Although it was only a 20 minute taxi ride and then a very quick 40 minute sprint on the train to Varkala Junction through coconut lined lagoons and backwaters, it was a world away from our previous destination. Perched precariously on a cliff edge for about 700m from one end to the other, nowadays Varkala Beach is a mix of backpackers on a beach break and European winter sun seekers, but with far fewer pacemakers than Kovalam.
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After the couple of rained off days in our last destination plus a couple early on here, we had already pretty much decided to extend our stay from an initial 4 nights to 8, that was then turned into 12! As we found our plans or lack of them for when and where to head next…Periyar National Park, Munnar Hill Station, Backwaters Houseboat cruise…in peak season were becoming difficult and overpriced to book. We eventually cut Periyar out of the itinerary and will head for the houseboat directly from Varkala and then on to the high country tea plantations of Munnar.
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Back to Varkala, it’s a proper chill out sort of place, with just as many Tibetan refugees and ambient chant and mantra music playing as there are locals running business’s. There is a steady stream of tourist traffic that flows along the main cliff top path which is lined with the usual stalls selling all the same stuff, jewellery, t-shirts, sarong’s, drums, flutes etc, but in between there are some fantastic (a few that aren’t so great) restaurants. Most have a balcony upstairs from which especially in the evening you get a stunning view through the coconut palms, out over the cliff to the fishing boats that are lit up as they trawl the Arabian Sea. Which like Kovalam you can sample the catch of the day for dinner, Squid, Octopus, Snapper, grouper and Marlin and then have it cooked in the Tandoor or barbecued with lemon and garlic, amongst over concoctions.
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There are 3 main beaches here; South Beach – small and quite local especially at sunset, Main beach – straight down the cliff from the restaurants and shops, but quite crowded, and Black Beach to the north, which was about 70 meters from New Heaven Resort where we stayed for final 3/4 of our stay. It’s a lot longer than the other beaches and there wasn’t any cliff face stairs to deal with.
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The ‘resort’ also had a nice veranda out the front of each room, perfect for escaping the heat of the day or for the evening sea breeze. Much more friendlier than the first place we stayed – Clarfouti. Nice enough place but overpriced and we had a couple of issues with the service there.
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Finally a few shots of the local birdlife, there are some pretty cool kites and Sea Eagles that constantly patrol the cliffs and beach. Sometimes coming in really low especially after the fishermen have brought the nets to the beach when they get the small fry left behind.