Advertisement
Published: March 7th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Over the past two weeks we have transformed from being filthy backpackers to filthy package holiday makers. We don't have any more than Tamil Nadu to compare this part of India with but the contrast between Kerala and our home state of the previous month is like comparing a Ferari with an auto-rickshaw.
After travelling only seventy kilometres or one and a half hours north west from Kanyakamari and suddenly we were back in the tourist territory that we hadn't really seen since leaving Bangkok over a month ago. The drive in to Triviandrum on yet another crappy bus was a pleasant introduction of what was to come in Kerala, passing by multitudes of rice paddies, swaying palms and never ending waterways.
We jumped off the bus, determined to make our way back to the ocean breeze as quickly as possible and quickly commandeered a ride to Kovalam. The driver obviously picked us as suckers and took us to a 'very very good, very very cheap' guest house where he received a handy finders fee as well as his payment for the ride. The room was only 2 minutes walk from the ocean but we later found out that
there were plenty of cheaper rooms only 15 seconds walk from the water. We never seem to learn from our mistakes and end up in overpriced, lifeless hostels further away from any action than we'd hope.
Kovalam has been a major stopping point for Europeans on package holidays and we immediately felt out of place. Used to seeing backpacks and young travellers, suddenly we were in the company of an over 40's club with all members in their uniform of almost non-existent swimwear, and determined to soak up as many UV rays before heading home to Europe. Our room was slightly more expensive than what we were used to but the real killer was the food. Suddenly eating out was three times more expensive than we were used to, even traditional Vegetarian restaurants were breaking the bank. While options for eating out were far from lacking, with restaurants stretching the entire length of Lighthouse beach each restaurant offered variations of exactly the same western food for very similar over the top prices. It seems that no longer would we be eating for less than $10AU per day for the both of us.
At some point we decided that
moving from place to place frequently was not only tiring but expensive and I am going to use that as the excuse for us staying in what would easily pass for Phuket if ping-pong shows were on offer. The beach was quite pretty and for the majority of our time there a wave big enough to body surf would roll through every 2-3 minutes, enough reason to stick to doing absolutely nothing at all if you ask me.
We were handed a flyer by a couple of young Indian men the day before valentines day promoting an all night party with DJ's and bands from Goa and me being such a Casanova decided that it would be the most romantic way to spend an such an evening. The following evening we waited in an empty carpark for two hours only to find out that the party had been successfully shut down by Keralan police. It turns out that over the last two years Indian authorities have been working to eradicate the techno loving culture and everything that goes with it from India's west coast, in an effort to change from the low budget backpacking culture to a more affluent
roller bag breed of traveller.
One of the places that every backpacker had recommended from our first day in India was Varkala, but sick of catching busses for a while we decided on staying in Kerala's capital Triviandrum for a night before taking a train an hour or so north. The city itself was not really a stand out but for only 50 rupee's you can get entry for 2 adults and a camera to the zoo. While it was no Taronga, for 1/30th of the price it was a pretty amazing zoo, with lions, tigers, elephants,giraffes,hippoes and of course emu's. We crashed early that night after an exhausting day of walking around in easily 30+ degree heat.
Until the train to Varkala, we had only ridden on one of the thousands of train lines running around India and it was quite a comfortable and pleasant experience, the second ride was memorable but not quite as cosy or scenic as the Ramesawaram train. Purchasing the cheapest possible tickets(Rs 22), we found the general seating compartment and shoved ourselves and our bags into the only space available which turned out to be the entrance to the toilet, as the
train got more and more full by the second a wave of relief rushed over us knowing that we would not be moving out of the way for people to enter the bathroom. This was very shortly followed by a wave of nausea as the scent of stale piss, masala armpits, and the body heat of hundreds of people took over. This was more like it, none of this comfortable travelling business. The short ride was topped off when we were disembarking, hastily pushing our way through the dense crowd, Danielle received a couple of big squeezes on the arse by who she thought was me only to see three older Indian gentlemen slyly look away with a big smirk on each and every one of their faces.
We first heard of Varkala from a young Indian man named Max, in Mamallapram. Max was taking a break from the bar which he runs in Varkala and was visiting mates around the south of India for a couple of weeks. It was over a month since we had met Max so the first place we were to check out was of course going to be his Rock'nRoll Cafe but we
were quickly informed by other shop keepers when asking for directions that there were other reasons for Max's little holiday. Alledgedly our friend had run into a little bit of trouble with the fuzz when his liquor licence expired and after causing a ruckus had been on the run ever since. With the bar still operating as per normal it might have been a well deserved holiday for Max and the time abroad just long enough to successfully cool the waters. Max or no Max we still spent every day of the next week enjoying one or more drinks at the bar, the cocktails there better than anywhere else in Varkala, the service from his staff was exceptional and we made great friends with Murugesh, Krishna, Rajeev and the rest of the boys.
Varkala sits on a beautiful cliff face above a white sand beach, waves, hazardous rips and lifeguards which wouldn't get a gig saving lives in a backyard pool. Like Kovalam this place stretches the budget very tightly but here we didn't feel out of place. Every guest house offered some form of yoga class or aruyvediv treatment and while reaching for my toes or meditation may
not be my thing it did attract a wide range of people to Varkala. Every afternoon the whole beach was full of people completing posses which should be left to the bedroom, just watching gave me cramps all over.
It has taken a couple of weeks to build up enough interesting things to write about as all we have been doing since arriving in Kerala is enjoyed sunsets, laid on the beach getting a tan, ate great food, read some good books, met a bunch of cool and interesting people, listened and dplayed music, slept in every day, bodysurfed and drank way too much. Such a hard life we are living.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.119s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 11; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0511s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb