Kerala - Varkala

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Kerala - Varkala

18/02/11 - 21/02/11

We arrived at about 6pm and got a tuk tuk to the North cliff (about 2km) for 60Rs! The tuk tuk drivers here want to take you to hotels that give them commission so it should be made clear which hotel you want to go to and that you have paid. The tuk tuk back to the station cost 70Rs and they did not budge! They didn't seem bothered about negotiating (5 of them were in on it) just saying we would have to walk if we didn't accept it! The reason they gave for why it was cheaper from the station was that the drivers get commission that way. We think that it's more to do with how touristy the place is and some tourists will pay anything!!

The landscape of Kerala can really be appreciated entering by train. Everything is green!! This is a stark change from what we are used to seeing in the north of India. Another striking difference is the lack of slums lining the train tracks and instead the tracks are lined by nice houses. This continues throughout Kerala and you can see why this is the richest province in India.

Anyway, Varkala. The beach is a long cove overlooked by steep limestone cliffs so there is no development actually on the beach. There is a  stretch of golden sand from the north to south cliffs. Ontop of, lining the length of the cliffs is a row of shops selling mostly clothes and many restaurants. Behind them are the hotels and guesthouses. The GHs are mostly sturdy buildings rather than beach huts. Despite what people say about Kerala, this place (varkala) is touristy with backpackers, families and package tourists. Thomas Cook actually has an office here! We preferred Palolem beach in southern Goa (Goa being renowned a touristy place, especially the Northern beaches) as it has more character and is less developed.

The view from the top of the cliff of the beach is quite nice and it is also a nice place to watch the sunset. Once you are sat on the beach where you can hire an umbrella for 150Rs (no competition so no negotiating) per day it is also nice. I spent my 29th birthday sunbathing there.

The sea is quite rough and is apparently has one of the most dangerous currents but it is warm and good for a dip. However the southern tip and the back of the beach is strewn with litter and the staircases smell of urine (well this is India afterall). As there are no resorts on the actual beach I guess noone is responsible for cleaning up. The sand at Southern end is also discoloured a greeny colour from god knows what!

There are other beaches around Varkala but we didnt venture out of the strip being there only 2 whole days. They may be nicer?

Accommodation

We booked into the Sanctum Spring Beach Resort to start off with on the Internet prior to arriving. It costs 2300Rs per night for a standard room including breakfast. We arrived having booked double room but they said they only had twins available. We complained (a bit ratty after the 20hour journey!) so they upgraded us to the suite room but we would have to move the next day. The place is nice with AC, a TV, a nice balcony (limited sea view even though top floor) and a comfortable bed but it lacked any character and was a bit package touristy for us so instead of staying for the 3 days we had booked we decided to move on. They were good about it and even refunded our whole HostelBookers deposit.

We found a lovely little place called Arabian Soul which was set back from the beach and the strip by about 25metres. It was a lot cheaper at 1200Rs for the biggest sea view room (1000Rs for other sea view rooms and 800Rs for a garden view room). Run by a really nice couple it has a lovely garden where you can sit and shared verandahs with a partial sea view through the palm trees. We really liked it there but it was stifling without AC even with all the windows open and the fan on full! It would be like that everywhere though. They do not have hot showers but in our opinion the showers were not cold enough!!

Restaurants

There are loads but we liked Cafe Del Mar and Caffe Italiano. 


And onwards....

We decided to go back on ourselves back up to Alleppey to see the famous Kerala backwaters. We ended up being too late to book a train ticket but the (long distance) trains down south are quiet so you can just turn up. We just bought our ticket at the station for AC3 for the 10:20 train with no problems. The queue moved a lot quicker than in other places we had tried to book trains.

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