Exploring up and down the Kerala coast

 

Kerela's coastline

After a very relaxing four day break in Kollam we set off for the beach ⛱️. 

We had booked a two night stay in Edava, a small resort just outside Varkala (aka surfers' paradise 😀). It was a relatively short ride and we followed the coastal road all the way down. The views were fabulous, lots of small sandy beaches separated at regular intervals by robust sea defence walls. We saw lots of fishing boats and a few catches of the day coming in - that attracted plenty more attention than our bike did and rightly so. At one point, we cycled past a huge lake, so we were flanked by equally beautiful views to both our left and right. The sea breeze helped to keep the temperature bearable and there was a fair bit of shade from those infamous coconut trees too 🌴. We arrived at Wavealokam Beach Resort well before midday, but they still welcomed us in very warmly. Our room was ready for us, it was lovely, and we were treated to a complimentary brunch too 😋 🤩. 

It was a five minute walk to the beach and early afternoon we wandered down to explore. It was a beautiful little beach and there we took our first dip of the trip in the Arabian sea 🤩. The waves were incredibly strong though; it's easy to see why so many parts of the Kerala coast are considered unsafe for swimming. Max was alot braver than me and after being knocked over several times I exited the water before I officially lost my dignity 😂. 

There was a lovely coastal path along the cliff above the beach and we walked back and forth along it several times during our stay.  It was lovely and quiet, hardly a soul around and it almost felt like we had it all to ourselves. The area surrounding the Wavealokam Resort was very quiet and unspoilt and to begin with we even wondered whether we'd find anywhere for dinner. Looking on google maps there didn't seem to be a huge number of options available and the first restaurant we tried (situated quite near to our resort) showed no signs of life whatsoever! We found a tiny little beach shack run by a very friendly Indian couple and enjoyed some nice fresh fruit drinks and tasty pakoras there on our first afternoon. For dinner on the first evening we ended up in a nice, authentic, homely styled restaurant attached to a beach resort a bit further along the coastal path. Not quite knowing what to expect we sat down at a table on the porch and a friendly waiter swiftly appeared with the menu. We ordered our usual tasty fare and while waiting for our food we struck up a conversation with a nice English couple, called Steve and Zakyeya, on the adjacent table. They had just arrived at the resort and were travelling around Kerala - rather impressively driving themselves, certainly not something being done by any of the tourists we've met so far on our travels. We chatted for a while, exchanging travel experiences et al and it was a very pleasant evening. We enjoyed both their company and the food in equal measure and went back again the following evening for a repeat of both 😉. 

Max tried his hardest to persuade me to sign up for a surfing lesson while at Wavealokam Beach Resort but I wasn't having any of it so eventually he resigned himself to going it alone! Karthik, his instructor, turned up at 7.15am and I went along as chief photographer. We stopped en route to Kappil Beach for a fabulous roadside coffee - just the ticket for me to start the day 😀.  We were one of the first to arrive at the beach and it was so serene and beautiful - a great opportunity to take some photos of the uninterrupted views. It's the main surfing beach in the area, a long sandy stretch with enormous waves, and within half an hour it had become a giant hub of activity 🏄‍♂️.  Max was given a short lesson in the basics on the beach before being allowed to enter the water. Once he got started I have to admit he made it look very easy indeed. It wasn't long before he was able to successfully ride the wave back to the shore, something which I even managed to capture on video a few times (it's not as easy as you'd perhaps think!). I could see that Karthik was quite enjoying the lesson and the fact that he was getting a result with Max 👍. He was an incredibly enthusiastic and positive guy but it must get difficult when people struggle (as I'm sure many must do) to master the waves. Goodness knows what he'd have made of my attempts had I been foolish enough to let Max persuade me to sign up for the lesson 😂.  An hour later they emerged - Karthik looked as pleased as punch, Max seemed more relieved to be back on dry land - not realising it wasn't over yet!  After just a short break, Karthik had him back in the water - he was so pleased with Max's progress that he wanted to push him further. About half an hour later Max was officially broken and called time on the lesson, this time for good. He did brilliantly but I'm not sure if he'll be out surfing again anytime soon - he was absolutely wasted for the next couple of days 😅😅. 

The following afternoon we took a tuk tuk into Varkala. It was a much busier resort - loads of shops, cafes and restaurants with a huge yoga and ayurvedic scene. It had a lovely vibe and we spent the afternoon pottering along the small coastal path and had lunch at a great little restaurant on the North Cliff, overlooking the sea. Afterwards Max had a massage in an attempt to put himself back together after his surfing lesson 🫣.

After a three night stay at the beautiful Wavealokam Beach Retreat, we set off early and before breakfast (which didn't start until 9am 😳). We'd stayed an extra night as Max still wasn't feeling too great; probably a combination of the very enthusiastic surfing lesson and some sort of virus that had got the better of him. 

We left before breakfast but stopped at the roadside cafe that Karthik had taken us to before the surfing lesson. While I was queueing for my coffee, we bumped into Steve and Zakyeya again. That was a really nice start to the day and a little boost to get us going. They've aptly christened the tandem "Dolly" Dolan which is just perfect; and will also serve as an extra reminder of them both 🥰. 

We followed the komoot route for a fair while; essentially, we followed the same coast road we'd come in on. After a while, it sent us slightly inland through a number of small towns. That was quite pleasant - lots of smiley kids on their way to school. The temperature was ok for a while, but it did hot up as the morning progressed. The route started directing us off the main road, which was ok at first, but then the roads started getting smaller, narrower, and increasingly uneven. Eventually, we ditched that route and followed google Maps the rest of the way.

That was fine, the only downside was I couldn't take any more photos 🥲. Oh, and it wasn't exactly a flat route either - quite a few ups and downs. Nothing too difficult, but I felt under pressure to work harder, given Max wasn't feeling well.  We arrived at the hotel around 1pm, by which time it was hot, hot, hot  🥵🥵. We were very glad to get off and retreat into an a/c room 😀.  With just enough energy left to get the washing done we spent the rest of the day resting and watching tv. Max was feeling quite poorly and I was quite worried that another tough cycling day ahead might just finish him off! 

We set off around 9.30 am the next day - I had some breakfast but Max still wasn't feeling much like eating 🥲. It was a nice ride as we followed the coast for most of the ride - doubling back on some of the roads we'd cycled a few days before. To begin with, though, we cycled on the main road and passed through a number of small towns. Again, we saw loads of kids on their way to school, so lots of smiling and waving and more than a few looks of what can only be described as total astonishment 😂. 

Once we were cycling along the coast, there was lots of fishing activity everywhere. There were loads of boats still out at sea - they go out overnight and bring their catch back at various times throughout the morning. We saw lots of fishermen and also some families picking today's catch from their nets. We saw the fish being transported in big crates on the back of motorbikes (complete with a set of weighing scales). They sound their horns - more continuously than normal - presumably to let the villagers know they're passing through (much like the ice-cream vans do back home 🤣). There were plenty of roadside stalls, too, with the fresh fish on sale neatly displayed - all shapes and sizes. 

A few times, we were routed back onto the main road, and a few times we chose to do this - when the coastal road got too difficult or narrow for the tandem. We also seemed to be following a railway line, which we crossed several times. We'd done this a few times in recent days and I'd been wanting to capture the moment the barrier comes down to let the train through - on this occasion I was in luck 😉.

We arrived at our accommodation around 1.30 pm - the Alleppey Beach Garden Resort - and another very warm welcome from Daniella and Raji and their adorable golden retriever, Emmie. We were given a beautiful room complete with our own balcony and sea view. It was the most idyllic little haven - beautifully styled with hammocks, relaxing chairs and sun loungers perfectly positioned and lots of shade from all the fabulous plants and trees everywhere around.  There were so many lovely decorations and little touches that went into creating the most perfect environment - it was an absolute oasis of calm and my first thought was how sorry I was that we'd had to cut short our stay here due to Max's illness 🥲. Still, now that we'd arrived, it would surely be the perfect tonic to get him back to full strength.

We signed up for dinner in their little restaurant on the first evening - paneer curry which was absolutely delicious 😋.  Max sadly had to settle for some plain rice and curd and Raji also recommended a remedy drink - strong black tea with lemon. Something seemed to work as by the next morning, after a good night's sleep for both of us, he was definitely feeling better and had hopefully turned a corner 🤞🤞. 

Breakfast was a very pleasant and relaxed affair and we chatted to a really nice New Zealander, living in Canberra and on a three month sabbatical travelling round India on his own - a brave and adventurous journey for sure! He didn't seem in the least bit phased by it but seemed to really enjoy chatting with us and with Daniella and Raji too. 

After that we took it easy all day, only really venturing out for a walk on the beach in the afternoon. It was a lovely quiet beach and quite literally on our doorstep. We chatted to Daniella who was out walking with Emmie and her friends' three dogs. They were all absolutely adorable and clearly in seventh heaven living by the beach 🥰. That evening we had dinner at the Alleppey again - this time vegetable curry with a few different types for us to sample 😋. We chatted to a few of the other guests - in particular a Dutch couple who had been visiting their daughter in Muscat over Christmas and were spending a few days in Kerala before heading home again. They were really interesting people and again we ended up talking about so many different things 🤩. Another lovely evening was had by all and phone numbers were exchanged incase we're ever in Holland or they ever come to England (the promise of some free ice-cream might well be an attractive enough offer 😄). 

We had another leisurely breakfast the next morning. Max was definitely on the mend and starting to get his appetite back. We chatted to Daniella and the Dutch couple for a while and I was definitely feeling a little sad we were leaving. I could quite easily have spent another few days there and would definitely rank it as one of our best stays of the entire trip 🤩. Just as we were loading up the bike two English girls arrived and I chatted to them very briefly. They'd just arrived at Alleppey Garden having been very disappointed with their nearby accommodation from the night before. I quickly reassured them they'd definitely landed on their feet this time 👍. I learnt they were travelling round India for a month, and having arrived just before Christmas, they'd already covered a huge amount of ground. New Delhi, Rajasthan, Mumbai from what I can recall and now Kerala. What's more, unlike anyone else we've met so far (with the exception of the New Zealander I mentioned) they were making their way via public transport. I was really impressed and would have loved to have had the opportunity to chat with them for much longer. Again, such a shame we couldn't stay another night 😪.  

Nevertheless we said our goodbyes and set off on the next part of our adventure - an overnight houseboat trip along the backwaters of Alleppey. As Jane reminded me, this really is something that just has to be done while in Kerala so we simply had to tick that box no question 😉. It was only a short cycle to where we were to board the boat so we sauntered along through a number of small villages and along the narrow country lanes and arrived in plenty of time for the midday departure time. 

Once on board we were looked after by Jimmy, our captain and Nittin, the chef. We'd been told to expect lots of food but we didn't actually find that to be the case. Perhaps is was because we've opted to go vegetarian for the entire trip and there is inevitably a strong emphasis on fish by the coast. The food on board - lunch, dinner and breakfast the following morning- was pleasant enough but definitely not amongst the best we've eaten on the trip. 

Jimmy wasn't much of a talker but he kept us safe and steered a nice course towards the edge of a big lake where we moored up for a while to have lunch. It was very peaceful and relaxing and after we'd eaten we were happy just sitting there enjoying the absolute peace and tranquility of it all. I'd like to say we had the lake to ourselves but obviously, this being top of every tourist's itinerary, there were plenty of other boats in the vicinity 😂. After a while though Jimmy took us down some of the smaller backwaters which fed off the big lake and for a while we lost sight of the other boats and enjoyed the feeling of complete solitude. It was so calm, quiet and relaxing, just watching the birdlife on the water and having sight of quite a few eagles soaring above - all hoping to catch a fish. 

Mid afternoon Jimmy moored up again, this time to transfer us to a much smaller open canoe style boat for a short trip along some of the much narrower backwaters. We were joined by a young German couple and no sooner had they climbed into the boat than Max began his interrogation 😂. They answered all his quickfire questions with good humour and we learned quite alot about then. Another interesting couple - she was a trance music dj and music producer and he was a clinical psychologist 😆. They were spending a month travelling round South India - although, unlike us, they seemed to be making up their route as they went along. Max's worst nightmare but they seemed fine with it 👍👍. The short trip down the narrower waters was a great chance to see the local life up close. We saw lots of women doing their washing outside - using the stone walls along the waters' edge to pound their soapy garments before rinsing them in the open water.

We returned to the houseboat after about an hour and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on top watching the world go by and as sunset gradually approached us we sat and watched that too 🤩. After sunset we had dinner out on deck but, lovely though that was, we soon retreated to our cabin inside as we could both feel the mosquitos nipping at our heels (and every bit of exposed flesh) despite having liberally applied ourselves with repellent 🫣🫣. We both slept soundly that night and woke up just before sunrise - which I watched from the bank where the boat was moored. With the rice fields in the foreground and the coconut trees in the distance, it was the most beautiful sight 😍. After sunrise, Nittin served us breakfast and by 9am they dropped us safely back on land to crack on with the final leg of our trip - so Kochi here we come 😍. 

The coastal road to Edava 

A nativity scene on the beach 

Bringing in the today's catch 

Deserted beach 

The view in the other direction 

Lots of interest in that haul 

Locals wandering down the small pier 

Max straight in the sea at Edava Beach 

Edava Beach - so beautiful 😍 

Kappill beach before the surfers arrived en masse 

Max starting his lesson with Karthik 

Kartik very happy; Max exhausted 

Heading home now 

A tasty lunch with a great view in Varkala 

The cliffs at Varkala 

The coastal path above Edava Beach  

A little table for two - with sea view 😍 

The Edava coastal path in the other direction 

Sunset on Edava Beach 

The roadside cafe Karthik took us to 

The view of the fishing huts opposite 

Bumping into Steve and Zakyeya

Farewell to the kind staff at Amrit Regency 

A typical roadside fish stall 

Fresh fish being delivered 

Lighthouse near Kappil 

Fish delivery complete with scales 

Fishing boats bringing their catches in 

Sorting through the nets 

Fishing boats ashore 

Ditto 

Waiting at the railway crossing 

A modern train races through! 

The view from our little balcony at Alleppey Garden 

Sunset at Alleppey Garden Beach 

Dinner at Alleppey Garden 

Emmie with her friends,  Daisy and Tony  

Sasha snuggling up to Max 🥰

Trying out the hammock in Alleppey Garden 

Testing the swinging chairs 

Emmie back from the beach - takes herself straight to the hose to clean up 🥰

The gate to the beach ⛱️ 

Delicious pancake for breakfast 😋 

A fond farewell to Daniella 

And to our Dutch fellow guests 

Relaxing on board the houseboat 

Enjoying a fresh coconut juice 

On board the small boat with the young German couple 

Cruising the narrow backwaters 

Views from the houseboat 

Sunset from the houseboat 

Sunrise from the houseboat 

The houseboat