Our first morning in Varkala, with our bodies not quite adjusted to the time change we woke to the morning cries of the Mullah at 5 am. By 7 am the sun was up and we were on the three-minute walk to the beach for the first swim of the day. Bright warm sunshine, a spectacular view and warm, warm water to wake us up from our slumber. So warm that at 7 am it is easy to surf the waves for an hour without getting cold. What a way to start the day! The breakers hitting the beach are awesome. They will be providing our entertainment in the water for the next couple of months. The kids are bodysurfing on them, diving under them, jumping over them and basically getting turned upside down in them. Some of us are more agile in them than others. Steve has got quite the set of scratches on his nose for hitting the sandy bottom with his smeller instead of his feet!
Due to the early hour we were treated to the scene of the fishermen bringing in their catch. Their boats sort of look like huge canoes but are crescent shaped so that the men at the front and end of the boats are almost riding completely out of the water. There are about ten fishermen in the boat and they all have oars so it looks a bit like a Viking ship with so many oars going in unison. Meanwhile on the beach, there is a second group of fishermen who swim out to meet the boat with a very long rope. Once the lead swimmer meets the boat, they tie his rope onto the huge net that the boat is dragging in. Then the really hard work begins. It looks a bit like a tug of war with about 15 men on shore hauling in the huge net. They are all calling something that keeps them pulling the rope together. After half an hour the net begins to surface and the fish are pulled onto shore. As we watched, there were four boats landing their catch at the same time. One can imagine that this way of fishing has been going on exactly like this for hundreds of years.
As it is still the shoulder season, Varkala is quiet, so there are not many people on the beach. Last night, on our first supper in one of the restaurants, high up on the cliffs overlooking the Arabian Sea we could see many lights twinkling about a half a mile off shore. The fishermen were out in their boats catching tomorrow night’s supper. Perhaps the same boats that we saw coming into shore this morning. (If that were the case, it would make for a long night!) As we are so close to the equator it gets dark very early, so the burning sun just drops into the water in front of your eyes at 6 pm.
We can’t believe we have landed here in this beautiful spot in the world.
That’s all for now folks!!
Ann
Due to the early hour we were treated to the scene of the fishermen bringing in their catch. Their boats sort of look like huge canoes but are crescent shaped so that the men at the front and end of the boats are almost riding completely out of the water. There are about ten fishermen in the boat and they all have oars so it looks a bit like a Viking ship with so many oars going in unison. Meanwhile on the beach, there is a second group of fishermen who swim out to meet the boat with a very long rope. Once the lead swimmer meets the boat, they tie his rope onto the huge net that the boat is dragging in. Then the really hard work begins. It looks a bit like a tug of war with about 15 men on shore hauling in the huge net. They are all calling something that keeps them pulling the rope together. After half an hour the net begins to surface and the fish are pulled onto shore. As we watched, there were four boats landing their catch at the same time. One can imagine that this way of fishing has been going on exactly like this for hundreds of years.
As it is still the shoulder season, Varkala is quiet, so there are not many people on the beach. Last night, on our first supper in one of the restaurants, high up on the cliffs overlooking the Arabian Sea we could see many lights twinkling about a half a mile off shore. The fishermen were out in their boats catching tomorrow night’s supper. Perhaps the same boats that we saw coming into shore this morning. (If that were the case, it would make for a long night!) As we are so close to the equator it gets dark very early, so the burning sun just drops into the water in front of your eyes at 6 pm.
We can’t believe we have landed here in this beautiful spot in the world.
That’s all for now folks!!
Ann
2 comments:
have finally been able to read all you've written its brilliant...so evocotive...the sleepy warmth of gulf air, the "beastly" queue in London; the "serenity"of the marble in the aching heat of Kochi airport - even the brilliant bodysurfing in Verkala..
keep on writing to us
we love and miss you
Jane
wow guys.. it sounds like your having a wonderful time! i'm incredibly jealous that you are able to watch the sunset on the arbian sea!! something i hope to do one day!
keep haveing a great time..
love you all!
kelly
Post a Comment