The Backwaters, The Beach and Culinary Excellence...

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Namaste,

I do apologise for the tardiness of this latest post; I have truly immersed myself into the culture of Backpackistan and have been a bit too busy at Varkala beach swimming, sunning myself and drinking.

I have a lot to cover so will jump right in...

I guess the place to start would be where I last left you. After Kumily I wanted to experience the Backwaters; the backwaters being large canal type things that run almost the length of coastal Kerala. The main place to starting place for backwater tours was the town of Allepay. In order to reach the town I had to take the local ferry from Kottayam, a rather big dirty typically Modern Indian town.

The local ferry was a brilliant way to see the back waters and I chose the timing of the trip perfectly as the sun was just setting as I arrived in Allepay. On the Boat I met a rather large bloke by the name of Jan (spelling?) who was born in Germany but raised in Portugal. After quizzing him which side he supports during the world cup (Portugal - the lesser of two evils?) we decided to find a hotel. After some arduous wanderings we settled on a homestay called Asdhmudi and what a find it was. Every evening in this little gem of a place all of the backpackers sit around a large table to drink, chat and dick around. I managed to meet a whole load of people that I have seen again and again since leaving Allepay.

That evening however I discovered Jan was a little 'new agey' and had just got out of a ten day silent meditation stint in a local Ashram. Now, I have met many people who have done this and it's not for me but Jan was full of it (I wish I had known this before agreeing to go canoeing with him the following day).

Off we went then in our little 3 man canoe; myself, Jan (who mainly talked about Ashram etc) and a man who didn't speak any English at all. It was Jan's personal mission to see the backwater's in as quick a time as possible so all three of us were full throttle for most of the 5 hours leaving me a bit knackered to be honest.


My next port of call was the beach of Varkala. Many of the people I had met in Allepay were also heading to Varkala; so I ended up traveling down with a French couple by the name of Clem and Sabrina. They turned out to be some of the best people I have met so far on my trip and we yet again managed to stumble on some great accommodation ran by an eccentric Frenchman called Bruno.

Varkala is possibly one of the best places I have ever been too for the following reasons:

1. A beautiful beach backed by red sandstone.
2. Beautiful girls in Bikinis on the beach backed by sandstone.
3. Some very interesting swimming condition (try large waves and bloody strong undercurrent)
4. Beer (in India this is as hard to find as water on mars).
5. A brilliantly relaxed atmosphere.
6. Nightlife that goes on into the wee hours of the morning.

So as you might well have imagined this is why I haven't been in contact; I spent a week hanging out with lots of new friends, swimming in the dangerous beach and generally just larking about.

I did do one thing of note however.

Myself and a fellow Englishman by the name of Dom decided to do a Keralan cooking course. So we payed rs400 each to learn how to cook and cook five courses (it was a little odd having an evening sunset meal with Dom while his girlfriend was on the beach).

In order to write about everything that went on in Varkala would cost me a lot in this internet cafe, so just be assured I had a bloody good time!

After a week in Varkala my friends started to move on so I decided to follow suit. The most southern tip in India (Kanyakumari) seemed appealing. I traveled down with a couple I had me in Varkala and we arrived just as the sun was setting. During the 2004 boxing day Tsunami 1000 people died at the cape so it was a little sobering. Other than the fact you are at the most southerly point in India there isn't really much else to do so I spent my day and a half there wandering along the coast (looking out every 5 minutes on Tsunami watch - I do get paranoid about silly things) and watching probably one of the best sunsets I have ever seen (the cape is famous for them).

Presently I am sat in the temple town of Madurai I will try and keep up some more frequent posting!

Hope you are all well,

Jack x

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Photos

Varkala Beach
Feeling a bit sad to be leaving such a brilliant place