Varkala, India

I arrived in Chennai, India on Monday, March 8th and had a few hours layover before boarding my next flight south to Trivandrum! Luckily I had arranged for a pickup at the airport to get me to my first destination. It was an hour and a quarter drive to the Hillview on the North Cliff of Varkala. It was quite the experience getting there. Lots and lots of people, traffic and beeping horns but we got there. The Hillview was a great spot to get settled in India. I was there for 7 nights and was joined for the last two nights by Tiiu Vail and her boyfriend Dale as well as three of their Canadian friends Colin, Hana and Ainsley. I spent the first few days walking, jogging and swimming the beautiful beach of Varkala. The hotels, restaurants and shops are all built up on the top of the North Cliff of Varkala. It is quite a stunning view looking up at the cliffs from the beach! I spent a lot of time each day body surfing in the waves. They were incredibly powerful and you have to be careful as they have quite a significant undertow to them. Tiiu, Dale and their friends came on the last two days of my time in Varkala and we had great times at the beach, eating out at restaurants, chilling at the Chill Out lounge and playing cards! Congratulations to Dale and Gord who were the overall Euchre champions! I then flew up to Bangalore late Monday afternoon to Tiiu and Dale's place! A fabulous time in Varkala! Thanks for the great start to my India visit Tiiu and Dale!