Varkala Beach

Although Kovalam Beach was quite lovely, we've moved on. There was just a bit too much being hassled by every store owner, fruit stand proprietor, drum seller, restaurateur, blanket distributor, pot dealer, chai wallah, sand bed setter-upper, rickshaw driver, and guest house manager. Apologies to the many of I've left out, as I'm out of adjectives for people trying to extract as much money from the tourists as they can before the beaches clear when the monsoons come. I don't blame them, but the only way to get around is by the beach promenade, and there's no way to avoid it, as the hawker line the boardwalk. Varkala was supposed to be a little less resorty and a little more backpackery. It is...sort of.

There are three main beaches in Varkala. The main beach is a strip of beautiful white sand surrounded by tower cliffs covered with green and red plants (and the inescapable trash).


This is where we stayed the first night, as dusk was rapidly approaching, since the 58km bus ride took a little over 2 1/2 hours, and we didn't want to walk the cliffs in the dark. It was a nice homestay, but I feel a little strange ringing the doorbell and walking through the family room/kid's bedroom everytime we want to get to our room upstairs.

We spent the next day checking out just about every spot along the cliffs for a good place to stay for a while. We walked our past the furthest beach, Odaylam (sp?), which was almost deserted of tourists, although there were plenty of fishermen drying out their nets.



It's soooo nice our past where the tourist trail ends. The amenities are a little more scarce, but the odd beach depanneur can still be found once in a while to re-stock water supplies.



With no luck for self-catering apartments in this end (we started looking for a place where we could make tea and toast), we ended up taking a place (no kitchen) at the rocky headland of the middle beach, Black Beach; aptly named for it's completely black sands. We've just moved in this morning, but I like it already. Just the sounds of the birds and the crashing waves. This is the view from the front of our room...



Now I just need to find a hammock and convince them to let me put it up, and I'm set for the next two weeks.

Auroville

I apologize in advance for spelling and other errors but the connection speed isn't great and I just want to post as quickly as possible so don't make fun--I really do know how to spell--somewhat :P

Dan and I stayed in Auroville for a couple of days, like I mentioned, in a sweet little hut. It was really relaxing. Auroville is kind of special--it's a place that was created by "the Mother" who was Sri Aurobindo's spiritual companion. She had a vision of a place that different cultures could come together and work towards creating a place that was environmentally sound and self suffient. I would say that they are pretty successful. From the solar kitchen (which cooks meals with solar power for up to 400+ people) to the water filtration system to organic farms...it's a pretty special place (a little cultish but I kind of like that sort of thing ;).

At the centre of Auroville is the Matrimandir--a giant gold plated sphere that you can go "concentrate" in. It's a silent zone which I love. I couldn't take pics of the inside since it's a temple and all but here is a pic of the outside. The inside is all white (you have to put on socks to walk around) and there is a giant round crystal that you "concentrate" on. For some reason they say concentrate and not meditate. I like the time we spent there, very pretty indeed.

As Dan mentioned in his last post, we are beach side now.We spent a crazy 12 hours on various buses to get here...it was not fun but SO worth it cause now we are in paradise! We started the day with a nice breaky, then played in some waves. We're taking a break now cause it's TOO hot in the sun at the moment. So I think there is some lunch and some laundry doing in our near future.

One of the things that I'm struggling with a bit is the constant male gawkers! Grrr. There is a constant parade of them up and down the beach. You could be lying there and they walk within inches of you. They also stand there and stare. I'm mostly covered most of the time--I have bathing shorts and a tank top that I go in the water in but it's still a problem. It's not just me of course, it's every tourist here. We did find a part of the beach that seemed to be quieter and actually patrolled by someone who tells them to move a long. Anyway I think I just need to get over it, and I will but it's still a little unnerving.

Another little note: I tried something yet again for the comments but I suspect the issue is with the map we've added to our blog so it's either map or comments...I say map :)

A pic of our sunset yesterday from a cafe.

xo

Pondy

We had a long day of busses followed by several unsuccessful attempts to find a place to stay. We ended up getting a place through a local Ashram (dedicated to Sri Aurobindo) that seems to control most of the city (guesthouses, boutiques, libraries, workshops, etc) The historic section of Pondy is very colonial French, although the place we stayed was more contemporary rural Indian.


After crossing a "canal" (read: sewer) we were almost there...finally. A cold shower has never been more welcome. I like to think this was not the water source. Actually, I like to not think about it at all.


A refreshing nights sleep (and the crowning of Ms. Bed Head India, the lovely Anabel! hooray!)


Reconstruction work on one of the biggest buildings on the beach promenade. The bamboo scaffolding and the bravery of the two guys hanging unattached working above are astounding.



Like most people, these kids couldn't stop staring at us. I loved the little one's giant oversized sandals. They were so happy that I asked to take a picture of them... all playful until picture time when they lined up and stood straight. The standard Indian picture pose is extremely serious, as if you hate having your picture taken. These kids couldn't quite pull it off.


At the Ganesha Temple, Lakshmi was giving out blessings, but only after putting coins in her trunk. Put a rupee in her nostril and get an elepant pat pat. Ana has previously agreed to get a head pat from the elephant until she realized that it was an actual elephant, at which point she agreed to be the photographer (and pick-pocket-watcher-outer)


Being blessed by the incarnation of a deity is thirsty work. Luckily there were still a couple of coconuts left for us, although it took a while to locate the woman hiding within who was selling them.


Our Sister of Something Holy Something Miracle Church at dusk.

We're still a couple of days and a couple of towns behind on the blog, but happy to be back beach side with nothing to do (except some long overdue laundry), so should be able to catch up soon :)

From Pondy to Auroville to Chidabarum to Trichy

We're been MIA..mostly because we've been traveling around a lot. We did stay in Auroville for 2 days in a sweet hut (which I will post pics of later)...that was nice. Auroville deserves it's own post but not today. Thanks all for your emails. I'm sorry about the comments issue...I tried one more thing so maybe you can try again? Otherwise I'm out of ideas. I didn't change any of the settings since setting up the blog so I'm not sure why it's being difficult.

It's hot and humid where we are. We're been on some very challenging bus rides. Omg. Lots of over crowding! You think the 99 is packed? Uh NO. They just pack people in like sardines here. Not to mention the crazy driving that goes on. Dan and I met a man in passing who had visited Toronto and the first thing he said was "oh my goodness, Toronto drivers are so crazy and drive so fast". haha I guess it's what you're used to.

I have more pics coming...
a

and here comes some pics...

I wanted to take a pic of one of our thali meals but I forgot to take it before I ate, so here is the empty plate--it was delicious!

Part of my visit to the weaving studio through sri aurobindo ashram. Some lovely ladies loading up some spools.

a dressed loom--there making woven sheets.

Another loom---more sheets.

The Gandhi monument that is in town...it's really powerful.

Tomorrow we are leaving Pondy and we're off to spend a couple of days in a hut in Auroville. I'm looking forward to our stay there--it's much quieter and low key and I will be able to take some workshops while I'm there since there are tons of artisans in the Auroville community.

xo

Puducherry (Pondicherry)

I'll start this post off by saying that I have some sweet pics to post but I forgot our cord thingy that connects my camera thing to the computer thing....sorrrry.

We're in Puducherry--or as locals call it Pondy. It's a bustling town but the area we're staying in is pretty quiet (sort of). We managed to stay in some sweet ashrams here in Pondy--Sri Aurobindo's 'shrams. (Sasha, you're totally right, the actual ashram is a trip out zone).

I'm bummed I can't show you pics...we have a great one of Dan getting an elephant pat pat on the head...so rad. Lakshmi the elephant is beautiful.

I also visited a weaving co-op today. I bought a handwoven napkin (yes just one so far cause it's a bit early in the trip for me to be carrying lots of stuff)...the napkin was a mere 22 rupes which is about 50 cents. Hand woven. I have some sweet pics of the co-op too...the length of warps they weave are amazing.

The food continues to be amazing although Dan and I are going to attempt more street cart food...is that a bad idea? I don't think so. I figure that if we see a stand with lots of locals eating there, it should be relatively safe.

I also bought some yummy Indian sweets. When I went up to the stand to buy them, I was curious as to what each thing was so I asked the guy behind the counter. He came around and started pointing to things and said "cake, Indian sweets, sweets, sweets"..... Thanks. I asked him what this one particular round thing was and he said "something in Hindi". So I bought it cause the description was so good. Thanks again Indian guy.

We're staying in Pondy for a bit longer, depending if we can get our same room for a few extra days...if not, we are off to Auroville. Another trip out zone--I'll post all about it but it's a crafts person's Mecca.

xo
a

Mal...

Dan and I have decided to stay in Mal for an extra day...that was decided this morning over a big pot of masala tea. We were going to go on to Pondicherry today but that will happen tomorrow instead.

We have wondered quite a bit around Mal. It's a nice mix of touristy accommodations and "real" stuff...we have spent a lot of time on the beach too.....it's always nice and warm which I love. I end up just lounging a lot and going to check out monuments like the Krishna Butter Ball which is part of a whole sweet monument area.

And somehow all this fills our day. Today we are going to check out more temples and monuments--there is also some beach time in our future.

Some general observations about India so far....there is garbage everywhere! In fields, on the beach...not covered in garbage but lots of litter. There are also cows everywhere---them being sacred and all although no one really takes care of them. There was a pretty huge cow gathering on the beach yesterday...lots of babies which was cute. Also women here don't wear bathing suits--they go into the water with pants and a shirt, often in their salwar kameezes, sometimes saris. Men wear shorts or a bathing suit.

Oh the food...delicious. I have been eating lots of curry and rice. Lots and lots of tea too. I managed to find a Thumbs Up soda but I haven't tried it yet--I have been keeping my eyes open for a masala soda. I'm sort of easing slowly into the food as to not upset the delicate balance of it all. Oh and I had a coconut naan--that was super delicious. It was a flat bread stuffed with cooked coconut and spices. Yum.

xo

local production

We've decided to stay in Mamallapuram a little while longer. It's an easy place to waste away the days... It's very mixed here; there's the Little Backpackistan district attached to a regular Indian town. The traveller district is clogged with little shops selling sculptures, clothes, shoes, paintings, etc. The big difference from shopping at home is that everything is made in front of you. The stone carvers are unbelievable, the tailors, painters, and shoemakers are also amazing. It's so easy to forget that everything we buy has to actually be produced somewhere since it's always just sitting and waiting for us on store shelves.

We did a tour of the temple park yesterday. These ruins were sitting atop carved rock caves devoted to Vishnu.

The locals side of the beach was packed with a group armin-arm waiting to be swept away by the next big wave.

The Ana side of the beach was much less packed :) Check out the sweet Camel pants.

This morning we had delicious Masala Chai. I was quite tempted by the French Breakfast, but decided to pass in favour of fresh cinni-buns. Mmmmm.

Mustache ratio

When travelling through Central America I was awed by the amount of men with mustaches. India blows them out of the water. I know it's not a scientific study, but my counts on the last bus were 24 men of voting age with mustaches, 4 without. Take that Central!

The bobble

I'm completely enamoured with the Indian head bobble. I had a short, yet intense man-crush on our bus toll-taker guy from Chennai to Covelong Beach, completely based on his head movement. At first it really threw me off as he was answered my question with an affirmative, while giving negative head movements. Soon enough, I learned his head language and we were communicating effortlessly. The closest comparison I can draw is with Italians speaking with their hands...he couldn't open his mouth without moving his head. Love it.

Salad

It strikes me as funny that chicken by itself is just chicken. An egg is just an egg. Add mayo to either and you get chicken salad and egg salad. Everyone knows that getting more salad in your diet is important for maintaining a healthy body. Maybe that's why the developed nations as a whole are getting fatter.
P.S. I know this has nothing to do with India, but it's my blog and I'll do what I want.

India!

So Dan and I are in India.

India is overwhelming...well Channai is! It's just as I thought it would be. Lots of honking, hot and humid and sooooooo many people. We tried to get a room in Channai so that we could spend the day there but decided pretty quickly to get the hell out of there.

So we took a series of buses by relying on the kindness of strangers...and we ended up spending yesterday in a place called Kovelan...a very small town where we were the attraction. Lots of staring of course and touching our arm--mostly kids. We ended up sleeping A LOT during our visit.

Today we took a bus from Kovelan into Mamallapuram (Mal) which I'm liking a lot. Lots to see and do...there will def be some pics to be posted.

The people here are so so friendly. While we were in Kovelan waiting for the bus, we got asked where we were going a lot and many told us the bus to take which was so great. I almost got on the wrong bus and an Indian g-ma who basically stood right by us the whole time we were waiting ran after me and yelled at me "no no no"...haha love it. Even on the bus, it seems Indians have taken responsibility for us--telling us when to get off and such. Nice.

We are spending the next couple of days in Mal...I will post pics tmr after visiting some temples and the five rathas.

xo
a

And we're off...

After a lovely time on the east coast visiting family and friends, we are off to India. We leave tonight...12 hour flight to Abu Dhabi...3 hour wait...4 hour flight into Chennai, India.

We added an interactive map to our site...for your viewing pleasure.

We'll write again soon.

xo
a