Tuesday, March 1

Tuesday, March 1

Yoga finally. Heather led us through a beautiful yoga practice this morning. There is a raised concrete patio at the edge of the hotel property adjoining the path along the cliff where we chose to practice. It was not only a beautifully led and enjoyed practice but adding the view of fish jumping from the Arabian Sea, the background noisy birds looking for breakfast, palm trees laden coconuts and blue skies overhead, a warm breeze and the sun rising at our backs, well it was the definition of bliss. Oh, and let me not forget the many small ants and an occasional large black ant that joined us throughout our practice. Laying in the stillness of savasana was a bit challenging with an ant crawling on you somewhere. It was still bliss nonetheless.

A full day in Varkala. The plan today is to book our railway tickets from Thrissur to Mumbai the end of the month and check out hotels when the "First Class Tour" returns late next week. On the way to the train station Heather informed me that all trains were fully booked leaving April 1 (no April's Fool). Another punch to roll with. At the station the Station Master directed us to the reservation desk where we were able to book four tickets on 31 March which means we have an extra day in Mumbai. Across the street from the railway station was a small stand selling water, cookies, candy, and what we wanted: bananas. The bananas are sold while still attached as a whole bunch. We asked the man for four. Grabbing a large knife he reached into the bunch, held a group to bananas and made his cut. Out came seven to which he said "you get seven." We hailed a rickshaw which took us to Temple Circle, which turned out to be just one big intersection. It was a short walk past the Hindu Temple and on to the beach.

I hear the beach in Varkala is the nicest in Kerala. I'm sure they're referring to the sandy part which was nice and wide and pretty clean. What they weren't referring to were the cliffs which have been used as a dumping area for all the businesses above the cliff. A bit reminiscent of Mexico. Anyway I put my feet into the warm waters of the Arabian Sea. Interesting to think while growing up on the East Coast to look East over the Atlantic and think Europe is in that direction, and now living on the West Coast to look West and think Hawaii or Asia is in that direction and now for the first time to look West and think Africa is in that direction. Just an observation. A short walk on the beach and up the stairs to the top of the cliffs to a nice restaurant that has free wifi. We ended up eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, and breakfast there. The food was excellent.

There is large fishing community in Varkala and at night you can see the fishing boats dotting the horizon with their lights across almost the entire horizon. The must be hundreds. A large variety of freshly caught whole fish, shrimp, crabs, and lobsters are displayed on ice along the walking path in front of a number of restaurants. Some of the fish are so large that they cut you off a filet of any size you want and cook it for you. I had king fish for lunch and large jumbo shrimp for dinner while Heather enjoyed her vegetarian fare.

We're returning to Varkala so I'll write more about the shopping available there at that time. I will say the bargaining is expected.