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Published: January 3rd 2011
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It was a nice train journey down from Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram. The train passed through miles and miles of tropical palm trees, waterways, and lush green fields, while my fellow passengers went out of their way to offer to buy me coffee, share their food, and chat with me.
My train pulled into Thiruvananthapuram and I headed for the pre paid auto-rickshaw stand, ignoring the drivers who tried to intercept me on the way to the booth and were quoting well over the odds prices.
The drive down to Kovalam was the most entertaining journey yet in India. For a start, the driver was clearly mad as a hatter. In addition to the most daredevil and dangerous driving I have ever seen, he periodically burst into some mad over-enthusiastic song at the top of his voice while turning round to take his eyes off the road and grin at me manically. This guy needed time on the couch for sure. When get back home I will miss the auto-ricksaw drivers' death defying driving!
Kovalam beach isn't very Indian at all, although I knew that when I booked it. It's well and truly aimed at tourists, but I thought
it would be a good place to unwind for a week. The backwater trip in Kerala last week was the last of the big things I really really wanted to do, so it feels a little bit like I'm killing time now. There are worse places to unwind and kill time than the beach.
Kovalam beach is even smaller than Palolem in Goa, with a very short distance from the pavement, across the sand to the sea. The beach lies in between two clusters of rocks on which a red and white striped light house stands at the most Southern point. Just two minutes walk from Kovalam beach is Howah Beach, which like Palolem is a beautiful crescent shape and lined by palm trees. I'm staying at the Sea Breeze Hotel, which is very quiet and relaxing, and the helpful manager can't do enough for you.
Howah is the nicer of the two beaches, but Kovalam is more entertaining, with an juxtaposition of fully clothed Indian tourists and barely clothed Europeans wading into the sea together, no doubt each thinking how strangely the other is attired.
Having almost bought a sitar in Varanasi, I succumbed to the
urge to buy a drum (Dhol) from one of the men patrolling the beaches. I wanted one of the big ones but having worked out a strategy of offering no more than 700 to 1000Rs for one, the man informed me that it cost 6000 Rs (just under 90 pounds!). After the man had showed me how to tune and play one, I managed to get a smaller, cheaper one haggled down from 1500Rs to 1200Rs.
If I thought that this would stop me being pestered for the rest of my time in Kovalam, I should have known better. The man stopped me the next day and asked if I wanted to practice playing the 6000Rs Dhol. Having wised up during three months of traveling I smelled a rat and politely refused, so the drum seller cut to the chase and asked me if I wanted to "exchange" my drum for the one I'd wanted the previous day. Apparently, what he didn't mention when he sold me the drum yesterday is, as he now explained, that it will not play as well in Britain because of the cold climate. Yes Mr Drum Seller, that's why I bought a cheap
How to use an Indian Toilet
I hope you're all paying attention one, and I can tune it if the skin tightens or slackens, like you showed me when I bought it. These boys need to join the second hand car trade! What makes street salesmen and auto drivers funny most of the time, rather than annoying, is that the standard of their sales patter is of the "the dog ate my homework" variety! Just as long as you don't fall for anything. Then it becomes annoying.
New Years Eve was quiet. Mostly beachside restaurants selling food and providing a DJ. I went down to the beach at 10:30 to see what was happening. Most of the Westerners were sitting looking bored at their reserved tables, but the Indian holiday makers seemed to be having more fun, playing football on the beach and building sand sculptures. There seemed to be more Police and Army officers than revelers. Apparently at midnight there was 15 minutes worth of fireworks before the Police threw everyone off the beach and most people went off on their way.
Final stop Madurai for some culture, and maybe a blessing from an Elephant!
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SaajKerala
saajanjohn
Odayam beach in Varkala (Kollam District) is better than Kovalam.. Kovalam is a very touristy kind of place.