Cherai Beach to Varkala

Having made the decision to move down to Varkala we spent our last day in Cherai at the beach before packing up all our things ready for an early start the next morning.

We said our goodbyes to the children before they headed off to school and with final hugs Peter and the children loaded all the bags into a rickshaw for the ride down to the bus stop at Cherai Junction.

The rickshaw was rather full once everyone had climbed in so Ippy and I decided to walk into town enjoying the peace and calmness of the morning.

Once again the bus we needed was full when it arrived and with our extra luggage we squeezed aboard, tucking the bigger bags between our feet in an effort to make more room.

I got to sit on Ippy lap but even there things were a bit snug!

At North Paravoor we waited with the other commuters for the bus to take us to Alvur and this time we were lucky enough to get seats right at the back of the bus!

The bus hurtled its way through the streets grinding to a stop every now and then to let people on or off.

We crossed a wide expanse of water, passed shops and street vendors by the dozen before eventually pulling into the large Bus Depot opposite Alvua Train Station.

As we had been here before we knew exactly where to go. Ippy bought the tickets while we settled on the platform, surrounded by all our various belongings, to wait for a train to take us to Varkala.

Indian trains are incredibly long and when our train arrived we were not exactly sure which carriage we were suppose to be in.

We climbed aboard to find the train packed with people, parcels, bags and boxes. Sellers wandered up and down calling out their products as they went.

With so little space available in the carriages we settled ourselves near one of the open doorways.

In India the trains race along with their doors and windows wide open allowing a breeze to rush through. Ippy has travelled this way loads of time but I found the whole thing an amazing experience.

I looked out as the dry vegetation along the track rushed by, towns and villages came into view and then disappeared into the distance. 

Cars, people, trucks and bikes waited patiently at the level crossings as the train raced past sounding its horn in long loud blasts as it went.

Ippy still had her map from the bike ride and we tried to work out where we were but the station names that we stopped by didn't seem to match the coast towns on the map.

Ippy had travelled this way before and was quite confused, as far as she remembered there was only one train track from Mumbai all the way to Kandykumari. 

There was the occasional place where the track ran inland but Ippy thought the train we had booked ran straight down the coast to Trivandrum.

It wasn't until we reached Kottyam that Ippy realised we had indeed been travelling on the inland branch of the track not the coast one! 

In Kottyam our train took a fork to the right and back towards the sea. Suddenly everything became more familiar as we travelled through the famous Kerela Backwaters.

Four hours however is quite a long time to hurtle through the Indian country side no mater how fabulous the views are!

We ate the few snacks we had brought with us and then Angharad and I settled down for a quick snooze while Peter and Cian took a turn to sit by the open doorway.

Our plan, when we reached Varkala, was to go to the Bamboo Village to see if they had any vacancies. Ippy had stayed there a few times over the years watching it grow and improve every season.

At Varkala train station we were approached by a driver asking if we needed a rickshaw, we smiled and asked how much. 300 rupees would get us directly to the Bamboo Village.

We looked at the bags sitting in the heat of the day. 300 rupees is about £5.

£5 to get five of us plus the bags directly to where we wanted to go? …. bargain!

The rickshaw turned out to be a taxi! …. Bonus! And within 6 minutes we were walking up the pathway to Bamboo Village reception.

The last time Ippy had stayed the site had been quaint and the prices great. 

As we walked Ippy noticed that the whole place had been landscaped. 

Bricked pathways, lawned areas and neatly arranged hammocks now filled an area that had once been covered with baked dust and the odd plant!

The prices had also changed to 1,500 rupees a night! 

This even by Indian standards was quite a large amount to stay in what was basically a beach hut! 

The last time Ippy had stayed here the prices had been 400 rupees a night!

We all shouldered our bags and headed out onto the cliff top to look for somewhere else.

A quickly revised plan was made to drop the children and the bags at the nearest cafe or restaurant while Peter, Ippy and myself checked out the prices at some other locations.

We wandered down to the Blue Moon restaurant deciding we could all do with a cooling drink before we went exploring. 

A lovely man called Dhama came over to take our order, looking at our pile of bags as he wrote down the various drinks required.

“You need a room?” he enquired.

Ippy looked at the bar area. “You have rooms here?” she looked a little confused.

“No, No,” Dhama replied, “My friend next door, he has rooms. You want to see?”

Ippy quickly explained to me that it is not what you know in India but who you know. Everyone seems to have a friend or a brother who can help you out and it is usually a lovely way to find hidden away places to stay.

While we waited at the restaurant, Ippy went with Dhama to find out about the rooms only to return 10 minutes later saying they were great and did we want to see them too.

The rooms were indeed just what we were looking for.

Two rooms with a balcony, over looking a shaded and private courtyard, close enough to the restaurant but far enough away to stop any noise.

Plus they were only 20m from the stone steps that led down the cliff face to the long sandy beach far below.

It even had a huge flat roof for Ippy to do her morning Chi Gong and yoga!

Ippy had already arranged a pretty good price but she asked Peter to arrange the final rates for the stay as he loves to barter and always gets amazing deals for slightly longer stays.

With the price finally set we unpacked our things and headed back to the Blue moon for lunch. 

Ippy sent a message to her friend Nanda to say we had arrived, the children logged onto the Cafe internet and sent messages to all their friends back home and Peter relaxed with a cooling beer, his first one in India!

We were now officially in Varkala!

Birthdays at Cherai Beach

Although Cherai Beach had been a wonderful relaxing place for Ippy and myself, Peter's teenage children decided, after having had so much fun on the bikes, that there really wasn't much for them to do!

(Apart from swimming, playing with friends, chilling out on the internet in cafes and eating pizza!)

Peter and Ippy sat down to discuss the options. The children wanted to to Om beach near Gokana where, three years ago, they had spent two weeks during a two month trip to Goa. 

Ippy and Peter were happy about this so leaving the children to relax and play at the Homestay the three of us set off to go to Aluva Train Station to check out the trains.

The walk to town was refreshing so early in the morning but the two buses we had to catch were filled to bursting point as people headed into town for work or early shopping.

At the Train Station, Ippy and Peter queued with the thirty or so other people at the enquiry desk to ask about train times. 

Things seemed to be going quite well until they discovered the journey would involve a sixteen to twenty three hour train trip there with NO direct train back on the 29^th for them to catch their flight on the 30^th!

We stepped to one side to discuss their options. 

Peter had 17 days before he had to go back to the UK with the children, to go to Om beach would involve at least two days of solid travel with no guarantee they could get back in time for their flight!

An elderly German gentleman stepped up to the desk trying to find out which platform the train to Varkala departed from. 

Between his difficulty in hearing, the surrounding chatter plus the translation difficulties, Ippy noticed that he needed some help. She stepped back to the hatch and helped the Gentleman sort out his enquiry, while Peter and I chatted.

Having helped translate the information the gentleman needed, she exchanged pleasantries and said goodbye before turning to Peter. “We could always go to Varkala?”

Varkala was four hours away and a place the children would definitely enjoy. Cian had been there before but it would be a new place for Angarad to explore. 

We all returned to the Homestay to discuss it with the children.

Back in Cherai Beach preparations were being made for Ashna's 5^th Birthday Party. Ippy had picked up gifts not only for Ashna but for all the children that morning as we had made our way to Aluva and back.

Cian and Angharad, once they got over their disappointment about not being able to go North, agreed that Varkala would be a good option for the rest of their trip and plans were made. 

Ippy contacted her friend from Wales, who was staying Varkala until January, to let her know we would all be arriving on December 17^th. Varkala isn't that big and she was sure they would be able to find each other once we arrived!

That evening Ippy dressed in her special sari as we joined in the Birthday celebrations.

The cake plus gifts were presented before dinner much to everyone's pleasure.

Ippy found the candle to be quite amazing.

It was one candle that burst open to reveal five canles once the first one burnt down.

The Birthday Girl was the first to taste the incredibly gooey cake

and then we were all given sweets by the Birthday Girl followed by our own plate of incredibly gooey cake!!

With everyone now on a sugar rush, happy chaos erupted in the form of dancing, indoor football and games!

Eventually it was time to eat and our family was given pride of place at the table. Incredible vegetarian food was piled onto banana leaves to be consumed with fingers.

Peter struggled for a while dropping as much as he ate back onto the banana leaf but he soon got the hang of it.

Angharad was having so much fun scooping food into her mouth, she decided that every meal should be eaten with fingers from now on!

More games followed our meal until everyone was totally exhausted!

As the evening grew late we all retired to our room to allow the rest of the family to bring order to the house. Tired and giggling children could be heard going to bed and soon quiet fell upon the Homestay.

Tomorrow would be the last day at Cherai Beach for Peter and the children but Ippy and myself planed to return before we flew out at the end of January.

We had had such a wonderful time being part of this amazing family that a three or four day visit before we left for Singapore was a must!

Peter and Children arrive in India

The arrival of Peter and the children coincided with the weekend crowds that swarmed to Cherai beach by the coach load.

Tiny kites filled the air, coloured saris clung to wet bodies or were spread out to dry.

The aroma of street food filled the air along side shrieks of laughter and blasting music.

Ippy had told Peter how quiet this place was yet when we walked to the beach that first afternoon, traffic raced past in a constant stream!

Even the Home stay became noisy and alive as people gathered to talk and play. 

With the arrival of Peter's children, new games were taught, common games were shared and the sound of children's laughter filled the hallways.

Peter, Ippy and myself walked the 2.5km into town to withdraw the days money, picking up a few bits and pieces as we went.

We returned to find the children relaxing in the room.

Lunch was had at La cafe, which had become my virtual second home during Ippys wait for news in Cherai Beach.

By now I had tried most of the food on the menu but it was lovely to share a meal with so many others, mixing the flavours and swapping dishes.

We even managed to find room for my favourite Banana fritters with chocolate sauce and ice-cream!!

By 3pm Ippy decided it was cool enough for the children to go out into the sun so we all piled into the sea to jump the waves along side the groups of Indian people, all smiling and waving.

Our evening was spent playing games with the children at the Homestay and well as chatting to the family and to say we all slept well that night is an understatement. 

Not only were Peter and the children still tired from their journey but we had managed to cram in so much play time in their adventure so far that a bed time of 9.30pm was happily welcomed!!

One of the things Ippy and Peter like to do when they are in India is hire motor bikes for a day or two to explore the surrounding area more fully, plus they both just like messing about on bikes!

On Peter's second day in Cherai Beach we wandered up to the Chill out Cafe for the day.

They not only had beach, sea and surf boards but also food, shade and drinks!

By late afternoon we had studied most of the travel books lying around the place,

we had talked to some of the locals plus Bernard behind the bar about bike hire,

Cian had completed a cheese overload of epic proportions

plus Peter and Ippy had worked out a budget for the trip!

Although money wasn't a problem, getting it from their Bank Accounts in the UK at £25 per day was!! 

We decided that one of the things we needed to do on our day of the bikes was to find a bigger bank!

We also decided to have another beach day now all the crowds had gone before our bike day and suddenly we had a plan!

The sky on the morning of our Bike day was dark and cloudy but dry.

(Having written all about this I now realise I also didn't take any photos so please accept the following random ones instead!)

We loaded up our bags, water, bank cards and cameras and headed out only to seek refuge five minutes later in an isolated bus stand 2 km away from the Homestay while a blackened sky emptied its contents onto the bikes parked outside!

A cooling breeze blew across the back waters and through the holes in the decorative tiles that made up the walls of our shelter.

The children put on their hoodies laughing that they hadn't imagined they would be wearing their winter clothes again until they returned to the UK!

The rain lasted a good half hour and then as suddenly as it had arrived it stopped.

The roads were thick with water. Mud and gravel slid into our pathway from the water logged embankments but were were out and about, exploring India and determined to have fun.

From the map Cherai Beach doesn't look so big and to be fair we reached the top of the island quite quickly.

14 rupees saw us all plus the bikes onto the ferry that linked us to the next piece of land. We piled aboard alongside vans, rickshaws, trucks people and many, many other bikes.

Patience, heightened spacial awareness and roadside observation mixed with a near constant 20% adrenaline rush as animals and people step into your path is probably the best way I can describe riding a motor bike in India.

Yet in all the time we were swerving in and out of oncoming traffic, edging across busy intersections not once did anyone shout abusively, raise a hand or show any form of annoyance. 

Acceptance of life and the way things are is a beautiful part of India.

Saying that I had also witnessed the near death discussions over coconut sales outside the La Cafe restaurant too!

We drove up the coast for about an hour, weaving our way along back streets and down narrow paths that led past hidden away homes sheltering amongst the trees. 

Along the coast road, which a times was more of a track than a road, we rode beneath trees and vines before we headed inland again, returning once more to the heat and noise of the main road.

We stopped to pick up a few crisps and drinks at one place, ate our picnic at another.

We had planned to ride all the way up the coast to a famous Bollywood film beach but, as dark clouds gathered once more above our heads, we turned the bikes around deciding it was probably a wiser option to return to the safety of the Homestay!

That evening as the children dined again on pizza and I recovered from yet another tummy overload, we asked if we could keep the bikes for another day to explore the south!! 

At £5 a day we were having too much fun to give them back yet.

The next day the sky was dry and overcast, perfect bike weather! We consulted the maps again, drew up our planed route to the south and set off.

We passed the huge imposing monument 1km down the road marvelling at the beauty that had been made in such a quiet area. 

The road was good, trees lined the way protecting us from the sun and we were having fun.

Suddenly, about 4 km further on, the road we were following disappeared under a mountain of sand washed in from the beach totally covering the area as far as we could see!

The children dismounted as Peter and Ippy slid their way through the sand and water trying to get to the next corner to see if the 'road' would improve. They were just about to give up and turn around when a local waved them on.

“Go, go!” he encouraged waving his hands and nodding enthusiastically. 

True to his word the sand became slightly more level just around the corner with odd patched of tarmac showing through. 

Encouraged the children raced to catch up but 100m further on we were once again confronted by three to four foot of sand with lakes of water trapped in between. Having come this far Ippy and Peter asked the children to dismount once more and again they slid and wobbled their way through the sandy obstacle course.

For just over 2km we intermittently walked, laughed, slid, churned and generally pitted ourselves against the sandy beach that covered the tarmac road, hidden deep below us, until at last, with a huge sigh of relief, the road magically emerged from the sand in a clear straight line.

Both bikes were in serious need of washing, sand filled spaces where sand should never have been seen and the foot rests resembled beach flotsam! But we had had fun!!!

We stopped at the next town to try to work out where we were. 

A vast majority of people in India speak English but in the smaller towns and villages there can still be a language barrier. 

Through sign language, mime and smiles Ippy finally found a shop that sold maps of the area and with more fun and signing got them to show her where we were. 

We had some how managed to travelled most of the way down the island, yet it had also taken us most of the day!

We decided we would head south for another half hour before turning back and set off once more along the main road that eventually leads to the ferry to Fort Kochin. 

After half an hour of riding through small towns and villages with both children waving and smiling at everyone we passed, we headed back towards the coast for a final adventure only to find a huge, wide yet seemingly abandoned road that looked more like an airstrip than a road. 

Construction work of some description was happening but as we rode along the wide roads we realised the place was deserted!

Drag racers, if they had ever found this place would have been in heaven!

We parked up to eat the last of our supplies as the sea washed across a deserted beach that stretched away into the distance in both directions. 

Ippy found a scarf half buried in the sand, the children searched the shore line for anything useful. You never know what can be done with half a ball and some string.

By 5pm we were heading back up the coast but this time we stuck to the main road that runs from one end of Vypen Island to the other. 

We passed through village after village, each different yet all the same.

We also stopped by no fewer than 5 ATM's all of which had queues but all were out of money! 

Despite our efforts the 2,000 rupees limit the Government had imposed during the new money transition was all we were going to get and Cherai Junctions ATM seemed to be our best bet at getting any funds in the area.

It took us less than an hour of riding along the main road to get back to near where we started but the bikes still looked a mess. 

We turned left onto the back roads, stopping by one of the road side taps to fill out water bottles and wash the bikes down.

By 7pm we were back at the Chill Out Cafe, tired, sun and wind blasted but so, so happy. 

We checked the bikes over for any remaining sand and returned the keys. 

Exploring the area by bike had been exhilarating but my buttocks were now in serious need of a rest!!