Arabian Nights 2

krolesh
Feb 22, 2024
3 min read

The Long Road To The Deep South

So, finally, I was in Kerala, and I'd made it with a couple of days to spare.

It was raining! Yay! I haven't felt rain forever, haven't breathed in that rain-cleansed air, haven't smelt or felt the coolness, for as long as I can remember.

A fine spray

I rickyed it to the central bus station, and then bussed towards Varkala, in a sort of convoluted way, via the town of Kallambalam.

Beautiful mosque en route

I met Anand on the bus, an IT guy from Hyderabad, who feels pretty stuck in his life. He wants to travel around the world, experience life on the road, and immerse himself in different cultures. I know the feeling.

But the pressure of family bears down hard on him. Even though he's clearly expressed to his parents his desire to travel, they think it's irresponsible, and, given how things are in India, have arranged for him to marry a woman of their own choice. In a few weeks, no less. He doesn't want to, but feels he has no choice.

Living in conservative India is really difficult at times, he said. But while he may not have a choice about marriage, maybe he could travel with his wife for awhile, before they have kids? That was my suggestion to him. He said his wife's 30, almost considered over-the-hill for child bearing in India.

Bah humbug! I cried, women have their first kids way later in the West.

He told me he was so glad to talk with me, he feels like maybe he has another option, at least for awhile.

Anand was heading to Varkala too, we strolled along the beach together, and climbed the cliffs.

The beach! The Arabian Sea!

It's so amazing to be back on this coast.

Like many places I've re-visited in India, Varkala is completely unrecognisable. When I was first here it was just a sleepy little temple village, with a few small homestays dotted around the clifftop, in amongst the coconut trees.

But these days it's complete tourist central up on the clifftop, the whole area is plastered with restaurants, resorts, cafes, bars and guesthouses, all of varying standards and price levels.

But there ain't nothin' cheap cheap though. Not really. The cheapest room I could get for a couple of nights was 1000 rupes.

So my next mission was to find a place for my friends and I to stay for a few nights, so we could all be together, and so they could really rest up after some long haul flights.

It wasn't that easy, especially being sick'n'all, but eventually I found a spot.

Unfortunately, my illness has been a little more intense lately, with more intermittent fevers, sweat-filled sleepless nights, a complete lack of energy, and a persistent runny nose and cough.

Time to see an Ayurvedic doctor.

When I get back to town.

So I pretty much rested a fair bit of the time in Varkala, and took it as easy as I could.