Week 1:Varkala to Kumily

Let the adventure begin….

Air India,a sense of what’s to come – bright colourful chairs,chatty people and a smell of curry

Week 1:
Delhi belly -0, Mosquito bites – 3.
Book club this week – The God of small things (Arundhati Roy) – well written,interesting language and descriptions and nice to read whilst in the area,but lacking a gripping story line.
Average daily spend for 2 – £44.
Highlights for this week include:

1. Varkala red cliffs and beach. Indian beaches are lively (bells, whistles and machete waving ladies with coconuts) and the Arabian sea is warm but rough.We enjoyed a coconut and early morning, midday and sunset swims.

2.Yoga. Morning roof top yoga over looking the sea – what a way to start the day ‘breath deeply, and completely’ “You don’t have to be good at yoga, yoga is good for you”

3.Food – Delicious!So much for loosing weight here, we’re loving the flavours and even the spice -byriani,curry,Roti,Dosa.We’re even getting used to curry for breakfast, although a Masala omelette or fruit is most welcome.

4. Activity around the backwaters.We were lucky to stay at a tranquil home stay on the backwaters where we canoed to our accomodation.We enjoyed our own kayak with background Indian music (from speakers around the religious statues) and spent a morning cycling around the paddy fields – lush.Mark felt we hadn’t done enough exercise so we sweated for 40minutes circuits on the upper level of the homestay much to the amusement of the owners.

5.Sunsets,lush sunsets from the beach in Varkala,from our homestay veranda overlooking the backwaters and from the public bus around tea plantations.

6.Public transport – local bus, tuk-tuk, train and ferry-boat, all with a natural breeze (no windows),and amazingly cheap (56p for a 1.5hr ferry kotyama or £1.53 for 3rd class train from Varkala to Allepey),puts British transport to shame.Mark even managed to buy a Murakami book he’d wanted on the train, bonus.

2 thoughts on “Week 1:Varkala to Kumily”

Christine says:

January 29, 2020 at 9:08 am

So glad you’re enjoying it. Such fun with smiley happy people. Try Ayurveda massage for two. Love Christine

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1. Lizzie says:
  
  February 2, 2020 at 6:29 am
  
  Thanks Christine, good tip, going to try a massage tomorrow 😊,my back is sore from a lot of jiggling on the bus.x
  
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