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Published: March 6th 2007
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OK OK OK! Jeez! It's been over a week since our last entry and we are hearing about it from everyone! So alright already, here it you go.
We finished off last time having partied the night away in Goa. Had we already gone back to Arambol for the weekend? Ok, well we did do that, having worn out the things to do in Panjim and bought a train ticket for the following Monday. Back in Aramol we got up to our usual, you know, laying on the beach, reading books, eating......yeah that about it. We also found a lovely little shop near the top of the road and upstairs, full of interestingly designed clothes, and not the usual street vendor tourist fare. We spent the afternoon chatting with the owner Sudeep, from Nepal, drank chai, played with a kitten called Billy (it means kitten in Hindi), and trying on nice linen dresses, pants and tops in bright colours. If you are in Arambol, this shop is a must, right across from the Tibetan Restaurant, above the book seller.
After our long, hard and draining weekend, we said a second goodbye to our rapidly expanding friends’ network there, and
Mmmmm
Train food beats Plane food anyday! headed to the train. Three long, hot, crowded and dusty busses later, then a 30 minute-long walk to the train (which our fellow bus passengers assured us was "only 5 minutes, very short).......hmmmm, we finally arrived at platform 2, with a full hour to spare! Once on the train, we chatted a bit with our fellow cabin mates, a couple from the UK, and ate some surprising food. I say surprising both because we got some and because it was really good. Two kinds of curry, rice, curd, roti and gullab jamin for desert. Mmmmmmmm. After two meals we settled in for the night and woke up in Trivandrum, Kerala. Arriving at 6:00 am meant nothing was open, and we couldn't even get the tickets to Kanyakumari yet (we found out after standing in line). So we wondered out of the station and found a coffee house that let us sit inside until they started serving at 7:30. Tea and toast, then back to the train to chat with a group of women who were on tour from Mumbai. It was so very Indian of then, as they just came over, sat down right next to us and started asking
questions, bam! They were very lovely and gave C and I both bindis to wear.
Back on the train we headed to the tip of India. Getting there though wasn't as impressive as we thought. It was very hot (we expected that), the hotel was cheap (not expected), the food bland under-exciting (not expected), and the town itself was crowded, dusty, dirty and noisy. We spent the next day looking around that the tourist spots, and island with a temple on it, and getting harassed for photo's by the mostly Indian tourists. One day was more than enough for me, but we did manage to find a delicious bakery with yummy coconut cream filled rolls......trouble!
The next day we hopped back on the train wound our way very slowly (painfully slowly or not at all, most of the way) back up through Trivandrum to Varkala. Ahhhhh, Varakala. Beautiful, stunning, breezy warm Varakala. I guess I don’t have to say that we loved it here the minute we got here. The beach area (mostly tourists) is right on the edge of huge red cliffs that dive straight into the Arabian Sea and her crashing waves. Small shops and restaurants
line the cliff top, with a couple of beaches to lie on if you wish to take the many stairs down to them. The winds blows hard most days, which is welcome, and we even had a couple of rainstorms which we were 9informed are very odd for this time of year. We loved the rain, dancing a laughing our way back to our little bamboo cabin. Kerala is amazing because the people here are happy and proud of there state. They want to you have a good time and go out of there way to help, not for the baksheesh, but because they want to. On the first day, the owner of our guest house, Shenu, kindly offered to get me a SIM card in town and ring it back, just to save me the trip. The next day he put it into my phone, activated it for me and voila, I have a phone number in India! This happens all over here, everyone is helpful and friendly, just wanting to chat and get to know you, not trying to extract money anyway possible.
On our second night here we discovered the most wonderful restaurant in India. Ok,
maybe I am exaggerating, but it is lovely. It is at the far northern end of the beach, right on the cliffs, with a second floor to look out over the waves while you eat. The Sunshine Cafe, owned by the wonderful young Shyam, who grew up here, has great food, good music, stunning views and friendly staff. Every meal we have had, from chicken sizzler, tandoori fish plate (barracuda, tuna, butterfish, etc), tuckpa, veg curry and tuna sizzler have all been delicious. The food hooked us and the friendly Shyam kept us coming back. Everynight we get suggestions on what is fresh and good that night, and he is always right. We don't go anywhere else to eat now, we are very loyal. I even tried some Barracuda! That's right, me, I ate Barracuda. It wasn't bad, kind of like Tuna.
Today Shyam took us to see a small Hindu temple very far off the beaten track. On a small island in the middle of a lake, surrounded by palms and jackfruit trees, we coasted trough the water on a small punting canoe. It was a little piece of the real India, the one that hasn't been touched
by pollution or cell phones or hustle and bustle. I almost didn't want to leave, but I did, reluctantly.
So, here I sit, after we have just extended our stay here for a third and last day, we will leave Kollam, Allapey and the backwaters on Thursday.
Ha, you all asked for it, and I happen to know that there is going to be another one posted very shortly. A double whammy! Be careful now, pace yourselves, we don't want anyone getting hurt because our travel insurance won't cover internet-related third-party injuries. So take a break, look at the pictures, have some tea or juice, and breathe.
Sarah
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Great pictures! Good read, and looking forward to the next one.