Getting lucky

Coming from Cochin I had plans to rent a bike again and pedal 20k to the beach, probably the one in Kovalam, South of Trivandrum. But this time finding the way wouldn't be that easy, and I remembered my dilemma from the night before. I didn't have a complete map and the receptionist thought I was talking about "reductions" of price for my room when I asked him for "directions" to the beach. What I did find out though: There was a second branch of the same hotel next to a beach North of the city. Two British gentlemen I had breakfast with (all the guests would sit around one big table) had plans to transfer there, so I simply jumped in their taxi.

It was unbelievable. The small hotel was the only resort around, and by coincidence there were simply no other guests! We had the place to ourselves. To myself, because the two brothers were busy checking in when I stepped out on the orange beach. Ahead a single fisher boat rested in the water, just to make the view perfect. More boats rested ashore further to the left and the right, and a couple of fishermen pulled a net out at a distance. Being straight as an arrow and vanishing at the horizon in both directions, the beach seemed to span around the planet. I went down to the water, and the blue-green waves asked me to play, jumping at me like a big dog.

Despite my somewhat lousy planning things had fallen into place. That's the beauty of it, I thought: Having a good time at the risk of getting burned. In one word: A challenge. Right now I got lucky. But speaking of getting burned: I wouldn't challenge the sun today and use some sunscreen.

When I came back from a long swim I had company from the British brothers. Boy, these two could talk! I enjoyed it, a day on the beach all alone would have been definitely all too lonely. And eventually they retreated to seek shade and gave me a brake. During the day the fishermen were resting out of sight, a few solitary dogs were straying about between the boats, crabs were out looking for small prey being washed up by the waves. A number of majestic eagles of what must have been close to a 2 meter wingspan were soaring overhead, looking for a fat crab. - Laying on the beach I heard the waves crash left to right like passing jet planes.

Eventually we had lunch and a couple of beers by the small swimming pool. - The Pomfred fish on my plate looked a bit like a roadkill but was tasty and crispy.

In mid-afternoon I went for another swim. The Arabian Sea of India. It was a curious notion that behind that horizon lied Africa. But both the Indian and the African nation would never take to the sea and thus remain strangers, while the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British would find their way to the subcontinent! I had learned from the brothers that most Indians can't even swim (now the interference of the ranger down at the river the other day made perfect sense) and that black Africans were absolutely rare in India and would get touched by the curious locals. - I was at about 200 meters out when I turned my head and saw something brown floating below the surface, about the size of a small bucket. A jellyfish? Dead? I looked again. It was a jellyfish indeed, and alive, swimming out to sea. Anyway, I had seen enough. Anything floating in the water would freak me out! One jellyfish meant many jellyfish. And what do you know, on my way back three more of those critters came the other way. Somehow I had managed not to bump into them on my way out.

One of the servants around the garden had been smiling at me all day, shy but flirtatious. She asked my name and introduced herself as Bindu. She hadn't heard of Canada or Switzerland and had also trouble understanding and making herself clear. However, reading an English text out loud didn't present any problems. After all Kerala has the best literacy rate of all of India, and English is very much enforced at schools. But apparently there's a lack of everyday use of the language, just like me and French. - If I would come back tomorrow? - No, sorry...

I said bye to the ocean, it would be a long time until I could immerge in it again, around here or anywhere else. I walked a few steps into the water, when two big waves arrived and got me wet up to my shoulders. - I ended up staying around until sunset and watched the fishermen push their boats into the water.

I got a transfer back to the city, showered and followed my Tourist Guide to a nearby restaurant. I thought those were vegetables along with the fish in the gravy. They were peppers. My throat was on fire, and a - albeit a bit slowly served - lassi (drinkable yoghurt) - finally brought relief.