Kovalam and Varkala Beach

 These might be picture links--

Kovalam

Kovalam

Varkala-
Varkala

Our first two destinations in India have been a very gentle introduction to this chaotic country. We’ll leave here tomorrow, but for the moment, we’re rested, relaxed, and mellow. Let’s see how long that’ll last when we really hit the road.

 Kovalam, our first stop, is a simple, somewhat funky  tourist town on a beautiful stretch of beach. A paved promenade lined with shops, restaurants, and hotels follows the curve of the bay from the lighthouse at the south end, to rocky hills on the north. Beach hustlers rent lounge chairs and umbrella for the two of us for 200 rupees a day- almost

$4.00. Fishing boats, covered with thatched palm leaves and with their nets drying in the sun, are strewn at the north end when they aren’t out working. These boats look very primitive – they’re made without nails and are held together with twine laced through holes in the wood. They must be sea-worthy since they come back every night.

Our hotel, Shirley’s Beach Hotel, is a simple one but has the necessities - ceiling fan, clean comfortable bed, bath, and balcony, all for about $17.00 a night. The view from the balcony is questionable; you need to position yourself carefully to avoid seeing the trash strewn about the public shared property. Getting there from our taxi was quite spectacular, though. Shirley met us at the road and led us through the lush jungle on pathways built up about 6 feet above the forest floor. The walkway was a warren of connecting pathways meant to confuse the timid traveler, with shops and restaurants hidden among the palms and orchids. Roger said it reminded him of Bali except the women weren’t bare-breasted.  It was different than anything I’d ever seen before. We really enjoyed our time in Kovalam and were in no hurry to leave. But when we did split town, we found our next stop, Varkala, even more to our liking.

Varkala beach is spread about a mile (or 1. 6 kilowatts or something in India-speak) along a cliff facing the ocean. Hotels, restaurants, bangle shops, yoga studios, thatched open-front stalls with brightly colored fabric and garments blowing in the sea breeze line the cliff-side path. The shore is mainly eroded and rocky, spectacular to see. The beaches, several of them, are reached via stone stairways along the cliff.  Our hotel, Woodhouse Beach Hotel, is at the north end of the beach, just beyond the line of shops. Beyond us, the walkway continues to the fishing beach where Roger helped fishermen pull in their nets one morning. The hotel itself is charming. We have a cottage of our own with a porch facing the ocean, which is where I happen to be sitting right now as I write. With me is Toast, the hotel’s dog, who has a pretty good dog life, as far as I can tell.

Tomorrow we head for an ashram for two days. How could we visit India and NOT visit one? It is the Amrithanandamayl Mission (yes, a real mouthful), the home of Amma, who shares her beliefs by giving hugs. Really. Seriously, I’m not kidding! We can use a hug as much as anyone. We’ll let you know how it goes.