't stay tied up, so every ten minutes or so they whip they whole thing off, or gather it up around their waists. To be honest as a garment for men with no underwear on it just doesn't work, and i feel they should be told this....
One day we took a quick boat trip to Golden island, which is supposed to be a peaceful little island in the middle of a lake. The first day we went it was quiet but we didn't have enough money on us for the boat, so we returned. And even after waiting for the weekend to pass, we managed to go on a festival day. I don't have the first idea which festival it was, there are so many here and most of the locals don't seem to know either, they just say its a holiday. Anyway if a little busy, it was quite pretty, was saw some egrets, heron and some kingfishers.
We found a lovely hotel near ours that had a completely deserted pool. That helped with the top up the tan to make everyone jealous before we get back mission....
One lovely thing about Varkala is that is is a sunset beach, and they are different every night, you know!
One day we took a cooking course with the chef from our hotel. We made dosas, egg bhaji, lemon rice, dry fish, aloo gobi and pancakes. It was a good course and its nice to see how these things are done. Most of the techniques they use are pretty simple. My favourite was the egg bhaji, unfortunately i think it is the most dangerous too. Its basically boiled eggs fried in a spicy batter. Unfortunately i don't think our chef had boiled the eggs quite enough, one of them shot out of the pan like a bullet and hit him straight in the face. Despite the drama, these were my favourite, definitely will be cooking them at home, maybe with the pan lid on.
While we were here even Halloween happened, although very, very mildly!
So that was it, and now our time is coming to an end. We fly from Kerala to Sri Lanka for one week and then eeeeeekk, home!!! The trip has been totally amazing, from the things, places, people and animals that we have seen to the amazing exhilarating things that we have done, to the really sad things we have learnt about. But, a year is a long time and we are ready to put down our bags somewhere for a little longer than a couple weeks. There are people and some things from home that we miss, so although it has been fantastic, it has also been expensive and very tiring. I am not entirely devastated to be going home, which is probably a good thing. I am sure in a couple of months we will have itchy feet again, and i don't believe that this is the end, but for now in a weeks time it will be.
