Blogs from Varkala, Kerala, India, Asia - page 11

Our first destination in the south was Varkala, a very small beach community off the Arabian Sea. We landed in Trivandrum, and met a very nice French couple who we would share a taxi for the 45 minute journey. We arrived at the resort, Bohemian Masala, a pricey place, for Indian standards, but worth every rupee. It is a beautiful "tribal art village" as they call it, 2 minute walking distance to the cliffs and beach. We had the pleasure of staying in an all-natural clay hut, our walls made of clay, ceilings of palm leaves, and our floors of fresh cow dung. So comfortable that we slept till noon the next day and woke feeling refreshed. When we awoke, it was Valentines day, a perfect day to lounge on the beach, shop (more Sarah than ... read more

So from Wyanad to Ooty we had to endure 8 consecutive local buses in one day. Each one was more crowded than the last and the journey took over 13 hrs. Pam was great company and was in such good form that day, never complaining once while i only paused from my chirpy whistling to ask the man beside me to take his snoring, dribbling head off my fucking shoulder.....Please. The idea was to get to a town called Mattapalyam five hours away from Ooty, our Goal. Then, to get up the next day at 5am to catch the Toy Train up the mountain to Ooty. In typical form and true to our character at this stage, we didn't realise the direction we were traveling from and therefore ended up driving through Ooty and then all ... read more

January 11th - 15th - ABD A multinational convoy of three Jeeps packed to the roof with luggage and people made their way further South to Varkala on the morning of the 11th. We had enjoyed a champagne brunch at the Coir village before boarding our transport and heading into a new adventure. We arrived at the very disappointing Seapearl Chalets, and crammed ourselves into a small chalet in pairs. Tim was feeling crook and I was still recovering from the “Delhi Belly”. Varkala Beach is surrounded by cliffs and is nowhere near as lovely as the Goan Beaches. On top of these cliffs there is a long shopping and restaurant street which is mainly run by the Tibetan community. Most of us enjoyed shopping more than beaching and the days flew by. On the second ... read more

A sok komoly bejegyzes utan azert egy kicsit az itteni freaksegekrol is irnek, mert nem egyszeru orszag ez amiben itt mocorgunk, de nem am... egy kiscit a fura oldalarol is erdemes megismerni, ime egy kis (folyamatosdan bovulo) toplista az europai, eufemizmusokra erzekeny olvasoinknak: 10) Hibrid WC: Bombayben es az ashramban lattunk eddig kerek e vilagon mashol nem lathato torvenytrelen naszat a hagyomanyos pottyantos azsiai es a raulos europai budinak. Egy specialis, guggolasra kikepzett vastag karimalyu wc csesze, melyre praktikusan illeszkedik az szukseg eseten lehajthato, es azonnal europaiva varazsolo wc karfa. Zsenialis. 9) Sikszappan: az amerikai motelekben szoroanyagkent adott sik gyufaskatulyak mintajara, perforalt hajszalvekony "szappancsikok" uti hasznalatra, praktikusan ingzsebbe csusztathato kiszerelesben! 8) Erdekorokbefogadas: a kasztrendszert evtizedek ota igyek... read more

Happy New Year. My 2008 ended with a complete herb ally induced sneeze fest. Let me retrace the steps. This may get a bit gross. Don't read this while eating. When we were with Dr Manoj at the Auyrvedic (sp) hospital booking in our second massage, he noticed that I was sniffling a bit. I told him about my recurrent sinus problems and that being here eating wheat and dairy (unavoidable in this place) and being rolled around in the spin cycle of waves inhaling shovelfuls of sand, was not doing me much good on the "ole bunged up head feeling". He suggested that before the massage I have a small face and head massage and "some little drops" for my sinus. Sounded good and off I trotted - certain in the knowledge that I would ... read more