Let's go and eat Tibetan food in Varkala
Trip Start
Nov 04, 2007
1
31
62
Trip End
May 03, 2008
Varkala,
India
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Varkala is a very strange little place. The main town is set back from the sea and is apparently a 'temple town', dominated by a temple non-Hindus can't go into. However along the clifftops overlooking the beach is a separate little tourist town run by Tibetans. The guesthouses are nice, there is a variety of types of food (yay for lunch-time sandwiches) and it is altogether quite an agreeable place to unwind for a few days - not least because the restaurants and cafes have nice comfy chairs for you to while away a few hours staring out at the sea. We spent 3 nights in Varkala in the end, staying at an Ayurvedic Resort. Except we couldn't afford any of the ayurvedic bits so just partook of a lovely room, which resembled a chapel, complete with a whole wall of stained glass and really high wooden ceiling. And a comfy bed with clean sheets. And a nice hot shower. (Both things which seem to be a rarity in India). The resort (which was a lot smaller than 'resort' suggests) was set around a pond full of fish. We spent quite a few hours sitting in our reclining wicker chairs outside our room watching various wading birds try their luck in the pond. We even saw some sort of big grey weaselly thing run past.
The Tibetan influence was quite bizarre - literally every tourist gift shop and a fair few of the restaurants appeared to be run by Tibetans! It was a lovely change from Indian curry mind you...
