Chilling on the Beach

the catch of the day
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I got the train to Varkala from Trivandrum as I was told it was better than the bus. The journey only took 40 minutes. Upon arrival I got a rickshaw to take me to the beach area and went to look for a room. I haggled down the price and got a nice room for a good rate considering the tourist season had started. After settling in and freshening up I went for a walk along th beach. Like Kovalam there are 2 beaches, one is smaller than the other. There are cliffs here as well. I went for a dip in the sea then sat and read my book on the sand watching the sunset. After the sunset I went to get a cuppa. I sat down and waited for my tea and one of the workers came and sat down with me as I had spoken in Hindi. So he started chatting to me, which was ok at first, but he then proceeded to tell me his lifestory. I hadn't asked. I was tired and just wanted a cuppa. I didn't say anything, not that I could get a word in anyway. I drank my tea as soon as I could and left.

Elsa, Ines & Diana
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The next day I popped into Varkala town. I had some letters to post and wanted to walk. I didn't fancy sitting on the beach as it was too hot. It was a 5km walk into town, but I didn't mind. I found the post office and then just wandered about the market for a bit before returning. Going back was harder as it was mainly uphill. Back at the hotel I took a shower as I was hot n sweaty and then went to get some dinner as I was really hungry. I took my book to read while I waited for dinner. The service is laid back so you have to often wait an hour or so to get your meal. I orderd a G & T & read while I waited. After dinner I went to check my emails. Whilst there I heard my name being called. I was sitting near the doorway. I turned to look to find Aurora, Diana, Maria (from Kolkata) & 2 other women. What a surprise! They were going to get some dinner and asked if I would like to join them. I told them I'd come to find them after my internet session. And I did find them. I was on the net for an hour so by the time I got to them they hadn't received their food. I rodered another G&T and sat with them chatting. The other 2 women were Ines & Elsa. They didn't go to Kolkata and had only come to tour the South. I found out that all 5 women worked together and were air traffic controllers. After a couple of hours it was time to retire. We arranged to meet up for breakfast the following morning so I said goodnight and went back to my room.

Aurora, Me & Maria
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The next morning the girls were already eating when I arrived for breakfast. I joined them and ordered. We chatted some more.  Afterwards we all went separate wasy as we all had things to do and arranged to meet at 1pm to go to the beach. I went to buy some shorts, which I managed to find eventually, but it was hard work. Just after 1pm I saw Aurora and we went to get a drink. We saw Ines on the way so she joined us. After chatting for a bit and having our drinks Aurora and I went to the beach, but Ines went to do some shopping. It was too hot for her. We got a sun shade to sit under, as I didn't particularly want to be in the sun. I read for a bit, but then felt sleepy, so had a snooze. Ah this is the life! Maria, Diana & Elsa joined us a bit later and all went for a dip in the sea. I did too a bit later. We stayed on the beach for a few hours. When the sun was beginning to go down I decided to leave and go get a cuppa. I left the girls on the beach and went to have a shower first. Then I treated myself to some tea and apple pie. Yummy! As I was having my tea the girls walked past. They had been on the beach the whole time. It was dark now. We arranged to meet at 9pm for dinner. So I chilled and read until then.

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We enden up being a bit late for dinner than planned as we stopped in some shops on the way. I was going to buy some sandals, but I wasn't sure about the bottoms. I even haggled down the price to a quarter of the original, but thought they might be a bit flimsy. So I didn't take them. Maria bought some scarves. Aurora was going to buy a silver bracelet, but wasn't sure of the quality, so she left it too. The others were waiting for us at a restaurant. We all shared some salad as a starter and some ordered pizza, I ordered veg mousakka, but we all agreed that the food had an indianified taste rather than what we're used to.

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Over dinner I asked the girls what their plans were as I wanted to leave the next day, but wasn't sure where I was going to go yet. They were going to do a backwaters tour on a houseboat. I asked if they minded me coming along. I knew it would be difficult for me to do alone, as well as very expensive. They said it was fine for me to tag a long, so I was really pleased to have the opportunity. They were planning to go to Kollam the next day and try to arrange something from there. We would decide tomorrow. After dinner we went to try and get a drink at another restaurant, but we didn't have much luck as the supplies had dwindled. One of the problems about drinking in Kerela is that it is illegal, but most tourist places will give you alcohol discreetly. So most businesses have to be careful about how much they keep on the premises. So I said my goodnights and went to bed. We again arranged to meet for breakfast.

Ines & Aurora
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The next morning we all had breakfast and went to check out of ur rooms. We were to meet at 11am to get a taxi to the train station. The girls had been telling me that they took the train from Kanyakumari to Varkala, but got confused about classes and ended up in general class. In this class you don't have any reserved seats and people sit/stand anywhere they can find a space and often hang out of doorways. They said they were so claustrophobic and hot and found it a difficult journey to endure. I said I'd sort the tickets. They should have asked for sleeper class. Even I haven't travelled in General Class. It's because I often do long journeys by train and often overnight, so I make sure I have a berth to sleep. The journey to Kollam was fine as we managed to find some seats and spread out. At the train station another lady called Maria joined us, also from Spain. She travelled with us. It was a quick journey and before we knew it we had arrived in Kollam.