We all travel for so many reasons. To celebrate, to meet different cultures, to filter our-self through the millions of strangers, to meet other travelers, getting to know the story of a strange person in a strangest of places, for the culinary delicacy and so on. But there is one aspect we all seek in common, to be on your own, to experience a place for what it is, maybe something out of the touristy mask that it puts on.
Kovalam is a popular tourist attraction for both local and international tourists. If you think your escape is all about some sandy beaches, water sports and a laid back evening enjoying the sunset with local seafood with a sip of your drink, well you can't go wrong with Kovalam.
well let me toss you the other side of the coin for a second, ya its a lot of tourist, jam-packed beaches and the obvious welcoming "how can we help you" face of every tourist spot.
If you are interested to have a one on one experience and to see the character of Kovalam, well get up early and find out before the drill begins.
The beach with no name
There is another small beach near the juma masjid, I am not talking about Grove beach on the side of masjid ) Get up before sunrise and head to the Kovalam juma masjid, you can keep your vehicle there and walk ahead. pass the masjid and walk along the cut road among the beautiful coconut plantations and you will be able to see beach past the masjid. Get up before sunrise and explore the beach, its lot less crowed and very calm, be there maybe that beach can be exclusively for yourself at that time. You won't be able to see the lighthouse but trust me you will get the best morning view from there.
Its all about fishing.
After the sunrise head back to the main beaches of Kovalam, the viewpoint on the rocks which borders the two main beaches of Kovalam, and you can witness how a day starts in the region. You can understand how people actively invest in fishing, which provides a major source of revenue.
In fact, you might be witnessing the real story behind that fresh seafood at your table, a majority of the catch will be supplied to the nearby restaurants and hotels.
Oyster hunters
You can witness these brave men in battle with the rough seas for the oyster hunt. You can spot these men with googles jumping into the raging ocean among the rockies . This is very dangerous in comparison to normal fishing as the seas are very rough in between the rocks and the high danger of bashing into the rocks. These men carry sharp knives with them to cut the oysters from the rocks.
This is quite an inspiring scene to watch, its livelihood as well as their culture. Have you ever imagined, while having that delicacy, about those people going beyond to quench our seafood fantasies.
I like to call them " men with steel nerves"( although it is not nerves I wanted to fit there, respecting the platform and the senior as well as child readers I am not crossing that fine line ) )
Just walk
After you witness the action enough, keep walking along the beach and you can appreciate how quiet, beautiful the place can be with a fewer crowd.
Fishing is so evident on the beach you can witness many traditional ways of fishing. Localities with small fishing poles to large nets. You can see conventional boats onshore.
You can see a large group of people pulling shore the large fishing nets which they put out in the sea a day before. This is an interesting activity to watch as they sing folks songs in line with labor to keep everyone in the team motivated and practically making job more fun, no wonder why people at desks have a grumpy face.
All I am talking about here was a mere 2.5 hours of exploration, from 6 o'clock till 8.30 AM, but this small amount of time has given me a whole new outlook about this place. Even though I visited this place many times over the year, it has always given me the fun tourist place face, but this time it was all about the beautiful normality of the place, which is more authentic and charming than the famous place on the map. This encounter with the true self of Kovalam made me fall more for it and this time it was about a personal bond.
If you are stating over at Kovalam I highly recommend you to take the pain of getting up before the sunrise and experience the true wonder before the tourist gala kicks in.
you can check out more photographs of mine at: