Kovalam Beach - Kerala

So here I am, back at Kovalam beach once more. The plan this time is to get some work done on my increasingly large backlog of travel photos, which desperately need sorting out, cataloguing, retouching, and generally getting organised if they are to be of any use. Earlier this summer, after a lot of hard work, I was very pleased to receive a contract to supply photographs to the 'Lonely Planet Images' website. Most of my initial submission were accepted, and can be seen by searching on their site for photographer Tim Makins. All this has given me a huge impetus to get on with selecting more from my huge collection of images taken last summer in Central Asia, last winter in India, and this summer in Canada. All I need to do this is some time, a desk and a chair.

Lighthouse Beach, Kovalam

The Kovalam lighthouse

It didn't take long to choose to chose where this might happen: India, my favourite country, and one that I am very familiar with, having visited here 8 times before. The weather is great, the people are great, the price is right, and the local food is superb. I usually travel around when I come to India, exploring the many wonders that the country has to share with the traveller, but this time I was looking for a base, and where better than the beach resort of Kovalam. There are plenty of places to stay at the right price, a selection of things to eat, and a steady stream of other travellers to chat to. The sea is nice and warm, the waves are fun, the weather is nice, there are girls in bikinis on the beach - quite why there aren't more people here, I just don't know!

Indian families enjoying the seaside

A bamboo whistle seller

I have been very lucky with my hotel room in Kovalam. Planning to stay for a while, I was in no hurry to look for a place, and spent the first couple of nights in Thiruvananathapuram, where the airport is. Once the jetlag was a little easier to live with, I paid the 9Rs fare to catch the 30 minute bus from the East Fort bus-stand to Kovalam, about 15Km away. Once there, I was able to wander around slowly, without a backpack to hinder me, and see what hotel rooms were on offer these days. The season has not started quite yet, so prices are lower, and as I wanted to stay for a couple of months initially, I could use this extended period when bargaining for a good rate. A long stay like that can often get 30% off the normal price, as the hotels are pleased to have their room guaranteed for a long period. Some hotels I remembered from before, whilst others were new. I checked out quite a few places, not finding anything I particularly liked, then was approached by a guy offering a room next door to his own house. I went to have a look. Situated above a barbers and a teeshirt shop, the room was very well done, tiled throughout, clean and modern, with a nice bathroom and hot shower. There were two fans, a small private balcony, and the proprietor promised to get me a desk that I could work at. We settled on a daily rate of 250Rs, which is about 3.50p in UK money. With prices like this, you can live on a very modest budget.

Fishing from the beach

Pulling in the nets of fish

It really is quite quiet here this year. A lot of the package tours have stayed away, and the restaurants and hotels are struggling. Still, there's just enough to keep them going, and all are looking forward to mid-November, when the numbers should pick up. After being here for 3 weeks, I start to notice the regulars, and those just passing through. A small group of English pensioners have taken over the Rock Cafe, and listen to the 70s pop music that plays most of the time. Its a good deal - the pension gets paid into their UK bank account, and they spend the winter here, enjoying the sunshine, letting someone else do the cooking, the cleaning, and the washing up for a change. What better place to forget about snow, sleet and heating bills? Most people here have never seen snow or sleet, and certainly have no heating bills. The weather, at the beginning of November, is a sunny 33 degrees, and unlikely to get much colder, anytime soon.

Sorting the catch of fish

Fish caught at Kovalam Beach

Another group of regulars are the surfers, who come from all over the world, and find the waves here at Kovalam just to their liking. They must be keen, to travel with a 6 foot long surfboard. I prefer just to watch the surf during the day, or let it gently lull me to sleep at night, but these guys and gals are out at all times of the day, catching the rip and riding the waves to the shore. There are still backpackers a plenty, but not so many as there used to be in the 80's and 90's. Their place has been largely superseded by the package tourist, and the hotels and restaurants have adjusted accordingly. No more topless sunbathing on the beach - a huge draw for Indian males, who used to come by bus every weekend just to glimpse such 'forbidden fruit'. The restaurants used to be mainly tents on the beach, where a meal was always a protracted affair, and could often take 2 hours from order to delivery. Nobody used to mind - there are worse ways of passing ones time than watching the waves gently drift in from the Indian Ocean, whilst sipping a lemon soda.

Old man climbing his coconut palm

Restaurants are a bit of a mine-field, as you don't like to upset the ones that give you good service, but if you go there a lot, they expect you to keep visiting all the time, and seem crest-fallen when you take a break. Kovalam has a lot of restaurants, covering a full range of price and quality. Expensive doesn't always mean better, though. My personal favourite, serving the best South Indian food here, is a small, un-pretentious place. Very few westerners bother to stop there, as there is no menu, and a limited choice of what is available, but the meals are always varied, tasty and nutritious, and at 40 rupees, or about 0.55p in UK money, they are very good value as well. For breakfast I often go to the Swiss Cafe, which does real coffee in big mugs, and an excellent muesli with fruit and nuts mixed in. For a change, I'll visit the Leo restaurant, which does a nice omelet, toast and jam.

Sorting the catch of fish

A temporary storage solution for fish

India revolves around bargainers. If you pay the price first quoted, people look at you very strangely, and lose some their respect. Only a fool pays the price asked, and there is always a little leeway built into any price. Indians like to stick with the stores and shops they are familiar with, and a regular customer becomes a respected customer, to be greeted on arrival, and helped with their shopping. Advice when the best bananas are ready is given, and once they get to know you, its no surprise when the price comes down the more that I shop there.

Palm tree at sunset

Shoe repair lady mending my sandals

It is always nice to have a newspaper, and at a price of just 4RS, its not going to break the budget! My paper is delivered by the hotel guy, or if he's away, it will be brought by the man from the next guesthouse. Indian newspapers have plenty of news in them, and its soon hard to not become interested in the latest fodder scam, Bollywood scandal, or rail hijacking attempt. Some foreign news is there, trawled from the news wires around the world. Just what is selected depends on the newspaper itself. Generally, items of a jokey nature are chosen, or those with celebrity appeal, though the major stories are covered as well. There's usually a cartoon section, though few local offerings. It is interesting to guess how the average Keralite sees the typically northern English humour of 'Andy Capp', or interests himself in the essentially north American lifestyle of 'Peanuts' or 'Calvin and Hobbes'.

Fisherman at Kovalam mending his nets

Lighthouse Beach, Kovalam

Fishing nets drying in the sun

Sunset bathing in the Indian Ocean

Enough of Blogging for now - I had better get back to my photographs!