I was sitting in a window seat in the already crumpled KSRTC bus. My legs were aching in this seat, however, there was a certain peace in the moment. I didn't want the journey to end. I didn't want the cool mountain breeze flowing through my hair to vanish. I didn't want the "Cold Play" music in my earphones to end. I didn't want Eshwar and Vennama to wake up. I didn't want the destination to come any sooner.
There were all eager, fresh and joyous, yet sleepy faces in the bus, waiting to reach their destination. Looks like they're all travelling on their daily chores. Here we're travelling with no reason. The moment somehow reminded me of the scene from the movie "Motorcycle Diaries" when Che Guevara was confronted by a couple, who were travelling in search of livelihood opportunities, about his reason for travelling. What was our reason to travel? Are we travelling to reach the destination and visit a place or is it the journey that excites us? I wasn't sure about the sleeping beauties next to me. But, I realized journey is what is important for me. Why are we still on the bus when there are so many beautiful places on the journey? Why are we all surrounded by people, yet aloof and disconnected from everyone else? Why am I not writing their stories and why am I writing my story today? Does this mean, I'm a tourist and not a traveler?
Anyway, it was the 5th day in our 6 day long budget trip in Kerala. Surprisingly, as Eshwar and Vennama also says, we were not tired yet. The trip has been good so far. It seems like long ago when we got down at Varkala's railway station, on the republic day, and caught a bus to reach the beach, with no idea where we were going next. The bus dropped us near the Janardanaswamy temple and we started walking towards the North. After a 100m walk, we found a small shop on the roadside. The vada and the idly looked tasty. We exchanged a hunger glance and next moment there we were eating vada, idly and dosa. The cheta and chechi who were managing the shop spoke fine Hindi. We conversed with them and got their suggestions on a cheap place to stay. Leaving the photographer (Eshwar) in his world, Vennama and I took a stroll to find out places. We found a decent looking place that charged us 600/- for the 3 of us to stay for a night. Not bad! We didn't want to settle down so easily and went further along the street in search of places. There was a small homestay with a beautiful garden being gardened by an "Indian" looking man in his late 30s. He was in his shorts and had long hair tied into a pony. We asked him availability of space in the homestay. We gotta hear a no in his British accent, which was quite suprising for Vennama and me. After checking few other homestays and with no luck, we looked back to our 1st one. Confirmed with him, paid him the money and went back to get the bags and the photographer. We bid bye to the cheta and chechi, paid them 80/- bucks for quite a filling breakfast.
We quickly freshened up and left to the beach. Though not as much as Gokarna, Varkala had its own amalgam of cultures. As we entered the beach, there was a sea of brahmins sitting on their own assigned raised platforms and performing necessary rituals to their customers. Quite intriguing to see what they were doing. Yet, I couldn't look further at it, as the pristine sea was calling out for me. I couldn't hold any longer. I ran towards the water. Ah! The 1st touch of the cool sea water. I've never seen a beach with better water and this kind of cleanliness. In minutes, I changed into my shorts and dipped into the sea. The waves were neither too fierce nor calm, the incline was pretty gradual. I had a fulfilling 30 minutes in the beach. As I came out of the waters, I lied down flat on the warm sand and took out my copy of "The Kite Runner". As I continued to read the book, Eshwar and Vennama started covering my body in sand to make a mermaid (not a merman!) out of me. I covered my face with a book and apparently people stopped by to take selfies with the mermaid. As they finished their artwork, they got a kid, playing nearby, to pose with me. Funnily, the kid gave a glance at me and started crying out loud. While the mother laughed out at the situation, we took few pics with kid and sent him off. I was back in water for a little longer before we climbed the cliff to have lunch. Here, we end up going to a place where would have the costliest meal of our entire trip.
There were all eager, fresh and joyous, yet sleepy faces in the bus, waiting to reach their destination. Looks like they're all travelling on their daily chores. Here we're travelling with no reason. The moment somehow reminded me of the scene from the movie "Motorcycle Diaries" when Che Guevara was confronted by a couple, who were travelling in search of livelihood opportunities, about his reason for travelling. What was our reason to travel? Are we travelling to reach the destination and visit a place or is it the journey that excites us? I wasn't sure about the sleeping beauties next to me. But, I realized journey is what is important for me. Why are we still on the bus when there are so many beautiful places on the journey? Why are we all surrounded by people, yet aloof and disconnected from everyone else? Why am I not writing their stories and why am I writing my story today? Does this mean, I'm a tourist and not a traveler?
Anyway, it was the 5th day in our 6 day long budget trip in Kerala. Surprisingly, as Eshwar and Vennama also says, we were not tired yet. The trip has been good so far. It seems like long ago when we got down at Varkala's railway station, on the republic day, and caught a bus to reach the beach, with no idea where we were going next. The bus dropped us near the Janardanaswamy temple and we started walking towards the North. After a 100m walk, we found a small shop on the roadside. The vada and the idly looked tasty. We exchanged a hunger glance and next moment there we were eating vada, idly and dosa. The cheta and chechi who were managing the shop spoke fine Hindi. We conversed with them and got their suggestions on a cheap place to stay. Leaving the photographer (Eshwar) in his world, Vennama and I took a stroll to find out places. We found a decent looking place that charged us 600/- for the 3 of us to stay for a night. Not bad! We didn't want to settle down so easily and went further along the street in search of places. There was a small homestay with a beautiful garden being gardened by an "Indian" looking man in his late 30s. He was in his shorts and had long hair tied into a pony. We asked him availability of space in the homestay. We gotta hear a no in his British accent, which was quite suprising for Vennama and me. After checking few other homestays and with no luck, we looked back to our 1st one. Confirmed with him, paid him the money and went back to get the bags and the photographer. We bid bye to the cheta and chechi, paid them 80/- bucks for quite a filling breakfast.
We quickly freshened up and left to the beach. Though not as much as Gokarna, Varkala had its own amalgam of cultures. As we entered the beach, there was a sea of brahmins sitting on their own assigned raised platforms and performing necessary rituals to their customers. Quite intriguing to see what they were doing. Yet, I couldn't look further at it, as the pristine sea was calling out for me. I couldn't hold any longer. I ran towards the water. Ah! The 1st touch of the cool sea water. I've never seen a beach with better water and this kind of cleanliness. In minutes, I changed into my shorts and dipped into the sea. The waves were neither too fierce nor calm, the incline was pretty gradual. I had a fulfilling 30 minutes in the beach. As I came out of the waters, I lied down flat on the warm sand and took out my copy of "The Kite Runner". As I continued to read the book, Eshwar and Vennama started covering my body in sand to make a mermaid (not a merman!) out of me. I covered my face with a book and apparently people stopped by to take selfies with the mermaid. As they finished their artwork, they got a kid, playing nearby, to pose with me. Funnily, the kid gave a glance at me and started crying out loud. While the mother laughed out at the situation, we took few pics with kid and sent him off. I was back in water for a little longer before we climbed the cliff to have lunch. Here, we end up going to a place where would have the costliest meal of our entire trip.
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