Bamboo hut on a cliff

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  Varkala, India
Wednesday, April 19, 2006

We arrived in Varkala after the sun had gone down, and arrived at a place that had bamboo huts to stay in for a really cheap price. It was the first bamboo hut we had ever stayed in!

Varkala is a town that is situated right on top of a cliff looking over the sea. Because it was dark when we got there we couldn't see the view but could here the amazing sound of the waves crashing against the shore. It was music to our ears. We haven't seen the ocean in a very long time. Our hut was right on top of the cliff, about 30 feet away from the edge. It was so nice to fall asleep to the sound of the ocean. The sound of honking horns was not missed!

We woke bright an early just in time to catch the sun coming up (and to the scurrying of mice in the walls!). The views from the cliff were amazing. The cliff itself is a dark reddish colour and there is a beach down below. Along the top there is a boardwalk that is about 1.5kms long and has many shops, acommodation and restaurants along it. It was really easy to relax here, and that is all we did!

On one morning Dave and I woke up to a thunderstorm. I have never heard thunder like this in my life!!! It was so loud and striking!! And the lightning that we could see over the water forked in about ten directions. Amazing!

Most of the tourists come here for the stunning views, as well as the Ayurvedic massage treatment. This is where you go see a guy who is an Ayurvedic "specialist" and get yourself assessed. You're then told that you have chronic back pain (or something similar) and you need about 3 weeks of treatment to make it right.

We met up with a group of 5 or 6 girls from the UK that had either stayed for their treatment, or actually returned from UK specifically for this purpose. We were impressed with how much they bought into this treatment, and really considered what we were missing out on. At the same time, we weren't yet in the position to try this out yet.

Sitting with these girls was a treat. They were all very friendly, the view over the cliff was gorgeous, and they were all happy to share their stories over the last few weeks of their trip to Varkala, as well as the details of their treatment.

What we would then find out was the real shocker. Most of the girls were left with bruises from their thorough massage "treatment" and once the "specialist" was finished with their treatment, they were given a full-on "cleaning" by giving each of the patients an enema.

That's right... an ENEMA. Most of the girls agreed that by the end of their first treatment, they were too relaxed to argue with someone giving them an enema. But we both agreed that nobody could relax us so much that we wouldn't actually care when someone attemps to put something in our rear. We have no idea how good or bad Ayurvedic massage is. You'll all have to try that one on your own.

When all was said and donee, we had a relaxing time here and regained some energy to move on further north to Goa.

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03 Sunset in Varkala

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