India. Beaches of Kerala

In this photo essay, three different seaside locations we visited while in Kerala are gathered - the beaches of Varkala, Marari beach located 20 kilometers from the city of Alappuzha, and the city of Kochi, where we saw how fish are caught using traditional Chinese fishing nets.

A map of the journey through India...

Arriving in the morning at the town of Varkala by night train from Madurai, we took a local bus closer to the sea and got off at the main beach...

Having settled for the next two nights in Isha Homestay - a house located on a cliff in the northern part of Varkala beach, we went for a walk along the northern beaches...

The Black Beach cafe with a thatched roof and fantastic location became the main place where we had breakfast and dinner for these two days...

After breakfast, we continued our walk along the sea enjoying the views...

Reaching the beach that we liked the most, we stopped to swim and sunbathe surrounded by palm trees...

Along the coastline, there are many wooden boats that local fishermen use for fishing...

This route, from our accommodation to the black beach and a little further to the most beautiful beach where we relaxed, was the main direction during the two days we spent here...

It was also interesting to watch the fishermen at work...

The main beach of Varkala was not as beautiful and quite crowded compared to "our" beach...

We descended there once, strolling around the area and at the same time drank coconut milk on the beach...

Since we love sunsets, we never miss them if possible during our travels, especially by the sea... Although the haze hid the sun, preventing us from seeing it descend below the horizon...

Sunset from the sea...

Sunset from the cliff, right next to our place of stay...

After spending two days and two nights in Varkala, we took a train to the town of Kollam, from where we then traveled to Munroe Island to paddle a canoe through the backwaters, marking the beginning of our acquaintance with the Kerala backwaters...

After the journey through the backwaters of Munroe Island, we took a bus from Kollam to the town of Alappuzha, where we also took a one-day canoe tour, immediately after which we went to Marari beach, located 20 kilometers from Alappuzha...

Here we stayed for two nights in a very cozy house, Marari Byjus Homestay, among palm trees and very close to the sea... The homestay format of accommodation was something new in our journey... This type of accommodation is special because a family lives in the same house and rents out several neighboring rooms... In this case, breakfast was also included in the room price...

The location was very cozy...

Along the beach, there were many coconut palms under which it was pleasant to walk...

And just like at the previous location in Varkala, along the sea, you could see many local fishing boats...

Walking along the beach, we saw a large crab that, having emerged from its burrow, was heading to the sea....

Also, on the beach, we saw a heron...

Along the beach, there were many places to play football, it seems the locals are quite fond of this sport, although in India football is far from the main sport... The field with goals was right next to our house... On the first evening, seeing that the guys were gathering to play, I asked to join the game with the locals... We played for about an hour and then all went swimming... Just like that, thanks to football, you can meet a "gang" of local men, and with a good game also win their favor... After the game, everyone almost "brothered" with me...

The next evening we spent watching the sunset, this time the company did not gather for football...

This day was Valentine's Day, so we celebrated it in a beach cafe...

At noon the next day, we took a bus to Alappuzha, from where we took a train to the city of Kochi... Having settled in a hotel, we immediately went by bus to its main part - Fort Kochi... The main feature of this place is the seafront along the sea and the authentic Chinese fishing nets with which locals still catch fish... We managed to see the fishing process...

And where there is fish, there are hawks... In our area by the sea, you can usually see many seagulls, but in Kerala, we did not see seagulls, but there were many hawks and crows...