To/In/From Varkala

I decided to travel to Varkala by train which takes appr. 5 hours from Ernakulam. The unreserved ticket cost 50 Rs and you may buy a seat from the train if there’s availability. I was told all trains from a certain platform would go to Varkala and I could just jump on the next one. Great, I thought and found myself a seat from an AC3 cart, from the next train. 

Conductor showed up only after couple of hours and he instructed me to step out on the next station as I was in the wrong train, my ticket was meant for the next one, and in addition to that this train would not even stop at Varkala! I had made the grave mistake in trusting 1 person instead of asking the opinion of ten, and then taking the average answer as the closest truth. No worries though, I switched trains in Alleppey and didn’t have to pay that much extra for my newfound AC seat as I was already half way through the trip. So I actually saved some money this way.

Rickshaw from train station to Shiva Garden cost 40 Rs and took only ten minutes. Shiva Garden has clean budget rooms, huts and couple of dormitories situated only a 5 min walk from the cliff side and beach. 

There is a relaxed, welcoming and homelike feeling around this place and I think it was here where I forgot the existence of my laptop. I rather spent my days by the beach, at the cliff edge restaurants or relaxing in the garden hammocks.  

 If you find yourself in Varkala do check out if Shiva Garden still has their local rap talent entertaining the guests in their restaurant!

General Manager of Shiva Garden

Shiva lounge

Varkala is the place in this trip where I will definitely return. The place has a lot of backpackers but none of package tourists (yet) so it still hasn’t lost its relaxed charm. Here you may also experience the happiness in finding a totally empty sandy beach for your morning swim. Lonely Planet warns about the strong currents in Varkala but I didn’t experience anything like that during my 2,5 week stay here. The waves are big though and they may pull down your worn H&M bikini top if you’re not careful… 

Varkala Beach has no beach sellers except for couple of coconut sellers so you may even take a nap without anybody bothering you, and I felt safe enough to leave my stuff on the beach while I went swimming.

View from the cliffs

Black beach

Fishermen

Sunset over Varkala beach

My henna tattoos

"Tea time"

Ville had borrowed a Royal Enfield from the Kerala Enfield club which we took for a spin one day to Ponmudi. Our planned road trip went via Parapalli and Vithura and should have taken couple of hours one way. After ditching the useless map altogether we navigated by asking people which way to drive. 

Roads we drove were hard on the back and bum area, and after 22 hairpin curves up “the mountain” to Ponmudi also my hands were in blisters. I tend to slide backwards when we drove up and my hands got stuck between my own (light) weight and the holding rail. I might have been also holding quite tight simply because I was afraid; the bike had no proper brakes and the clutch was working so and so.

The view from Ponmudi was worth the trip and the hilltop restaurant served a fair lunch for reasonable price. Do not expect the find cheap accommodation here; the couple of places located at the end of the road are either fully booked or expensive (2000 Rs).

After arriving back to Shiva Garden we had couple of well earned cold beers and treated our wounds:)

Ponmudi mountains

When it was time to leave Varkala and head back to Goa to meet my family, who were arriving for holidays, it was suddenly hard to find a train tickets. I found one very useful site for checking availability and other India related information:www.mustseeindia.com. It shows how many persons are in que so you can evaluate better your changes in getting a ticket. 

I booked first trip back to Ernakulam where it is easier to catch express trains to Margao, Goa. I got an AC1 sleeper seat from Margao Express train by the corridor so I could prepare my bed and start relaxing without anyone nagging about it. No matter how nice the Indians are there are times when you just wish to close your eyes and sleep for most of the journey, while you do have the sleeper seat.

Train was supposed to arrive to Margao at 4AM so I told Warner to pick me up at 5 AM as the trains have never been on time here so far. Arrival was at 4.45 and we drove to Utorda via the fish market. 

After getting the luggage to my room I felt like I had arrived back home! It was nice to have breakfast again back at Dom Pedro’s with Uncle Bob.