We continued our journey through Kerala and reached Varkala one late afternoon. Varkala is a small town with a beautiful beach right next the cliffs.
The first thing we noticed was the heli-pad right in the middle of town (being used as a taxi stand at that moment). The second thing that we noticed was the beach.
We stayed at the Varkala Marine Palace. The hotel has everything going for it. It is located on the cliffs overlooking the beach and has beautiful wooden cottages. The room had a very ethnic and slightly antique feeling to it and had a bed big enough to swim.
After spending a week in beautiful, but conservative Kerala, Varkala was a bliss. The presence of a lot of foreigners gives it a feel of Goa and freedom. The locales are used to people sitting on the beach and getting in the water. In fact, this was the only beach in Kerala where I felt comfortable getting down to my beach clothes and getting in the water.
The first day however we just walked on the beach since it was already late in the evening. The water is cold and very clean. Small crabs and other sea animals come out to the beach once its cold and we had make sure that we don't step on any, or for that matter, get bitten by a crab.
We decided to have dinner at Varkala Marine Palace's restaurant and never regretted it. The restaurant is right at the beach, have a lovely view and serve beautifully prepared seafood in local flavours. A cat decided to join us for dinner every day. By the time we headed to the bed, we were fully relaxed and super happy.
The next day we headed to the busy parts of the cliffs which are dotted with lots of restaurants, shops and hotels. It is like a mini Goa. We tried the food at Clafouti Beach Resort for lunch. While I don't remember the details of the lunch, both Avi and I agreed that I was good.
In the evening, we walked back to the cliffs to watch the sunset. The beauty of the sun setting into the sea has somehow never ceased to amaze me.
After a week of travelling and running around, we spent our days reading books on the beach, walking on the beach or the cliffs or just eating at the Varkala Marine Palace's restaurant. If you want a peaceful and beautiful place to destress, Varkala would me my first choice. We loved Varkala so much that we extended our stay by a couple of days.
Leaving Varkala late meant that our schedule for Trivandrum was slightly messed. We could not go to the Trivandrum Zoo and a couple of other places because they were closed and decided to enjoy the beaches instead.
We stayed at the Travancore Heritage, a seaside resort with lush greens. Since we were staying on the upper side of the resort, we had to take a lift through coconut trees to get to the beach. Even in the heat of Trivandrum, beach was perfect. The water was clean, blue and the most beautiful that I had ever seen, before Cambodia.
We spent one evening at the Lighthouse Beach in Kovalam. It is supremely crowded, perhaps due to being the most famous tourist spot in the city. The view from the lighthouse was quite good and so was the sunset. However, the crowd and noise take away from the place.
All in all though, beautiful glimpses of Kerala. We bid adieu to Kerala the next day with some really fond memories.
We stayed at the Travancore Heritage, a seaside resort with lush greens. Since we were staying on the upper side of the resort, we had to take a lift through coconut trees to get to the beach. Even in the heat of Trivandrum, beach was perfect. The water was clean, blue and the most beautiful that I had ever seen, before Cambodia.
We spent one evening at the Lighthouse Beach in Kovalam. It is supremely crowded, perhaps due to being the most famous tourist spot in the city. The view from the lighthouse was quite good and so was the sunset. However, the crowd and noise take away from the place.
All in all though, beautiful glimpses of Kerala. We bid adieu to Kerala the next day with some really fond memories.
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