A surprisingly lovely interlude. (now with pics)

The best thing about the ashram was the people. And I was a bit sad to say goodbye to them. Buda and Maja (my company in Hampi) had escaped the day before me, as had Regina my fellow satsang skiver. And there were lots of others who stayed the course.

I need not have worried. By the end of my time in Varkala, pretty much everyone had turned up. Ok, I exaggerate. Not everyone. But there were a lot of familiar faces!

On the first day in Varkala I bumped into my first ashram face. Clare. She’s...well she’s all sorts of things. She’s a chef, a menu designer, a corporate caterer, a food journalist, a tailor addict and truly hilarious company. All summed up by the job title ‘Food Consultant’, I believe. Although I’m not sure if the last two are part of her official remit.

Anyway, we proceeded to spend the next week together. We set the world to rights and concocted a brilliant (even if I do say so myself) plan that combines both our talents. But it’s a secret, so I can’t tell you yet.

To cut a long story short, despite only going to Varkala on a whim, and despite the rather grotty beach, I had an amazing time there. 6 days mostly spent in cafes! It was with a good handful of reservations (and I don’t mean the train variety) that I left and subjected myself to 18 hours in sleeper class. Oh, and 5 hours at the train station beforehand.
Good thing I like trains.

A last minute decision (yep, I still specialise in those) saw me sailing past my booked destination of Cancona and staying on until Thivum instead. So I am now in Ashvem (south of Arambol) catching up with Peter (the Austrian) before he flies home.

I’ll let you know the next destination once I pick it.