Santa and the coconut palms…

We enjoyed our short stay in Kerala last Christmas so much that we decided to head back to Varkala this year and make the most of the South Indian sunshine and clean air. The Hill Palace Hotel, with onsite 2 week old puppy to play with was our base this year. With its balcony view to the ocean through the coconut palms and being central to the cliff top restaurants and Tibetan souvenir stores, it was perfect.

There was a different crowd this year, less of the backpacker yoga travelers and many more package holiday tourists from Europe. As a result we spent more time on the beach lazing under the umbrella and less time stumbling along the uneven cliff top path in the early hours of the morning.

On the ‘must do’ list whilst in India was a backwater trip. Where old barges are refitted to carry passengers through the expansive waterways of coastal Kerala. We chose an overnight trip out of Kollam, about 30km north of Varkala to break our time lazing on the beach. What an experience we had… Trips like this can be hit and miss and we surely had a hit and miss trip…



To cut a long story short, we enjoyed the tranquility of the water ways, the village we visited was great as the locals were in the midst of Christmas celebrations and included us whole heartedly. The down side.. the boys with the brains on the boat tied us to a coconut palm with loud speakers at the top and at 5am the villagers cranked the volume with Hindu Temple classics. We thought the crew may not have known but to our surprise, this had been happening for the last 41 days as part of a Hindu festival.. The crew was oblivious to our pain... At least we were able to watch the morning mist rise off the water, with the village on the riverbank coming to life.

The rest of the time in Varkala was as expected, very lazy indeed. The main tasks of each day being, to negotiate the price of the beach umbrella, deciding where to place it and where to watch the sunset and have dinner… It was tough but we got through it, albeit with a little help from the local men. You see, the tourists may love Varkala, the beach, the ocean and the fresh food, but for the local men the tourists become the entertainment. Many times throughout the day the life guards or the police with their big sticks move the men along but they quickly return as curiosity gets the better of them..