This scenic gem has hidden itself in the coastal line of Kerala in a place named Varkala Sivagiri.
The place is well connected via rail. We started our journey to this place from Bangalore. The best train that we could place hand upon was the Yesvantpur-Kochuveli Express, 16561 as this was the train which would place one at he destination in the early morning allowing the full day at disposal. The train starts from Yesvatpur around 3 pm to cover a distance of around 800 km to reach this place. This train does not go to Sivagiri Varkala and thus one needs to aligt down at Kollam as the train heads to Trivandrum. We had booked tickets to catch the Maveli expess (16603) from Kollam which left us at Varkala after leaving behind two stations. For those who prefer Air options, one may need to spend around 1.5 hours travelling 40+ kms from Trivandrum airport to reach this place. We chose this option in the return journey.
We were picked up the hotel folks from the station and dropped at their homestay which was a walk away from the beach. After having our breakfast at the hotel, we headed to explore the place.
Drifting away from the hotel, as soon as we set our foot to face the waters, we were spell bound to catch the glimpse of the sea below standing upon a cliff. The beauty of the place is driven from the tall cliff standing on the shore of the sea overseeing the serene blue waters and the cliff running adjacent to the shore. The walk on the cliff alongside the sea on one side and restaurants, hotels on the other side is a captivating walk and puts one in a different atmosphere. We walked and walked into the never ending path enjoying the morning cool breeze emitting from the splashing waves and after covering quite a long distance we decided to turn and head back.
We were recommended to this place by one of our friend and after reaching the place we felt lucky that we did proceed meeting it as I was spellbound by its scenic view. This place has not been advertised much and I believe the existence of this place is not known to many.
We discovered that 90-95% of the population visiting this place are Foreigners & large part of the place here appears to have been set-up to suit their needs. In fact, I found that the beggars too demanded alms in dollars and were not much interested in the rupee and thus they don't even approach the Indians to beg.
We settled down into one of the restaurant and ordered a coffee which was served in a large tumbler suitable for two. We decided to head to the beach thereon. One needs to walk down the cliff catching the steps that would place them in the beach water. The beach here is very clean and one can spend decent amount of time with the waters. There were foreigners who were jogging their day out, few sun-bathed drowning into their novels, few swam and exchanged fun with the sea and few were engrossed in yoga.
As the day moved along and as we continued to discover this place, we noticed there were options for para gliding for the adventure seekers back on the top of cliff where you fly across the waters. In the later afternoon, we spent our time swimming in the clean water, challenging the waves standing up against them with a wide facing proud chest but they do overcome us with their strong gush.
As the evening set in we hurried up the cliff and the best moment is when you sit in one of those restaurants sipping your evening coffee, munching your snacks and seeing the orange sun part from you into the blue waters. Wow, what a beautiful painting of nature that was!
Coming to the dining options, it does sit on the higher side comparatively, as the price list targets the overseas pool of customers. There are many restaurants to explore but looks like they have formed a union to place the rates uniform across every restaurant, so one would seldom find a variation in prices. It better to order sea food in the evening when the stock is fresh out from the day catch and there is live counter to choose the type of fish, lobster, crabs which would land in your plate after going down the pan and fire. The day one ended with peace.
The next two days, we spent our time covering few ancient famous temples in the radius of two-three kilometers, apart from the long walk at the beach and the cliff, tasty sea-food and large sized tender coconuts.
After spending decent time at this place to our heart contents, we headed back to our homes. The airport is around 40-50 kms away from this place. One can hire a taxi which costs around 1500 - 2000 to the airport (as they factor in the fuel for returning back) we decided to have an adventure of having a bus ride instead after a decent amount of research on google, to save that extravagant spend. It was the matter of change of two buses one that took to the end of the highway and the other continuing its journey to Trivandrum, making you part away with around Rs 200 from your pockets for two. We were looking forward to spend some time in the famous Padmanabhaswamy temple but time not supporting us, we had too hire an auto from the Trivandrum bus stop to the airport.
As the flight flew into the skies with us aboard, the thoughts of discovering this hidden gem in India was a delightful experience. The beauty of this place is not justified in the words that we write/read but is to be best experienced with one's own eyes.
The place is well connected via rail. We started our journey to this place from Bangalore. The best train that we could place hand upon was the Yesvantpur-Kochuveli Express, 16561 as this was the train which would place one at he destination in the early morning allowing the full day at disposal. The train starts from Yesvatpur around 3 pm to cover a distance of around 800 km to reach this place. This train does not go to Sivagiri Varkala and thus one needs to aligt down at Kollam as the train heads to Trivandrum. We had booked tickets to catch the Maveli expess (16603) from Kollam which left us at Varkala after leaving behind two stations. For those who prefer Air options, one may need to spend around 1.5 hours travelling 40+ kms from Trivandrum airport to reach this place. We chose this option in the return journey.
We were picked up the hotel folks from the station and dropped at their homestay which was a walk away from the beach. After having our breakfast at the hotel, we headed to explore the place.
Drifting away from the hotel, as soon as we set our foot to face the waters, we were spell bound to catch the glimpse of the sea below standing upon a cliff. The beauty of the place is driven from the tall cliff standing on the shore of the sea overseeing the serene blue waters and the cliff running adjacent to the shore. The walk on the cliff alongside the sea on one side and restaurants, hotels on the other side is a captivating walk and puts one in a different atmosphere. We walked and walked into the never ending path enjoying the morning cool breeze emitting from the splashing waves and after covering quite a long distance we decided to turn and head back.
We were recommended to this place by one of our friend and after reaching the place we felt lucky that we did proceed meeting it as I was spellbound by its scenic view. This place has not been advertised much and I believe the existence of this place is not known to many.
We discovered that 90-95% of the population visiting this place are Foreigners & large part of the place here appears to have been set-up to suit their needs. In fact, I found that the beggars too demanded alms in dollars and were not much interested in the rupee and thus they don't even approach the Indians to beg.
We settled down into one of the restaurant and ordered a coffee which was served in a large tumbler suitable for two. We decided to head to the beach thereon. One needs to walk down the cliff catching the steps that would place them in the beach water. The beach here is very clean and one can spend decent amount of time with the waters. There were foreigners who were jogging their day out, few sun-bathed drowning into their novels, few swam and exchanged fun with the sea and few were engrossed in yoga.
As the day moved along and as we continued to discover this place, we noticed there were options for para gliding for the adventure seekers back on the top of cliff where you fly across the waters. In the later afternoon, we spent our time swimming in the clean water, challenging the waves standing up against them with a wide facing proud chest but they do overcome us with their strong gush.
As the evening set in we hurried up the cliff and the best moment is when you sit in one of those restaurants sipping your evening coffee, munching your snacks and seeing the orange sun part from you into the blue waters. Wow, what a beautiful painting of nature that was!
Coming to the dining options, it does sit on the higher side comparatively, as the price list targets the overseas pool of customers. There are many restaurants to explore but looks like they have formed a union to place the rates uniform across every restaurant, so one would seldom find a variation in prices. It better to order sea food in the evening when the stock is fresh out from the day catch and there is live counter to choose the type of fish, lobster, crabs which would land in your plate after going down the pan and fire. The day one ended with peace.
The next two days, we spent our time covering few ancient famous temples in the radius of two-three kilometers, apart from the long walk at the beach and the cliff, tasty sea-food and large sized tender coconuts.
After spending decent time at this place to our heart contents, we headed back to our homes. The airport is around 40-50 kms away from this place. One can hire a taxi which costs around 1500 - 2000 to the airport (as they factor in the fuel for returning back) we decided to have an adventure of having a bus ride instead after a decent amount of research on google, to save that extravagant spend. It was the matter of change of two buses one that took to the end of the highway and the other continuing its journey to Trivandrum, making you part away with around Rs 200 from your pockets for two. We were looking forward to spend some time in the famous Padmanabhaswamy temple but time not supporting us, we had too hire an auto from the Trivandrum bus stop to the airport.
As the flight flew into the skies with us aboard, the thoughts of discovering this hidden gem in India was a delightful experience. The beauty of this place is not justified in the words that we write/read but is to be best experienced with one's own eyes.
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