Varkala, Kerala

In our quest for the perfect beach spot, we have been enjoying the ease of Varkala. The red rocky cliffs set against the easy blue sea gave us reason to stay put here for a few days and catch up on our reading. Although persistent rain has put a damper (literally) on our beach plans, here are some highlights of this cool place:
- Sea View hotel for $12 a night
- Warm ocean you can swim in for as long as you want... you can swim your guts out... yesterday it appeared as if someone had-- we were swimming on the main beach and spotted a bundle of entrails floating by us... ahhh, the Lakshadweep Sea!
- This beach is an interesting mix of tourists, people practicing yoga, and groups of Indian men surveying the bikini clad women on the beach
- LOTS of time to read on our porch and on the beach.
- Great seafood and various masala dishes ($2-$3 for good seafood dish)
- OUR NEW FAVORITE THING EVER: CARDEMOM TEA
- Learning to live on "Indian Time" (John, and you thought Matt time was slow!). Last night we waiting about two hours for our dinner to come, but at least it gave us time to enjoy our gin and tonic before dinner while we watched the sparkling fishing boats go out to sea.
- Varkala has two Ayurvedic schools of massage and we haven't taken advantage of them yet. ... Still debating on whether or not they are local find or tourist gimick.
- Discovered that we are suckers for eight year olds who are running their parents' shops.
- Our SteriPen really works! Matt has been changing shower water into potable water with the push of a button and no Delhi belly yet!
- We are happy to be stationary for a while, and off the main roadways. It seems that the drivers apply the Hindu philosophy of "non dualism" even to two lane highways! As we rode up from Kovalam to Varkala, the two lane roads had a center passing lane. Now all of a sudden NYC cabs seem a lot safer.


While we listen to the rain pour onto the corrogated tin roof here at the internet "cafe," we realize that our plans will take us north tomorrow. We plan on traveling by train to Kochi and exploring the famous "Back Waters" of this part of India. We will say goodbye to the beach for a while and look forward to a new kind of experience.
Love to you all and we'll be in touch soon,
Teri and Matt