Days 54-55 (22nd-23rd March) Madurai to Varkala

The 22nd was the worst day of the trip. It started well with the taxi coming early and I discovered that the train over the 300 miles to Varkala on the shore of the Indian Ocean would leave from Platform 2 at 16.20. Right on time a sleeper train pulled in, but there were no indications that it was our train and the screens did not show carriage A2. I asked a few people who said it wasn’t going to Varkala and it looked like a cattle train with huge numbers of people crammed into dirty disgusting carriages with bars on the windows. So we let it go, only to discover shortly afterwards that it was our train. One suggestion by Mr Raj was to get a taxi and catch the train at the next station but, as traffic on the roads meant that the taxi would likely travel slower than the train, we would catch it up two hours after it had reached Varkala. His other suggestion was to get another train at 18.00, which finally arrived at 19.10 and looked even more horrendous than the previous one. We got on, and as there were no seats available, we squatted in the corridor. After 10 minutes a rude and aggressive little man asked to see our tickets and, as they were for the previous train, he demanded 1,240 rupees (£10). I only had 1,200 without breaking into a 5,000 Rupee note and he couldn’t give any change. Another passenger paid the 40 rupees for us. We then got given two seats and I had only just fallen asleep when a new ticket inspector, even more rude and aggressive than the first, demanded more money. I refused to pay anything, so he told us we would have to get off at Trivandrum as people had booked our seats. And sure enough some very polite people arrived and we had to squat in the corridor next to the insufferable stench of the toilets. Jennifer thought that Varkala was the next station (she must have ESP) and got up to look out of the door, but the station sign was in Hindi and Malayalam languages and we had no idea where we were. After the train set off we got a frantic call from Mr Raj (poor man, it was 2 in the morning) “What are you doing, you have passed Varkala”. Apparently the taxi driver, who had been waiting for us for 3 hours, had seen Jennifer at the open door and phoned Raj. We got off at the next station and had to ask the booking office clerk where we were; apparently it was Purvala, so we told Raj and he told the taxi driver who came for us. A very pleasant man with a big cross on his dashboard; Jennifer asked if he was a Christian and he was, as are 19% of people in Kerala State. Purvala was where the ships of King Solomon arrived in 1,036 BC; he had a better idea of where he was than we did.

The hotel is lovely, as are the staff. It is practically on the coast and there is a narrow steep road down to the beach. A nice little cafe sells the most delicious fried prawns and fish soup. The truly horrendous 22nd March was soon forgotten.