After a nice stop in Kochi, we headed on the train for four hours down the coast to Varkala. It has a reputation a bit like Goa's, of being a beach haven filled with foreign tourists. Well, it was certainly built around the tourist trade. Pretty much all of the cliff top is covered by cafes or shops. This is only broken when the beach stops and then picks up again at the next one along. There are two beaches that we saw here. Varkala has been known for a very long time as a place for Indians to scatter ashes and this still happens every day at a small beach only 10 mins walk from the main one. We didn't see any ceremonies take place, but there are several funeral mounds in place where candles are lit for the deceased. How true they were I don't know, but we heard stories of tourists sunbathing and paddling on this beach while ceremonies were taking place. I hope this wasn't the case, but i can imagine it sadly. The main beach is not busy and very relaxing. It has a combination of white and black sand which looks cool. Also, the waves are pretty swell (pun intended). This was the first beach we'd been to in India and the first beach I'd been to in a really hot country. It is strange but very nice to dip into the sea and for it to be warm. Many a holiday as a child involved nervously edging into the water and having to pluck up the courage to dive under and face the icy shock of cold Blighty seas. I won't say any more about the foamy, warm sea that felt like a natural jacuzzi, as I'm aware most reading this are sat in a freezing cold UK... Aside from shopping and sun bathing, there wasn't a huge amount to do, but that suited us fine after the hectic schedule that dominated the first few weeks in India. Re-reading that sounds odd as most would love a few days on a tropical beach, but we weren't planning on that being part of the itinerary so it was a relaxing surprise. Having said that, as things turned out, we decided to go to Goa on our way back to Mumbai, so maybe there's more beach bum in us than I thought..
