Varkala Sunrise

Have not really felt the need to booze in India but arrived in Varkala with Aggie and feeling a little hot & bothered fancied a nice cold mojito. Slowly discovering why I'm probably not craving alcohol here. An electric green drink with a few limp floating mint leaves gets delivered to the table, maybe it will taste better than it looks - wishful thinking as it totally doesn't. A few nights later we venture to a place called Kerela Arts Cafe and try again on the old liquor front - we are recommended to try something called a Varkala Sunrise by the Nepalese waiter....this time a little more palatable and like turbo fuel.....wahey! Beggar's can't be choosers right. Get treated to a show at the Arts Cafe a little later. After the Indian Classical musicians have finished they turn up the speakers and blast out some old dance tunes where the local Indians jump up on the stage and proceed to dance with more energy and erratic moves than a firework factory struck down by a spot of arson. I almost split my sides with pure amusement. One guy even has to change his outfit as the first one is completely sodden with sweat. All the dancing boys are enjoying immensely and is really sweet to watch.

Varkala is really cute. It's restaurants and shops are lined up along a clifftop walkway a couple of km's in length which overlook beautiful beaches and rolling waves that would be deemed surf worthy by those who dare try. A mixture of different types of people - slightly older holiday makers - (many of whom choose to sit around the pool in our resort day in day out, which don't get me wrong is lovely and make the most of the pool, but with such an amazing beach and view just 5 minutes away baffles me) - backpackers from far & wide - some funny local Indian characters.
Although sadly being a beach resort prices are rather inflated. Get my daily fix of Diet Coke though at least...ha ha.

Me & Aggie decide to take a cooking course with an English guy called James we met the previous day. It's run by a local Egyptian/Indian (and very handsome) guy called Khan who takes a shining to our very own Aggie. Sadly Aggie doesn't share his affections and tells him so the night before our cooking class. So we end up cooking in near silence scared to ask any questions as Khan clearly isn't too happy about the knock back (there is a poor American girl called Samantha also taking the course who isn't entirely sure what the hell is going on). Clock up a few more delicious recipes which will post my favourite shortly....someone please cook and report back to me!!! Thankfully Khan lightens up a little bit when his friend Raj arrives and we all sit down to enjoy the feast cooked. I'm still absolutely abysmal at making parotha's....

Days spent sunbathing, doing yoga, drinking fresh juices, swimming, eating fresh fish, generally bumming around......entirely delightful although after 7 days ready to venture back to the city.