2019 India – Varkala
January 26th 2019
It was a four-hour drive to our next stop Maadathil Cottages just outside Vakala. We had a lovely, detached room by the beach and although there was no swimming directly in front of us, it was not far to the swimming area. The sea was very rough so it was more a case of splashing around in the waves rather than swimming. At night it was a 20-minute walk along a path leading to a cliff where all the shops and restaurants were. 
It was a small path with the sea on one side and the restaurants on the other. We ate there every night and with both of us loving fish, it was paradise. There were dozens of restaurants to choose from and each one had a large display of fresh fish to choose from. A large fish including vegetables and french fries cost around £8 for the two of us. They had my favourite fish Grouper but we were spoilt for choice and some of the restaurants even threw in a couple of giant prawns for free. There must have been so many fish in their waters as every night we saw hundreds of lights from the fishing boats in the distance.
I don’t remember ever eating so well but drinking was a bit of a performance. In theory, alcohol was forbidden in restaurants all over Kerala. That wasn’t for religious reasons but because they had a problem with alcoholism in the local population. Men were being paid and blowing their wages on alcohol so their families were left with nothing. It got so bad that the government banned it completely. That had a disastrous effect on tourism so they changed the law so that alcohol could only be served in hotels. That didn’t stop the restaurants who either served bottles of beer that were kept under the table, or in large coffee mugs which when accompanying a meal couldn’t have been more obvious. If the police came we were supposed to say we brought the alcohol somewhere else. It was pretty obvious that the police couldn’t care less and in some places they didn’t even bother with the pretence.
Federika developed quite a bad eye infection so we took a taxi to the local town and went to an ophthalmologist. There were lots of people waiting but Federika was waved straight through which as always, no one seemed to mind. She was given a thorough examination, a prescription for some antibiotics and a bill for the grand total of £2.50.
2019 India
