Kerala backwaters

I'd been looking forward to taking a cruise down Kerala's famous backwaters for some time. National Geographic rates it as one of the '50 Places of a Lifetime'. Unfortunately, a couple factors curtailed my ability to really do it 'right' (e.g., limited time, my sole co-passenger being an obnoxious bigot). Still, I'm glad I got a taste of the backwaters and I hope I have the chance to return and go on a canoe down the smaller canals:



Or on a houseboat:



I took a ferry boat down the major canal from Kollam to Alleppey from 10:30AM - 6:30PM. The boat stopped twice -- once for lunch and once for tea accompanied by deep fried bananas, deep fried onions, and a deep fried pastry.

Along the banks of the canal you can catch interesting glimpses into backwater village life (I think I may have grabbed that phrasing verbatim from Lonely Planet while re-reading the 'Kerala backwater' section repeatedly):







One of the best moments was when a large fishing boat pulled up next to my boat and a bunch of brightly dressed fishermen stared at us intensely:



Eventually sunset rolled around and I knew my cruise had come to an end. As the honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger says, though, "I'll be back..."

A brief visit to Varkala

My first day in Kerala got off to a hectic start because my flight to Trivandrum was delayed 3 hours. But I ended up hiring a taxi and driving about an hour north to Varkala. I could have taken the train, but I wasn't sure of the schedule and didn't want to dilly dally since I only had a little bit of time.

Visiting Varkala brought me back to my backpacker roots, and that felt good. Varkala is a seaside town set atop a dramatic cliff. There are two beaches -- one is a white sand beach and one is a black sand beach. It's pretty idyllic.



There's a little path along the cliff that is lined with hippie Tibetan stores and restaurants galore. All of the restaurants are famous for their fresh seafood.



Once I arrived in Varkala, I checked into my little hut at the Bamboo Village:



But then I was free to go grab a mojito at the Funky Art Cafe, which is clearly the coolest joint in town these days. Here's a really attractive picture of me 'relaxing'. I can't believe I'm even putting this on my blog... I can't believe this is what I look like when I use a straw.



That night I went out for what would have been a romantic candlelight dinner if Matt had been along, but instead was just a yummy candlelit dinner. I chose the Sun Shine cafe, which is at the very end of the cliff path, because it had a nice ambiance. It turns out it's only a couple of months old and is run by 2 recent college grads from Varkala. I had tea with one of the owners and learned all about the business.



Influenced by my surroundings (i.e., tons of early 20s backpackers in identical Indian shirts, pants, and bandannas), I also purchased some Indian ankle bracelets and leather thongs. As they say, when in Varkala...