Varkala

traffic in delhi

Driving in Delhi is like a city full of 18 year old boys driving in traffic without worry of police or insurance rates. Thankfully, they only go about 55mph at the most as there is traffic and they are sharing the highway with trucks, tuk tuks, scooters, and the occasional bicycle. Another difference is that they are more experienced and less distracted so they don’t crash that much, just occasionally swap paint. Judging from the number of dents pounded back out of many vehicles, they may swap paint a fair amount. Surprisingly I did see one pristine Porsche and everyone gave it space so perhaps if you hit one of those, the police get involved, which nobody wants. When there’s traffic everyone honks their horn, and there’s traffic pretty much 24/7. It’s like a constant background noise in some areas.

I did manage to get to the airport the next morning, though after Uber dropped me off, I found out I was at the wrong terminal. An airport porter said I had to take a taxi or go all the way around to get to the domestic terminal 2. He offered to help me for 300 rupees. My 45 minute taxi ride was only 450 rupees so I sensed a scam and said no. He then dropped to 200 rupees and his colleague walked up and gave him a receipt-like paper that he showed me indicating that the fare was 200 rupees. That annoyed me since he had just said it was 300 rupees plus he could have told the guy to hand him a paper with any amount he chose “give me the receipt that says 200 on it,” but I considered 200 fair since I would have tipped him 100 just for giving me directions anyways. He miraculously found a “shortcut” between the two terminals and within a few minutes had me settled in line to get into the terminal.

So glad this wasn't me if hotel had kicked me out

You have to show paperwork to get into the terminal. The couple in front of me took a long time and the guard kept wanting him to show proper papers. I was worried that I had gotten this far and would be booted back to the hotel for home quarantine. First I showed him my passport. He had me take off my mask and show the passport again. I also took off my sunglasses. One look at my bandaged bruised face must have scared him. He just asked for my boarding pass and once I showed that he waved me in. Incidentally, my dark glasses seem clearer with their blue lenses than my regular glasses do. Maybe because they are polarized or the tint…or maybe I used an updated prescription and they literally are clearer.

The flight to Kerala was uneventful. When I arrived, I collected my bags and wandered out to the mob of taxi drivers. Uber showed me a price (1365) to my accommodations in Varkala over an hour away, but for some reason was not letting me book the ride. The official taxi counter wanted 2100, but an independent driver overheard my conversation and offered to take me for 1500 noting that Uber would charge toll fees as well. I accepted his offer, sending pictures of him and his car to friends just in case and away we went. He drove not like time is money but more like time is gold or diamonds. He clearly knew all the local roads and backroads extremely well and dodged people, bikes, dogs, and other vehicles like a pro. He was on track for doing a google maps estimated 84 minute drive (25 miles, much of it through city streets) under an hour when we hit a closed road and detour. He still got me there in under 75 minutes. Very impressive! Here are a couple videos of the drive.

me in tuk tuk Varkala

I checked in to Varkala Marine Palace and they took me to my room. After resting a bit I went to the bank to pay for my next accommodation It was getting late so I took a tuk tuk there and then walked back. There lots of regular people (non touristy) stores along the way. I stopped and bought some tube of Odomos (effective non-DEET mosquito repellent cream that covers your scent) for about 70 cents each. I’m stocking up for back home. I also got some grapes that looked better than they tasted. Then I saw an adorable elephant sign for the elephant eatery. I looked closer and it has rows of chickens roasting in a giant rotisserie oven just like Costco. That sold me. I went in and ordered the elephant shwarma, which has chicken NOT elephant meat plus egg and cheese. It was delicious! And not spicy. Plus my eyes had started swelling so they gave me a bunch of ice in a bag so I could ice on my walk home.

elephant eatery what a cute name

elephant shwarma made with chicken no elephant

bank trying to trick me into converting to USD

Side Note: Be on the lookout in India (and possibly Thailand as well but I can’t remember) that they will prompt you to convert your withdrawl to USD, charging you a bad conversion rate and forcing you to then take your money to an exchange counter to convert it back to rupees. I’ll add some pics from my ATM encounters in Varkala and also from Delhi.

ATM conversion attempt

very persuasive saleslady who talked me into buying stuff

I was almost to my hotel when I passed a souvenir shop. A woman said to come in and have a look around. I said I didn’t need anything and she talked about how hard it has been to make a living these past two years with no tourists. She’s good. I looked around for something to buy. I was going to buy some sunglasses that I didn’t need when I found this cool wooden dice box that hold 5 dice in it, perfect for a number of dice games. I bought two since they were small enough to pack easily. Sunset was an hour or so later so I ran down to the beach and got some good pictures. They play volleyball right on the beach around sundown when it gets a little cooler. It was an awesome scene with the beautiful orange sunset, volleyball, families walking on the beach, dogs chilling, and even a guy with a horse walking by. This would be another great place to hang for several days.

great sunset on Varkala Beach

first not spicy which was way too spicy

The restaurant was decent. The first night I ordered the squid masala with rice and got an entire plate of rice which came in handy as I ordered mild and even specified “American, like white person mild” as I am Asian and they assume my mild is actually basic spicy. I got basic spicy and they did redo the sauce but it was hard getting all the spicy sauce off the squid so it ended up being not the idea meal. The next morning I ordered the porridge with banana and honey. I was delicious and not the least bit spicy. I sat and ate it on my “balcony” which is on the first floor but the ground slopes down so there is a 4 foot drop to the ground from the railing. There is a little table and chair in the corner of the walkway which constitutes my balcony.

less spicy version still too spicy

excellent breakfast not at all spicy and watermelon juice

toilet in new room

I was so tired when I arrived that I had forgotten I was supposed to have a balcony room with sea view. I went the next morning before breakfast to ask about it and they explained that this was the balcony room with sea view and AC. All balcony rooms with sea view are not created equal. I did not read the fine print in the description as I assumed a balcony would be on the top floor. Apparently only the King or the Superior Triple are on the top floor with an actual balcony and those don’t have A/C (though all are the same price). To their benefit, they did offer to move me to an upstairs balcony room so later that day I got to move. Since this is the cool season, I can get by without AC and the view is much better! As it turns out, the room itself seems a bit nicer overall and has an outdoor shower though the toilet is on a raised platform, which could be trouble for anyone with balance issues. I love the new room!

first room was on far right corner and new room is directly above it with real balcony

much nicer second room no AC but multiple fans

sink in new room

outdoor shower in new room

nice view from second floor real balcony

blue ladies up close

That morning I also checked out the beach. The fishmen must go out in the early morning because I saw a fisherman on the beach engrossed in mending his nets. I also saw these women dressed in bright blue cleaning up the beach. Apparently some foundation pays them to clean the beach every morning. I read some reviews ten years ago that said the beach was filthy and disgusting. This must be their solution and it is working. The beach looks and smells great! The rest of that day I just relaxed on my real balcony, drinking crazy cheap cold drinks from the bar and catching up on my blogging. I met my balcony neighbor, a guy from Germany who is working remotely for a few months from in Kerala where it is much warmer than home.

fisherman mending nets

boats and people on the beach

blue ladies from corporation who clean up beach every morning

restaurant and view

view of hotel restaurant from the beach

various India bills I'm jealous they get Ghandi on theirs