Leaving Sea Splendour and Varkala . . .
It's hard to believe that we have been here for two weeks, but it's time to leave. Tomorrow morning (Friday) our taxi comes at 2:30 a.m. for a 6 a.m. flight from Trivandrum to Varanasi, via Kochi, Delhi, and Gaya. And, as has been true for our entire stay here, Haksar has arranged everything.
Another traveler, Matthew, one of the few Americans we've met here, said that after traveling the world, he's convinced this is the absolute best place on the planet. He had been here since October and just left for Thailand. How is it that we always manage to meet a New Yorker wherever we go!
Photo of us in Sea Splendour's restaurant with Matthew and Haksar's beautiful children, daughter Saifa and son, Afshin. Matthew also tells us that Haksar's restaurant has the absolute best food 'on the whole beach.' We've eaten every meal here and have to agree!
And our fabulous host, Haksar, with us and with his wife, Sabeena, and Saifa.
Someone remind me to burn this pink blouse! It's been on several continents and it's time for a trip to the ghats!!
Random observations about our time in India so far . . . the people are incredibly kind and happy. Varkala is a lesson in peaceful coexistence. The government of Kerala (Varkala's State) is a coalition led by the Communist party. The three major religions are represented here, pretty much equally - 30% Muslim, 30% Hindu, and 30% Christian - right now we're now listening to the chants from the mosque and three days (and nights) ago it was the music from the Hindi festival. Have included photos of Hindu temples and a catholic church; here is the beachfront mosque,just 5 minutes from us
So we're left with 10% of the population unaccounted for, religiously that is. I think their religion is yoga.
Presenting Miss Nimble Pants, ardent daily practitioner whom we watched, fascinated, from our balcony nearly every morning. I didn't have the camera out when she went into an elbow stand then into a half then full lotus!! With my camera I felt somewhat like a voyeur but you don't see her face . . .
She actually stood up from this position and then went right back down . . . several times!
A couple of random thoughts . . . almost all the foreign tourists are German, a few from English-speaking countries and even fewer from the U.S. (or America as they say here). Just a few of the things we've not seen or heard: trash cans, trash trucks, mail boxes, mail trucks, semis, crying children, repair vehicles, traffic lights, road signs (the only one I remember at a RR crossing on one of our excursions) - in English and Malayallam.
We have a few rituals (watching Miss Numble Pants is one of them) and another is our evening Kingfisher on the beach watching the sun set.
Good night sun . . .
Good night water buffaloes on the beach . . .
Good night room . . .
Good night Sea Splendour . . .
Good night Haksar . . .
Good night pink blouse!
On to Varanasi!!
It's hard to believe that we have been here for two weeks, but it's time to leave. Tomorrow morning (Friday) our taxi comes at 2:30 a.m. for a 6 a.m. flight from Trivandrum to Varanasi, via Kochi, Delhi, and Gaya. And, as has been true for our entire stay here, Haksar has arranged everything.
Another traveler, Matthew, one of the few Americans we've met here, said that after traveling the world, he's convinced this is the absolute best place on the planet. He had been here since October and just left for Thailand. How is it that we always manage to meet a New Yorker wherever we go!
Photo of us in Sea Splendour's restaurant with Matthew and Haksar's beautiful children, daughter Saifa and son, Afshin. Matthew also tells us that Haksar's restaurant has the absolute best food 'on the whole beach.' We've eaten every meal here and have to agree!
Someone remind me to burn this pink blouse! It's been on several continents and it's time for a trip to the ghats!!
Random observations about our time in India so far . . . the people are incredibly kind and happy. Varkala is a lesson in peaceful coexistence. The government of Kerala (Varkala's State) is a coalition led by the Communist party. The three major religions are represented here, pretty much equally - 30% Muslim, 30% Hindu, and 30% Christian - right now we're now listening to the chants from the mosque and three days (and nights) ago it was the music from the Hindi festival. Have included photos of Hindu temples and a catholic church; here is the beachfront mosque,just 5 minutes from us
So we're left with 10% of the population unaccounted for, religiously that is. I think their religion is yoga.
Presenting Miss Nimble Pants, ardent daily practitioner whom we watched, fascinated, from our balcony nearly every morning. I didn't have the camera out when she went into an elbow stand then into a half then full lotus!! With my camera I felt somewhat like a voyeur but you don't see her face . . .
She actually stood up from this position and then went right back down . . . several times!
A couple of random thoughts . . . almost all the foreign tourists are German, a few from English-speaking countries and even fewer from the U.S. (or America as they say here). Just a few of the things we've not seen or heard: trash cans, trash trucks, mail boxes, mail trucks, semis, crying children, repair vehicles, traffic lights, road signs (the only one I remember at a RR crossing on one of our excursions) - in English and Malayallam.
We have a few rituals (watching Miss Numble Pants is one of them) and another is our evening Kingfisher on the beach watching the sun set.
Good night sun . . .
Good night water buffaloes on the beach . . .
Good night room . . .
Good night Sea Splendour . . .
Good night Haksar . . .
Good night pink blouse!
On to Varanasi!!
