Kovalam, Raju, and an Ayurvedic Massage!

Kovalam has never been on our travel radar, and what a lovely surprise it turns out to be.  It’s three crescent-shaped beaches punctuated by a lighthouse at one end and a mosque at the other.  And like every beach we’ve seen (on the west coast) in India, there are fishermen using the same techniques as they’ve used for centuries.  The middle of the three beaches has a ‘boardwalk’ (this one is made out of concrete pavers) that could have been transplanted to just about any beachfront tourist town in the US.

Things I’m struck by immediately:  no bars – not a single one; no tattoo parlors – you can get hennaed but not tattooed; no carnival rides; no arcades; beach vendors except those with the chair and umbrella concessions; no stray animals; a police aid and post office booth; no beggars.  Lots of shops – lots and lots of shops - and an abundance of restaurants; a few lodgings right at the beachfront and many, many more up a series of winding alleys leading off the boardwalk and accessible only on foot.  Luggage arrives by pushcart. 

Not very crowded – this is definitely the end of the season.  Tourists are definitely European – we hear a lot of German – and surprise, surprise, a lot of Russians!  Talking to shopkeepers, our hotel clerk, our restaurant guy . . . nobody seems to like them.  

Wandering along the beach front . . .

 Same technique, different beach, different fishermen as in Varkala.  These fishermen even let a few tourists help pull in the nets!

Our room is quite luxurious, perhaps the nicest we’ve had in our entire two months.  We have cable tv, a small refrigerator, individual bedside reading lights, a real shower with a door!!, a modern trough-shaped sink,  a new dual-flush commode, a sea-front balcony with a total killer view and (drum roll please) the very best amenity of all – air conditioning!!!  I am absolutely thrilled and so grateful that we worked this all out at the last minute.  This is a big splurge for us - $44 a night!

Sarah, our delightful desk clerk, 

tells us that Raju’s – just up the hill a bit – is a really good place to eat.  Did I mention that it’s a downhill walk to the beachfront and a very demanding hike (especially in this heat) to get back up to our place?   Closer is definitely better.   Raju turns out to make the very best meals, consistently, that we’ve had in all of India.

About to tuck into dinner.  

Our first night’s wonder – Raju’s Special Chicken

We come back three more times - once for prawns, another time for butter fish, and tonight's 'last souper' - a custom made soup (divine), a light meal before our long ride home.  This man can cook!!!  

Such a sweet man and such a sad story . . . we are the only diners and have a chance to talk to him, at length.  He tells us that his son passed on just nine months ago, at the age of 18, after being seriously injured in a scooter accident.  It’s still so raw and painful.  He’s made a shrine to him on one wall.

I manage to set the camera on the timer . . . we exchange emails and I promise to send him these photos and give him a rave review in TA.

We absolutely cannot leave India without getting an ayurvedic massage.  Our resort advertises them and we sign up for 8:30 am the following day.  Problem – the massage lady (I can have a man or a woman; Tim can only have a man) had to make an emergency trip to the hospital in the middle of the night.  We’re not sure whether it was her emergency or her daughter’s but we cancel the massages. 

Our new buddy, Raju, tells us that Mitra Ayurvedic, just down the hill, is ‘very good.’  We make our appointment for today, our very last day.  We've both had massages, lots of them, but this was something else.  For starters, the only thing you wear is a wee diaper thingee held up by a picee of string just below your navel .  

My masseuse was an older woman, very sweet and grandmotherly, and she spent almost 90" with me.  Starting with my face and head while I was seated on a stool and then on to the table ('face up') and finishing on my stomach.  Not your typical western massage - hard to describe (I think I may have drifted in and out of consciousness!) but lots and lots of oil and lots of pressure point work.  

Then when she's all done, she helps me off the table and into the bathroom where she proceeds to wash my entire body (well, I wash my private areas) with an orange colored paste stuff that removes almost all of the oil.  I'm seated on a stool and she pours warm water all over me . . . I'm a limp noodle and can barely walk home. (I didn't take photos!)

Tim didn't seem as pleased with his but agreed that it was, indeed, different!  He recovered quickly and gladly donned his favorite new article of clothing - his longhi!!