Varkala

Varkala

With the decreased likelihood of going to Bali, we decided to get some beach time here in India. The main place to go for beaches in India is Goa, which was a Portuguese colony and has as much of a European flavor as Indian. It is also highly developed for tourism. While it is probably great, we decided to head into Kerala for perhaps a quieter beach, and settled into Varkala.

Swimming in the warm Arabian Sea, eating, lounging, reading, swimming, napping, eating, swimming, ...ah what a rough life!

Varkala and Odayam Beaches

Varkala is still small, although growing rapidly. The main beach still has some fisherman in the mornings and Hindu worshippers at sunset, but is covered with western sun worshippers at mid-day. Generally, the westerners keep to one end of the beach (with their scant clothing) and the Indians to the other (with women in sarees). It is not a strict segregation but seems to be each group showing respect for the other. Westerners walking past the portion predominated with Indians generally cover up as a courtesy. Many of the residents have shifted their lifestyle, and now sell clothing, trinkets or food to the tourists. We stayed about a 30-45 minute walk north of the main beach, in the hamlet of Odayam. We could walk to the German Bakery at the main beach and get apple strudel, or stay up north and help the fisherman bring in the nets in the morning, or listen to the call to prayer at the Mosque. There were very few westerners in Odayam (actually just us). The tiny hamlet was very quiet and secluded, although one night someone pumped Indian music through their loudspeakers much of the night!

The Muslim family stay with are excellent hosts and treat us as family. They worry if we stay out too late. They spoil us with tea and food. In fact, the morning we arrive, we are immediately served a sumptuous breakfast and instructed to rest!

In this village, the fishermen work together, starting many hours before sunrise. A few men go out 2 km into the ocean with boats and cast the nets, feeding the long ropes all of the way back to the shoreline. At about sunbreak, everyone else joins on the beach for 60-90 minutes of pulling on the rope. When we showed up to take pictures, we were "ordered" to start pulling --this is a fishing community and everyone works! 

Eventually the days catch is pulled in, and the local shopkeepers and restaurateurs show up to argue over price and buy the catch. One day the fishermen themselves get into quite a shouting match, and the next morning there is no fishing! Presumably they patched it up as fishing resumed again the next day.

Festival at Varkala

One night, we joined a festival at a local Hindu temple. The festival started with a parade into town, led first by a marching brass band in full uniform, then some dancers, a marching band with local instruments, caparisoned elephants, Kathakali dancing, and finally a percussion band. About seven elephants joined in the parade, led by perhaps the largest Asian elephant I have seen (and yes, those are Asian elephants in the world-famous breeding program at the Portland Zoo). After the parade was a ceremony only for Hindus inside the temple, and then a great all-night performance of music and dance on a stage set up outside the temple. We watched the intricate Kathakali dancers, but I must admit I was most taken in by the mridangam drumming. Kathakali dancing is mostly drama with singing and gestures, especially movements of the hands (mudras) and expressions on the face. The costumes are elaborate blooming dresses, and the makeup completely covers the face, much like a mask. The dancers barely move except for their hands and eyes, while a singer and four drummers improvise rhythms that I couldn't possibly follow but sure enjoyed. (They play to a 16-count with accents on the 1st, 5th and 13th count, but this is counterpointed with stuff I couldn't figure out.) We would later see two of these same drummers at a large festival in Quillion, so while I don't know names, I'll bet they are well known performers.

Kunnykamari

We took a side trip to Kunnykamari, the southernmost tip of India, to watch the sunset.  The Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea literally break over the jutting rocks and sand to meet at this point, and important Hindu Pilgrmage site.  The waves roll in from both oceans, in opposing directions, so there is one outcropping of rocks and sand that has waves alternately passing over it from right to left, and thex left to right as the oceans mix.

The sunset was great, but we really actually enjoyed the next morning even more. We rambled about on a motorcycle and peeked into little hamlets in Tamil Nadu. Known as one of the warmest peoples in India, the Tamils greeted us everywhere. We stopped at one point when a little parade came down the street. We soon discovered they were headed to the church for a wedding, and we were invited! We watched as the nervous (even fearful) bride and groom (who had met each other only one brief time in this arranged marriage) went through the Christian rituals. The attendees were quite joyous, but I'd have to report you sure couldn't say that about the wedding couple. They were just scared!

We stopped to watch a family making rope from coconut fiber. (Jute is still a leading domestic agricultural crop for India, even though the rope is inferior to alternatives and export has dried up.) Three family members would each pick up a pile of fiber, hook a bit over a nail, and begin spinning out fiber at a rate of maybe 30 feet (10 meters) in under a minute. Then the three yarns would be twisted together into rope in one quick motion. The speed with which they worked was impressive! Possibly they were trying to complete the task before the heat of the day. They were able to work together as a family, children and parents alike, and I thought how great that would be both for developing the character and skills of the youth as well as just to be together. Our style of work in the west, where everyone goes off in different directions, exacts a heavy toll on families that I more fully appreciate when I see families that work together.

Kerala backwaters

We took a day off, paddling a canoe through the backwaters of Kerala, at Kapil Beach. The ocean backs into the rivers, and the area is a mix of lagoons and rivers, land and islands. We paddled amid the white egrets and other water birds, passed a Mosque, passed a school where the children were just leaving (all dressed in their blue uniforms), and pulled over when a local hailed us to stop and have a coconut with him. Coconuts are incredibly refreshing and filling, and we had two each! Many hours of paddling (and applications of sunscreen) later, we returned back, quite rejuvenated. There is something about natural beauty that calms and fills our spirits.

Quillon festival

We took another side trip, up to Quillon, the usual spot for backwater trips. Instead we went for a large week-long regional music and dance festival. We rented a motor scooter and spent all day wandering up to the festival (otherwise just over an hour's ride) and again found many backwater villages. The ocean backs into many bays and estuaries, so that the region for several miles inland from the coast is a wonderland of forested islands and blue rivers and lakes. This area is just so pretty. Unlike the northern or poor areas, there is little litter, the houses are solid and maintained, and the people seem satisfied with their lives. It is easy to imagine living here, and it fits well with the simple lifestyle that we have come to appreciate.

We had an interesting dinner. While Fran was eating her meal, a cockroach dropped from the ceiling and landed in her plate. She brushed it aside, rather than considering it a delicacy as the Chinese do.

We arrived at the outdoor dance festival ready for the 7 PM start, but it didn't get going until 8 PM. By then, there were thunderstorms in the mountains, but the locals didn't seem to worry so we ignored them. We found the same phenomenal drummers performing on this large stage as at the small festival in Varkala. Again they were simply mesmerizing. This time, the music was a fusion of east and west, with some westerners playing western (or eastern) instruments along with the India musicians. A dancer performed some of the most graceful and acrobatic dance movements I have ever seen.

The lightening got closer and closer and at 9PM everyone began to scramble. We made it to the scooter and down the road no more than five minutes before the downpour hit. It quickly flooded the streets to a depth of 3-6 inches. We knew from the downpour earlier in the week that it might just last an hour or so, so we huddled under a bus shelter. We also knew that once we were wet we could only go a few kilometers an hour on the scooter or wind-chill would be an issue, and that would turn the hour long journey into a ten-hour all-night ride. So we just waited. By 10 PM it stopped and we made it back safe and dry. In fact as we turned the lock on the guest house door, a second rain started to fall....

Train to Bombay (Mumbai)

In most of India, getting a train ticket is reputed to be a difficult chore, but is really quite easy. With computerized bookings, it is possible to make bookings in advance for any train in India. Unfortunately, Varkala is not one of those places, and has no computerized reservation office. So we could only buy a second class ticket (wooden bench seat) and try to upgrade with the conductor once on the train. The ticket office couldn't tell if the train had space in advance, and worse case there would be standing room only.

It was worst case. There were no spaces in 2AC (second class air condition), 3AC (third class air condition), nor sleeper class. In fact there weren't even any seats in second class: just standing room in the hot, un-air-conditioned cars. After a few trying moments however we figured out that there was some air conditioned space for the first part of the journey and that after that people would board and take the seats. So we upgraded that portion of our ticket and headed off. We then got bumped out of those seats in Goa and hoped off the train. Time to begin scrambling. Actually it turned out great --we ate lunch and then found a comfortable express train on up to Bombay. Being a faster train, we arrived almost as fast as if we had not been bumped, and were quite comfortable. Regardless we determined that we would not try to take trains without confirmed reservations again!