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.