The beach resort of Varkala was a cut above Kovalam, we thought. It seemed a little bit cleaner, brighter, more wholesome all round. More relaxing places to hang out, and a rather dramatic setting, with much of it strung out along a clifftop walk.
There's still a bit of dirt and litter around though, but the cliff provides a convenient way to dispose of it. Sweep it all over the edge! And the traders in the tin shed trinket shops along the cliff top walk were right up there in the world champion perseverance stakes. They were also rather personable and quite seductive though, and yours truly found himself buying T shirts, tailored trousers, miniature auto-rickshaws, the lot.
Lonely Planet says Varkala's the kind of place where the days turn into weeks, or even months. You stroll the tourist strip, you do excursions to the nearby backwaters, you wander north along the path to the next beaches, where it's all much quieter and even more scenic. I can see how it happens.
There again you could join the throng down on the main beach, where the blue-clad lifesavers blow their whistles almost non-stop, to no avail and for unknown purpose.
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