Cliffs, coffees and sea eagles

I have been in a place called Varkala for the last four or five days. For those of your who are geographically challenged - it is right down near the southern tip of India. Our little traveling band has split up with two heading east while myself and one of the Irishmen carried on southward. Varkala itself is a little town that is built right to the edge of the coastal cliffs. It is divided in two and has a north cliffs section (where we are staying) and a south cliffs section. It is also called the Varanasi of the southas it is the place that Hindu's return the ashes of their loved ones to the sea

The town itself stretches a fair way inland and the cliffs area is quite touristy . . . .with lots of shops and cafes......but the atmosphere is very relaxed and there is no hard selling going on :).

I love it here. All of the cafes and restaurants look out over the sea and as I type this I am drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes and watching the sea eagles swoop along the cliffs. Bliss........the ocean is warm, the people are friendly, the food is great and cheap, as is the accommodation......what is not to like.
The majority of my time here has been spent relaxing :) but I have managed to attend a cooking class. That was brilliant and I am looking forward to knocking up some secret Kerela recipes when I return.

I have changed my travel plans somewhat. I have a couple more days here before catching the train inland to Madurai and the amazing Sri Meenakshi temple complex - the temple of the triple breasted fish eyed goddess. Following that I am heading back to Mumbai and flying to Barcelona for three weeks to meet up with Susan. I am really looking forward to that. Then I will return to India for around three weeks and travel the north. Kashmir is in lock down at the moment so I will probably do Rajasthan and focus my time on Udaipur, Jodhpurs, Jaisalmer and Jaipur.

Have fun