My sister
was coming to Varkala for the first time. It was my third time. Varkala is a
small town in South Kerala. When my parents asked me what I wanted to do during
my holiday to Kerala, I could only think of one place I wanted to go to. After
the long drive, we reached the Helipad, a locale in Varkala that overlooks the
sea. It is so beautiful that your breath literally stops. The day we went, it
was cloudy; there was greyness in the sky. It was hard to make out where the
sea ended and the sky began. You need to visualize this, or look at my photos.
After putting our bags in the resort, we went for a walk along the narrow path on the cliff. One side of this path is lined with stores selling beach wear or Indian artefacts. From a bikini set to an idol of some Indian goddess, you can find everything able to lure a tourist. The other side of this path is the sea, except that it is 50 ft below. Varkala is the only place in Southern Kerala where the cliffs are found adjacent to the Arabian Sea.
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| Just like a painting, swaying trees and hammocks to take in nature ! |
We reached
at night, so the entire pathway looked like a long glow worm. You could stare
at this glow worm for hours, as the winds keep blowing on to your face, and on
your bare skin, causing an occasional shiver. After smiling my satisfactory
smile, I went and slept for a while on the hammock. There was a slight drizzle,
the night was cloudy, the sea looked like a vast moor, and my view above was of
black silhouettes of coconut trees. I felt in a state of ataraxia.
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| Adding color to the 'path' |
The next
morning, the drizzle continued. The view was of morning calm, you know that
theme we use in Microsoft Presentations. Green merging with the blue. We went
down to the Papanasam beach. This beach
is said to have healing properties and powers to wash away sins. There were
several fishermen shouting out into the sea, frantically waving at something.
We looked upon but were so happy with the warm waves, we couldn’t care less. We
then realized, as more and more fishermen from the sea came back to land, that
rain was about to strike. Not just any rain, it was a strong torrential
downpour. We went and safely stood under a shed, as everything got wet and the
sea became furious. There was an abandoned puppy that was shivering. The shed above
was shaking vehemently. Waves crashed on the rocks. Fishermen backed off. This
was nature at its best. Raw and wild. I did not dare take photos, as it would
have effectively caused my camera to go kaboom.
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| Can you see the grey of the sky ? A torrential downpour followed. |
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| Butter Garlic - Pasta ! |
Note : The trip to Varkala from within the state, would cost you around 3,000 per person. If you're taking a flight, the nearest airport would be Trivandrum, followed by Cochin. Rooms are available from Rs. 500 onwards during off season and around Rs. 1000 during peak season ( Nov - Mar ). It is well connected by road and rail. I have been there in the summer and during the monsoons. I am a beach, tan, sun person so I prefer the Summers. There's more to do then, surfing, paragliding, yoga on the beach and of course, a little swimming for the brave.
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ReplyDeletethats a very informative post...
ReplyDeleteand given the details and picturesque panorama, Varkala should allure anyone to spend his/her holidays…
thanks for sharing this one…
I m sure you did have a marvelous time…
Thank you. Yes I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is one of those get aways that sits in your mind for a long time ! Thanks for stopping by my blog :)
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