back from the beaches...

our first week in india has been a huge success. the only problem is that today is sunday, again, and just like last sunday, when we wanted to do stuff, everything is closed. it is frustrating because just today we arrived in kollam, which would be fascinating if anything was open. we have been wandering down narrow streets and back alleys looking for a spice warehouse. it is still fascinating, but i'd love to see into the shops rather than the closed aluminum garage doors.

the past week has been really relaxing. we have visited two beautiful beaches in kerala, kovallam and varkala. both were lovely, with crystal clear water and fine sand. we were first at kovallam. the guide book we have had nothing good to say about it, but i had a feeling we should go, and we did. there were two crescent beaches at kovallam, we stayed on the lighthouse beach, right next to the lighthouse! we stayed at the sagara beach resort, a splurge. it was formerly a hilton resort. it had a lovely balcony overlooking the beach, and hot water. the beaches were lined with shops filled with the most beautiful fabric and jewlery. the prices, however, were sky high. katie has advised me that we can get fabric much cheaper so i'll try and do that. at night, after susnet, there were plenty of restaurants with fresh seafood. all day we could see the women carrying the freshly-caught fish in huge metal pots on top of their heads. some of the fish were 4 feet long. the prices for the sea food were really high, often more than 30 usd, so we stuck to the excellent local indian food. the beach may have been the most beautiful i have ever seen. the water was warm and clear, and there were big, clear waves. duff told me that it was similar to the caribbean, but with great waves.

when we got to varkala, we were able to observe some traditional fishing close up. we stayed at varkala only two nights. our book promised a different, younger, and less expensive scene than kovalam, but it wasn't. the business area is along a pathway, below is the beach. there is a cliff that drops down to the beach, perhaps 60 feet or so. it was daunting, and dizzying. the view was dramatic, and the first night the whole horizion was speckeld with the lights of fishing boats.

i have been rising very early since we arrived in india. before dawn, every day. in the morning, we when we would get to the beach, we would see the locals start fishing. they cast a huge net, and then groups of ten or so men pull each end into shore. it takes at least an hour for the whole process, perhaps two. first, we would see them setting the net with a boat. it almost looked like a canoe, but it was larger, and made from dark, weathered wood. not a modern vessel at all. the men pull in the net, at first it is only a rope, and then they are pulling hand fulls of net. the last man arranges the net into coils on the beach. when the net is drawn in just beyond the breakers, a group of boys wade out and splash around in the water to scare the fish and keep them in the net. i got a video on my camera, i hope it turned out. the only time i stayed to see them bring in the catch it wasn't large. i am sure it was normally much larger. there were perhaps 50 or 60 small fish (no more than 10 inches long) and at least 40 local people were down on the beach involved in some way.

at varkala, there were fewer hawkers that at kovallam. it was pleasant not to be interrupted every 30 seconds while i lay, reading, on the beach. there was a really friendly woman from whom i bought a pineapple. she shaved it with a machete and sliced it so we could pull chunks off easily. it was fun to sit in the warm sand, dripping with sweet pineapple juice. i didn't like pineapple when i was little, and now i cannot get enough. pineapple juice in the morning, a pineapple lassi at lunch (yogurt and pineapple)... cold coffee with ice cream is my new favorite afternoon snack.

after a realxing sunday morning on the beach, we decided to move on. it took us about 1/2 hour to get to kollam by bus. we found a breezy hotel room for 1/5 of what we were spending on accomodation at the beach. this makes duff happy. tomorrow we will set out on a cruise of the keralan backwaters, which promises to be amazing. from there, we will head into karnataka towards mysore. there are many national parks and wildlife refuges there, as part of the western ghats biosphere reserve. i hope to up the elephant count. while i have kept my eyes peeled all day, i haven't seen any more elephants. tomorrow's cruise will take about 10 hours and drop us in a city called alapphuza. i can't wait. yay!