A Journey in the Southwest of India - Part 1: Varkala

It is the middle of March. We have been living in India for two and a half months now. And finally my dearest friend Bine and her boyfriend Markus are visiting us from Germany. A few days we enjoy together in Bangalore, then we make a week vacation at the southwestern coast of India, in the states of Kerala (also called Gods own Country) and Goa.

Together we will travel to the cliffs in Varkala and from there to Alappuzha, where we rent a traditional houseboat for a one-day backwater tour. We continue on to Kochi, a city we liked so much on our first visit. Afterwards we spend a few more days in Goa.

After a wild night of dancing with Bine, Markus and my colleagues in Banaglore, our plane takes off quite early on Saturday morning to Thiruvananthapuram, in the south of India. From there we drive another hour to Varkala.

The small town Varkala is located on a steep coast. Besides the Janardana Swami temple, which is dedicated to Vishnu, there is actually little to see. One enjoys the time at the beach or in one of the numerous small beach cafes.

When we arrive in Varkala, it is already noon. It is hot and above all very humid. Since four of us plus a driver share only one small car, we are already sweating in the vehicle, but when we get out it gets really wild again. The humidity immediately forms a film on our skin and the heat makes us break out in a sweat.

Arriving in our comfortable homestay, we therefore also first take an extensive nap in the air-conditioned room. When hunger wakes us up, we walk to the beach and sit down in the first beach cafe. Here the clocks go a little differently and only after quite a while we get our snack.

Then we discover the beach during a short walk. With us, because it's Saturday, lots of people who want to spend their day off on the beach like us. We discover the small Janardana Swami temple, in the city itself there is probably a larger one.  

The water of the Arabian Sea washes up or around medicinal plants, so only a few people want to miss a bath in this section of the Arabian Sea. None of them, however, wear the traditional swimwear of the West. Some men wear only shorts or underpants, but some simply enter the water fully clothed. So do the women, who simply enter the water completely dressed in their colorful kurtas.

One morning we also observe pilgrims walking from the temple toward the sea, balancing on their heads a few flowers wrapped in a banana leaf. Before touching the water, they turn backwards, facing the temple, and take a few more steps backwards into the sea. Here they throw the banana leaf and the flowers backwards into the water.

In the evening we have a delicious meal in the restaurant Gods own Country. Kerala is known for its fish and fish curries and that's where we feast thoroughly. Full of food we go back to bed.

The next day we have breakfast in our homestay and doze off in our room. As nice as our accommodation is, it lacks cozy retreats in the garden or on the terrace - in this heat we can not be tirelessly on the feet.

In the afternoon we have booked a kayak tour, paddling through the mangroves of the backwaters. From Varkala we take a tuktuk to the starting point of the tour. Although we clearly told the tour organizer the day before that we need a big tuktuk or two normal ones, there is only one small tuktuk waiting for us.

We eye it and realize, as expected, that we don't want to ride in it for 10km with five people (there is a driver). Markus is over 1.9m tall and anyway... With the heat here I already try not to touch my own skin, I don't want to squeeze in three or four on a one meter wide back seat of a tuktuk. Fortunately, there are enough tuktuks and so we just pay a second one for another 700INR, about 8€.

We start the tour at a small river. Martin and I share a kayak as usual, we are already a very well-rehearsed team through our past joint water hikes. Markus and Bine paddle in two small kayaks and are therefore more agile. Together with a guide and four Indians we paddle off. Our experience is clearly noticeable here. Markus, Bine, Martin and I plow through the water while the other paddlers explore the river in an impressive zigzag course. Around us are the palm trees. Above us, lots of eagles are circling, occasionally we see herons or kingfishers.

At a leisurely pace we paddle against the slight current towards a small island. Bine takes a lot of pictures, she is still practiced from her safari and I am looking forward to a lot of eagle pictures. On our way we accidentally overtake a second group of zigzagging tourists. Their guide has just fished a jellyfish out of the water and shows it to us before he lets it back into the water.

At a small island we moor and walk barefoot the few meters to a small temple. My pants are unfortunately too short, I am only allowed up to the gate, not into the temple. Bine, Martin and Markus come a little closer. Meanwhile I enjoy the atmosphere, look at the setting sun, the candles in the temple and the quiet praying of one or two monks.

As we leave the island, music sounds from the temple on the water, apparently now the praying ceremony becomes little more intense. We paddle once more around the island, then back. In the evening we eat again with a view of the beach. Slowly we get used to the climate and we enjoy our fish curry to the sound of the sea.

The next morning we set off. It's a three-hour drive to Allapuzha, from where we board our houseboat at noon.