Ferstivals in Varkala

Varkala was a touristic but fun place to be. I was able to meet up with a friend who I'd met in Uganda there. When everything is always so unfamiliar, it's extra nice to see a familiar face. Especially one that comes with a friendly person. And better more if that friendly person is keen to help in trying as many different types of food as possible - there is so much to choose from here!

It turned out that the end of January in Varkala is festival time.

We saw huge elephants, quite possibly including the worlds two biggest elephants, being paraded along the roads and also taken to the beach, all dressed up in colourful head gear and busily munching on palm tree branches.

There were no end of dancers, people dressed up as gods and any number of other colourful things, and also people playing drums and horns and symbols, singing and shouting.

The beach was lined by a huge cliff, where from the top you could get lovely views over the soaring buzzards down onto the beach. In the day time the beach was full of tourists and had guards who would chase Indian men away. This favoring of tourists probably would not be something that would go down too well at home, but it was quite nice here as a tourist. Even with lots of layers of clothes on, the stares from men here can be particularly unpleasant, and so if in that situation the men aren't there to stare, then I can't complain.