Farewell Varkala
Our time in Varkala was a well-balanced combination of festivals, food, hanging out and hospital visits. Time flew by and before we knew it we had stayed for two weeks.
Since we arrived, we had been saying that we’d go on Debra’s speciality morning walk, to take in the beautiful sights and burn off some of those dosas. We eventually got round to it on day 12 of our stay. We got up early to catch the sun rising and aside from a wardrobe malfunction, resulting in me having a different pair of shoes delivered mid-walk, we had a lovely time.
As it was Mo’s last night, we celebrated by going to the same restaurant we had been to almost every day (sometimes twice a day), Sreepadman, which is just next to the Janardanaswamy Temple. Although in the last year or so, they have added various western dishes to the menu to cater to tourists, this place remains a local, authentic gem of an eatery. We had no idea if the waiters liked us, but we really liked them. The speed of the service was unpredictable and the best way to order was always to ask what was ready. Keralan people tend to eat a rice meal at lunchtime and a chapati meal in the evening, so if you order some sort of speciality rice dish in the evening, you’re usually in for a long wait. It will be worth it, but you will be too hungry to appreciate it by the time it eventually arrives.
Another wonderful and incredibly local place to eat in Varkala is Hotel Suprabhatham or as we called Superbottom, in Varkala Town. This is a no frills working man’s cafe where the service is incredibly quick and waiters walk around with huge buckets of rice and curry waiting to refill your thali bowls for you. The food is absolutely delicious and for about a pound, you can absolutely stuff yourself.
Our final day in Varkala was spent at local elephant festival.
It was here that we saw a young man having a tattoo done on the side of the street, with a home-made rusty needle. There was a bottle of Dettol to hand, so there wasn’t really anything to worry about. But still.
The grand finale of the festival was a live performance by band who took the word “fusion” to another level. Every synth-sound was explored and included whether or not it complimented the traditional instruments soloing over and under vocalists who fought to be heard over heavy rock drumming. It was an experience.
By the end of our two week stay, the weather was really hotting up. As soon as you stepped outside a shimmering layer of sweat would cover your entire body and would stay there all day. What better thing to do, we thought, than to visit Mysore, where it would be even hotter.
We were sad to say goodbye to beautiful Debra and the wonderful people who worked out the house, who we spent time with every day. Babuchi, the boss of the kitchen who let me make cakes (and lots of mess) and insisted on clearing up after me! She and the gorgeous Minnie and Lena conjured up the most delicious South India breakfasts imaginable. Herment, an incredibly wise and kind boy who is currently going through the painstakingly difficult process of obtaining a passport, worked tirelessly to keep all the cogs turning and became a friend during our stay.
We waved goodbye to our Varkala family and hopped into Apu’s rickshaw one last time, ready to start our next adventure.