BEACH TIME :)

Namaste :)

After interesting southern part of India we headed further up along western coast to explor Kerala's seaside strip. We made our first stop in Kerala...at the beach called Varkala. We heard a lot of nice things about this beach so we decided to spend a couple of days there and relax a little bit from previous 2 very fatiguing weeks. Varkala is well known for its cliffs, black beach, very strong currents, yoga training, ayurvedic-related treatments, relaxing bars, higher prices, western food and laid back atsmosphere... .
A couple of days went by before we could learn how to practice yoga.
Our next move wasn't far away from Varkala. Kollam is one of the oldest ports in the Arabian sea and well known for its spices, cashew nuts (indijski orescki) and Kerala's very famous backwaters - they called it »a slice of Venice in the heart of Kerala«. We decided to do this sightseeing here, because it is not so commercial like in Alleppey. Day trip around Munroe island with small canoe along narrow canals was fantastic. A grid of shady canals, villages, fishermen, coconut trees and shrimp farms.
In Allepey we took public ferry to Kottayam and experienced local backwater transport across incredibly nice Vembanad lake. Well our next local transport wasn't so pleasant, because we took a local bus to Periyar wildlife sanctuary. Ajajajajaj ... those indian drivers are really crazy - especially if you sit in a front row! Saso tried to nap for a moment...till he literally fell down from his seat on one curve! Periyar wildlife sanctuary is home to at least 46 tigers, over 1000 elephants, bisons, sambars, wild boars, langurs (a kind of monkeyes), birds, ... . Of course we wanted to see at least one wild tiger, but unfortunately luck wasn't on our side. OK - we saw almost all of the above mentioned animals, but when we knew how close we were to wild tigers...our eyes were only on the lookout for shy tigers. No luck. Obviously I will have to go to Africa soon and find them there.
From wildlife sanctuary we continued to Kochi, which is well known for its Fort Cochin, colonial streets and giant fishing nets influenced by Chinese merchants, which are specially admirable at sunset. From Kochi we took a night train to Gokarna or »Cow's ear«. This peaceful village is a holy, hindu place. We decided to go to a nearby Kudli beach which is nothing special, but the laid back atmosphere with several basic, but very varied budget options for accommodation, cows on the beach, music evenings, sea view and hammock in front of our room...this was definitely our time for relaxation. The only thing that bothered us was mainly Israeli population! They were everywhere (!!!!) - for all of you who ever had a chance to meet them..I'm sure you know what am I talking about!

And then there was Hampi. After a couple of days on the beach we decided that it's time for a little bit of history again. Hampi was declared as a World Heritage site in 1986. Since then this place is very well visited by the tourists, which is probably the main reason why local ladies want to charge you 300% higher price for a cup of indian chai (tea) on the street... of course you have to bargain for everything.
Anyway... we cycled around the ruins of the 15th century city near the village of Hampi and wondering which »giant« threw around all those enormous big rocks and formed this magical landscape.
Whole area is sown with gigantic granite rocks, river, banana plantations, rice fields, hindu temples, artificial lake and much, much more.
In the Virupaksha temple they even have the temple elephant named Lakshmi. Lakshmi gets her morning bath every day in the nearer river - it's funny when you are able to see children & elephant taking the bath together and women do their laundry...at the same time and in the same river.

The truth is that I was very surprised how comercial India is. OK, I knew that I can expect certain number of tourists and all that, but...come on!!!! I was mostly expecting only backpackers and definitely not so many israelian people, "all inclusive tourists"...but the truth is that most of the travellers usually visit only places according to travel guide...or stay on one of the beaches for a couple of months, smoke and do nothing!

Some of you were very interested in indian toilets…I took a couple of pictures in India and published them in this blog. Saso& I asked ourselves a couple of times where is our sanitary minimum? Well…what a man has got to do, a man has got to do!
But just for the record - it's not everywhere in India like that!!!
Just a friendly hint - maybe it's better if you don't check them during your lunch break :)


Jana

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