We LOVE Varkala

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Bought train tickets to Varkala and were again baffled by the Indian transport system....no signs, no idea where to go. Luckily a tannoy announcement told us where we should be. When the train arrived it was 5000 miles long and we had no clue as to which carriage we should be on. Took an uneducated guess and sat ourselves in the 2 tier one. We suspected that we were in the wrong place as the a/c was freezing us rigid and we were sure we hadn't paid out for that luxury. Luckily the conductor didn't do his rounds till 10mins before we were due to get off and it wasn't worth moving by then. We took a rickshaw to our hotel. The hotel staff were really friendly and rushed out to get our bags. Our room is nice, sat tv, big bed, western style loo WITH loo paper and a hot shower. We even have a balcony, not that it has any view to speak of, well unless you're a goat spotter.

Varkala is really cool. It consists of a long row of shops, cafes, guesthouses and restaurants all along a cliff edge and a nice beach....oh and people trying to sell you rubber snakes and mini drums.... Lots of tourists here but it's really laidback. We grabbed some lunch in a cafe and I once again forgot to avoid the curd, it's just not nice. The eaty places have a huge range of food, all so delicious. Bought a pair of comfy, baggy trousers for about 2.50 GBP. Think I've found my bartering style, they say a price, I walk away, they offer a cheaper price 😊 Saw some dolphins quite a way out jumping in and out of the sea, a few eagles soaring and catching fish and a funky lizard. Really hot here and there's a lovely sea breeze.

We ate tea on a rooftop restaurant overlooking the sea and the sunset. We had pasta and sauce which was served to us in the shape/style of a pizza, tasted yummy. So funny here as none of the places are licensed to sell drink but the waiter slyly asked Rob if he wanted a beer- he really did as it'd been a while - then they just ask you to hide the bottle on the floor. We were also served some free poppodoms, they really wanted us to come back tomorrow! When leaving Rob fell off the bottom step and twisted his ankle and cut his foot 😞 Went to another cafe (aka bar) where thry gave us a cocktail menu but the alcohol in them was just listed by its first letter hahah

Picked up some supplies on way back to hostel where we endured a terrible show presented by Connie Huck and "that bloke off Becca's facebook" (Steve Jones).

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