Linda and Mals Asian Adventure

Kottayam & Varkala.
After a great time in Kumily we headed West to Varkala via the Town of Kottayam, the purpose of the stopover in Kottayam was to visit the “famous” and much publicized Bird Sanctuary at Kumarakom about 16km away. Arriving From the relatively warm temperatures of Kumily we found the day time temperatures in Kottayam to be really hot ! so much so that we had to go for an a/c option on our room, a really good choice.. The Bird sanctuary was total waste of time, it has been neglected and was overgrown and there was no wildlife apart from a couple of Coucals to see.. Glad we only went for a one night stop.

We caught the train from Kottayam to Varkala the next morning and found some half decent accommodation which wasn’t too noisy. We again met up with Colin and Sue who were making their way South in readiness to go to Sri Lanka. Varkala is a touristy destination with lots of good places to eat and some good walks along the cliffs and beach. Apart from a bit of walking we spent a lot of time sorting out the next leg of our travels and eating a lot… we also had a few beers with Colin and Sue in the evenings. Highlight was the fantastic seafood. Marlin Tikka, superb just done enough to give it a tikka flavour without overpowering the taste of the succulent Marlin..

We spent 4 days in Varkala before going to Trivandrum to catch a flight to Kolkatta. There wasn’t a lot to do in Trivandrum so we just stopped overnight, had the hottest Masala dosa’s yet, Linda couldn't eat hers. With a little over 5 weeks to go we are having to rush about a bit to fit some of the things in we most want to see.