“The sea is emotion incarnate. It loves, hates, and weeps. It defies all attempts to capture it with words and rejects all shackles. No matter what you say about it, there is always that which you can’t. –Christopher Paolini”
The ocean is everything to me. It is powerful, commanding, wild, mysterious and endless.
My love affair with any form of water body exists for quite long now. I love to spend time by the beach and watch the waves. It makes me feel like it is taking away all sorrows of life. The roar of the waves seems music to my ears. I have never felt alone or the need to have someone when I’m out there.
Exploring Varkala
I was blessed to have got a chance to visit Varkala early this year, a coastal town in the outskirts of Trivandrum. This is quite a less explored cliff beach in India and trust me it is one of the best beaches I have visited so far. This beach is referred to as Papanasam Beach or mostly commonly known as Varkala beach. There are two cliffs-North and South. It is quite a laidback beach for anyone to relax and rejuvenate. We were 4 people in 2 bikes and we started in the noon from Thiruvananthapuram. It took us about an hour to reach the beach. The bike ride was fun.
The moment we reached, I was taken by awe to watch such a beauty. I was able to spot more foreigners than Indians. The cliff has plenty of restaurants and market that sells everything from beach clothes, jewelry to handicrafts. Varkala offers a wide range of accommodation facilities. There are Ayurvedic massage centers and specialized yoga centers. When you walk on the cliff, it gives you a feeling that you are in a different country altogether.
We had our lunch in one of the pretty looking cafe names cafe Italiano, surrounded by beautiful planters and overseeing the ocean. I loved the setup and the food was decent. It was managed by two people when we went there and the service was quite slow.
Sunset
"The sky broke like an egg into full sunset and the water caught fire."- Pamela Hansford Johnson
We walked by the beach and spent time watching the sea. Sometimes simple things in life brings in most joy and satisfaction. Sunsets are among the most beautiful things that happen everyday. The sunset from Varkala beach was dramatic and mesmerizing. It was surreal. I might be exaggerating a little too much may be because I am truly and madly in love with the beach and everything just seemed a little more beautiful while I was out there. I watched the sun disappearing with red and then orange light making its way through. I silently thanked the creator of this beauty for having me here to admire this sight. I captured some of the most beautiful sunset pictures and a short video on a day spent at Varkala beach is going to be up soon on my you tube channel.
Varkala tops my list of one of the best beaches in the country.
Happy Travels!