Blogs from Varkala, Kerala, India, Asia - page 18

PHEEEWWWWWEEEEE, we were on a train for 49 hours!!!! and we covered a distance similar to that between helsinki and madrid, but do you know what? it was one of the best train journies of my life. Nothing much happened, but it was so relaxing I was really amazed. Bob and I started this trip not really knowing where we were going - we knew we were going somewhere, we knew we were heading for Indonesia at some point, but we were very much in need of going where the wind took us - and our trip so far has been exactly that. We planned to head to Goa (a mere 25 hour train journey) but when we were told that there were no normal tickets left for a month, we decided that rather than faff ... read more

I have so enjoyed my time here.. For any of you interested in a beach holiday in this part of the world I recommend it highly.One can fly into Trivandrum take a 40 minute train ride and be here !! I have read a Danielle Steel novel and half finished one by David Baldaci ,wrote MANY pages in my journal , seen Borat and The DaVinci Code and had fresh Butterfish ,Tuna, barracuda ,Tiger Prawns and Kingfish . I have walked on the beaches twice a day done a little shopping and watched the dolphins play while I ate breakfast this morning. Life is good ...and it is time to move on. Yesterday I got my train tickets for my final tour in India. I take an overnight train at 6:40 this evening for Madurai in ... read more

Feb 10 - 12 We took a train from Kochi down to a small town in the south of Kerala called Varkala. Since it was a day train, it gave us the opportunity to see the beautiful Kerala countryside. We arrived in Varkala and checked into our guest house, Bamboo Village. Varkala is a small beach town built on a cliff overlooking the sea. The weather was perfect and the water was warm. It was much more relaxed than Goa - like a smaller version of Goa without the trance scene. We did a little shopping, a little swimming and some hanging out at the chill cliffside restaurants. We made a few new friends at one of the shacks (restaurant/bar), Ganesh and Pram. I think all the waitstaff in the entire place were stoned. They were ... read more

OK so after 26 hours worth of flights and layovers, at one point leaving hong kong and watching the screen on the plane showing us crossing over the heart of india, thinking why...why not just land this sucker and let us get out....but no no, they continued on to Qatar, the middle of the middle east, desert everywhere and the Oasis....A &W. Hilarious havent seen one A & W outside canada, but there it was. It is funny how the planes started to get smellier and smellier as we got nearer and nearer to India........ Overall impressions thus far: Weather- great People- friendly, but unreal smelly, imagine if you will 5 month old curry sitting outside. then mix that with 35 degree heat and a clove of garlic, and a pinch of BO, and those were ... read more

Samirs article. We are at the beach, finnaly, which is just like the postcards. We came from Cochin on a 4 hour train ride but we had no clue when to get off, so we basically jumped off while the train was moving. We have a hotel in a place called Bamboo Haven which is really nice and right by the beach. The beach is like Ambleside, except the waves are bigger, stronger and more often. And the beach is nicer. We are eating out every night now, so I'd kill for something homemade. Other than that, everything is perfect, and there is lots of wildlife like dolphins, falcons, geckos and chubby dogs who eat the leftovers at the restraunts. Luckily, there are no roaches. We are going on a boathouse cruise through the backwaters tomorrow, ... read more