Some lazy beach time in Varkala

We chose to go to Varkala because Lonely planet promised that it was still very much underdeveloped in comparison to the much more popular Goa and Kovalam beaches. At last Lonely planet delivered and it was well and truly the right choice. Varkala has a few beaches along the coast and the beachside village is perched on a clifftop above the beaches. I'm sure in a few years these places may well have fallen into the sea they are so close! We found a lovely hotel with a decent sized room that felt like 5* in comparison to the hole we had stayed in the previous night.
This was a proper holiday destination with very little to do - again a welcome relief after the chaos of the North. Our days went something like this:  wake up when we felt like it, have breakfast, relax for a bit, head down to the beach (a couple of hours was enough in this heat!) for some sunbathing and sea fun, stop somewhere for lunch, browse the shops, have a nap, go out for dinner and bed. It was absolute bliss! Another on the list to revisit for a holiday again in the future. I even managed to get out for a few runs, although running in this heat is also a whole new experience and a sweaty one at that! The locals found it all very amusing and I had to find the energy to wave a lot throughout, hard work!
One day we decided to get off our lazy backsides and hire a motorbike to go exploring up and down the coast. As the motorbiking is John's baby I'll let him explain this bit to you all.

I insisted that as we were in India the only bike we could possibly hire would have to be a Royal Enfield Bullet 350. The bike was delivered and I looked over it and remembered that the gears were on the right hand side and the rear brake was on the left, exactly opposite to normal! To make life even more difficult, on going for test ride, I found it was one up four down i.e. complete opposite again! The bike wasn't in a great state but seemed to work and we decided it made more authentic. No helmets were provided either and we were told they weren't needed!!! We cruised up the coast in the morning, after getting used to the Indians driving and nearly getting killed by a Tuk tuk driver who pulled out on us. As we sailed towards it I braked and we didn't really seem to stop. Dave Truscotts voice repeated "They are called death traps John" over in my head as I realised I was braking with the gear lever. Luckily I managed to steer around it as the front brake was as useful as an ashtray on said motorbike!! We found a fisherman's village on a gorgeous beach. We stopped for a while for a sunbathe as we were the only visitors there and it was largely deserted. There was a nice 2-3 foot wave coming in with dangerous rips and shore break - not one for Karen to swim in but I had a splash.

 

Fisherman's beach



Us on our Enfield about to leave the beach


  

We gave our sore backsides a break for lunch and then headed out again later to explore the Coast south of Varkala. We spent a couple of hours riding through tracks and small villages following the coast and stopped at another totally deserted beach which went on for miles.

Steve McQueen poses at the deserted beach

The happy couple, more relaxed than ever!

It was like being celebrities, everywhere we went people shouted, waved, ran after us and wanted us to stop. They obviously don't see many Westerners in this part of town!  Either that or they'd heard of our arrival! It was a great way to get closer to the locals, much better than a car or organised tour. We needed to get the bike back before dark as cows roam around the roads and are hard to see as they are black and don't have lights!

We ended up staying in Varkala for 6 nights and could easily have stayed longer if we didn't have a flight already booked. An amazing place!

Sunset at Varkala