Goa revisitied in Kerala

Seldom does a place leave an imprint in your heart that its memories are etched onto your soul…

Kerala - ’God’s own country’ with its lush green fields, hills stations, back waters,wild life sanctuaries and Abhayangam massages has been a favoured destination with local and foreign tourists alike, including yours truly. Seldom does a State offer variety in its tourism offering as much as Kerala. The beauty and serenity of the place combined with peace, cleanliness and tranquility jolts you to into an eerie realization that this is definitely God’s Own Country with a euphemistic twist that it’s ruled by Communists.

I feel a sense of moral compellement and urge to describe the beauty of Varkala, though we had toured Allepey, Kollam, Kovalam, Munnar and Thekaddy in our Kerala soujourn.

Visit to Varkala beach was never part of the original scheduled itinerary and was recommended by a Mallu colleague when I was forced to call up from vacation to address an important official development… (You know how work suddenly becomes IMPORTANT when on vacation). Though reluctantly, we re-scheduled our itinerary to visit Varkala, since it is close to Kovalam beach (50 kms).

Varkala is endowed with natural scenic beauty and its most striking, compelling and unique feature of Varkala is the cliff adjoining the beach. The formation of the cliff is unique and is in the shape of a 180 degree diameter to a circle.Pedestrian pathway, lounges, hotel, and shops dot the circumference of the cliff. The pathway and restaurants adjoining the edge of the cliff resembles alight house in party once the dust and sun settles down.

Taj Garden Retreat is the only five star property in Varkala, though ample number of 4, 3 stars and budget hotels can be found in the vicinity. We zeroed in a budget hotel ‘Dreams Beach Resort’@ 500 per night (non a/c) due to its cleanliness, proximity to the cliff and the sea. The hotel was good in comparison to the exorbitant rates coupled within adequate service charged by other hotels, especially the hotel advertisings its rooms as ‘Bamboo House’.

Evenings are electric with the tourists thronging to the restaurant and lounges operating along side the cliff sipping beer with Bob Marley playing the background. The night life of Varkala reminds and rewinds you to memories of Goa,since a substantial portion of visiting tourists are Westerners. The restaurants, shop and the pathway adjoining the perimeter of the cliff are well decorated and lit-up and provide an ideal get-away for the romantically inclined. The enticing array of sea food displayed outside each restaurant would send a hard core sea food junkie directly into aquatic heaven. Travellers would be well advised to not expect local Kerala cuisine in the restaurants, though Indian food is easily available.
Westerners overwhelm the composition of tourists visiting the beach resulting in Indians been upgraded to second class citizens in ‘God’s Own Country’. The steady stream of Western tourists is an indicator of the relatively steep rentals charged by the hotels and restaurants operating in the vicinity. Don’t be surprised when local and Indian tourists are whisked away from the beach(especially due to indecent behaviour).

The beach is very clean and well maintained with life guards on duty for the inevitable. The sea provide ample scope for swimming and enjoying in the shallow waters though amateur swimmers are cautioned not to venture in the deep due to the uneven terrain. Since we have been regular participants at events and beaches in Goa, we were not overwhelmed by the skin show apparent on the beach and travelers are specifically CAUTIONED to behave well in the beaches since visitors failing to draw the line can promptly be expected to be BUMPED OFF the beach by the life guards and policemen on duty.

Indian tourists can very well expect relatively inferior treatment by restaurants, shops and locals in their services compared to white skinned foreigners since we are censured from settling bills in foreign currency… (You know what I mean). Brace yourself to spending extra time in being attended and in placing the order… you can expect a better treatment next time once your tipping capacity has been judged by waiters. This practice is a common experience in most of important tourist destinations in Kerala.

In spite of the miniscule negativity mentioned above, the magic of Varkala compels me to recommend a few days more in Varkala over staid Kovalam. A minimum two day stay at this beach resort is highly recommended.