varkala

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well, we finally arrived in kerala to find it closed. hmmm. well, there was a state wide strike on. we arrived early in Kollam (aka Quilon) around 7:00am and all the shops were closed so we thought it was just cos it was early. there was one restaurant open so we went there for breakfast, it was a proper authentic indian fast food place, i love these places, there is no menu, they basically tell you what to have. which is good, because it will be the thing they are best at and have just made really fresh. thing is, i do love indian food, but haven't yet managed to go for the proper indian breakfast.... but i had no choice, so it was parothas, chana masala (spicy chick peas) and sambha (runny spicy veg). delicious but not my fave first thing in a morning! actually it was fine. down here in the south is a lot more traditional for food. there is no cutlery you have to eat with your hands. the locals eat with one hand only, as the left hand is considered unclean. luckily i had a spoon in my bag so used that depsite strange looks from the other customers.

the parothas here are different from north indian parathas, more doughy, a bit like a pancake, they are really nice. as nothing was open we deicded to go for the day to Varkala as that is much more touristy as it has a beach, and so we thought some things might still be open, and they were, and we really liked Varkala, so decided to move here the next day.

we went back to Kollam to stay the night as we had already booked a room, this was the first room we had ever had we proper aircon, not just a fan. it was actually quite cold! so we thought we would appreciate it whilst we could.

the next day in Kollam still we went on a canoe tour of the backwaters and saw viilage life and coir rope making. it was so tranquil and beautiful it hard to beleive we were still in india. we had another traditional lunch only this time i didn't have my spoon with me. this time locals actually laughed (nicely) at my attempts of eating with one hand only. i had to give in and use both hands.

often the food is served just on/in banana leafs, and it's not just a gimmick. i saw businessmen on the train getting out their packed lunch which was all wrapped in a banana leaf. they manage to eat with one hand so neatly! no mess on their spotless white shirts.

also, the men wear a lungi. this is like a sarong, or a big tea towel. they wear it long or fold it up so it looks actually like a big nappy. you see men with shirts, shoes and a briefcase, and a lungi. it's really nice actually.

also, i was under the impression after learning some hindi back in the village, that hindi is spolken everywhere in india. however, there are different languages all over, here they speak Malayalam, most people don't know any hindi and look at you like you are mad if you try to speak it. i have learnt about three words of malayalam but it's very hard. (oru chaaya ta - one tea please)... you can usually find someone who speaks english but outside of proper tourist areas in may be only a minimum.

at the hotel in Kollam we met an english guy, James. he seemed quite nice and normal at first, and then we discovered he has cycled (bicycle, not motorbike) all the way around the coast from Chennai. He is eventually going to Goa. so, he is obviously a bit crazy....

as he is cycling, James had not yet been on any trains and asked our advise for booking one for his last leg back to Chennai. we didn't realise but monica and i have become quite the experts, as we studied "Trains at a Glance" to find various options, explained the different classes and went to the reservations office and used the computer there to check availability etc!

anyway, we liked Varkala so we have now moved here for a few days.

we have noticed that in the more touristy places, like Varkala, accomodation is cheap, we have a room for 250rs, but food is much more expensive, you can easily spend 200rs for a meal. in the less touristy areas, like Kollam, the room was 600rs, but you could get an excellent meal for about 50rs. we feel we are doing a good balance of "tourist" and "authentic"!

we are staying here in Varkala until sunday, when we will move back up north a bit (we are zig-zagging back and forth all the time but anyway) to Allepey (Allepuzha) we will maybe stay a few days there and do a day trip to Cochin (Kochi?) and then boat to Kottayam, bus onto Kumily in the hills again, eventually aiming for Tamil Nadu.

we are having to plan ahead more now, as for Monica we are into the last two months and want to spend at least another month up north. to this end we have booked a flight from Chennai to Varanasi for 20th May, so now we have deadlines to meet! how stressful! must program my blackberry.......

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