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Published: February 3rd 2010
Fishing Boat
Varkala, KeralaWhen you Varkala, say it like: “Var-ka-LAH” - with a big “AHHH” at the end… Why? Because it’s a beautiful relaxing beach town and we were moving in for the week! After being on the road for two-and-a-half months we really hadn’t had many beach days…at least a lot less then the usual, so the beaches of Varkala, Kerala were going to serve as our beach fix.
We stayed in a beautiful and cheep room (500Rupees - $12) overlooking the less “developed” northern beaches of Varkala where every morning we heard the fishermen yelling instructions at each other while pulling in their fishing nets. The sound of the waves crashed loud through the windows of our room and the beautiful sunsets we enjoyed from our little balcony (with drink in hand) is exactly what we were looking for!
The days were all relaxed, with most the conversation revolving around when we wanted to go swimming, whether we should walk up to the cliff (15mins) for real coffees, or which restaurant had the coldest Kingfisher beers.
To change it up a little, one day we rented a scooter with a wine mission in mind. After we got incredibly lost
Looking North
From our beach (as in: “Do you have any F***ing idea where we are?) we managed to right our compass and eventually find the dodgy looking government booze shop that seemed to operate more like a drug house with little eye-contact and muffled conversation. They were a bit shocked when, in between selling $1 mickeys of firewater rum, I shouted out “How much for red wine? - I’ll take two!” It wasn’t exactly Premier Cru, but for India…not bad!
One day it rained while we were there, which was only the second rain we’ve seen since leaving Canada in November, but it was nice because everyday it was over 35C and at night the heat stayed with a consistent temp of 30C in the room…no A/C, just a fan, but we managed to sleep after a cold shower before bed.
We also spent a fair bit of time making some plans for the rest of our Indian adventure. After the train debacle of trying to get to Varkala, we decided that booking trains in advance was the only way to ensure we could get to our next destination when we wanted to. Usually we operate with a much looser plan, but
Looking South
From our beach I guess with all these friggin’ people trying to get from one place to the next, you got to book your tickets in advance. After a few hours of earning my degree in deciphering the India Government Railway website (I honestly think some University Degrees are probably easier) we managed to find trains to places we wanted to go with availability, so now we’ll have to see how it all works out!
Varkala was a great stop where we could enjoy the heat and the ocean, as well as some amazing seafood (calamari, marlin, tuna, butterfish, prawns, etc) all prepared in new Indian ways such as tandoori and tikka to name a couple. Since Varkala was listed as less touristy then the beaches of Goa (and there was a fair bit of “tourism” here - ie: “T-shirt, T-shirt sir? Nice bag for lady? I have discount today- Morning Price!”) we decided not to go to Goa and get all our beach time in here. After a very relaxing and enjoyable week, we packed up again and headed for the airport where we took a cheap flight from Trivandrum to Mumbai…Slumdog Millionaire here we come!
Until Next Time…
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jessimica
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Dream Waves
Hi there! I stumbled across your site and enjoyed reading about your trip. I'm looking into staying in Varkala in April and would like to know where Dream Waves is located in Varkala! :) cheers