February 2018 – Judy and Valerie On the Road

Varkala – best dosa in town!

It seems to be the case that Dosas are only served at certain times of day – mainly in the morning for breakfast but we found one place in Cochin (Sri Krishna mentioned in a post right at the beginning of the trip) they were only served at lunchtime.

Today we really fancied a dosa for lunch but the Ootupura restaurant only served them up to midday. But the man there told us that if we really wanted a dosa we could get one in a little place a few minutes away in the main road. So we walked in the blazing sun, weak from hunger ( we’d got up very early so we could do yoga on the beach before the sun got hot), and eventually came to a little unprepossessing eating place at the side of the road. And there we had the best dosas either of us had tasted. Freshly prepared especially for us

and the two together cost 96 rupees (just over £1).

I don’t know the name of the place but it’s just further up the hill from the Krishna supermarket on the way up from the temple junction. Here’s a photo.

if you’re in Varkala it’s definitely worth a visit.

Varkala – Spice shop

Just down the road from our hotel is a delightful spice shop with spices from the owner’s spice farm in Munnar. We have stocked up with Masala spices but also have discovered Keralan raw chocolate – It is delicious !!!

But also he has raw cacao and I’ve discovered that it’s very good for you. You can buy cacao nibs back in England and add them to your breakfast. Yum

Varkala – Janardanaswamy temple

Near Varkala beach is the 2000 year old Janardanaswamy temple. When foreign tourists visit you have to wait at the bottom of the stairs while the man at the entrance sets off a fire cracker for each visitor, presumably to give warning of our visit.

The walls around the inner sanctum have hundreds of oil holders which are filled each day and the wicks are lit at 6:30.

Varkala – fishing village

We went for an early morning walk along the long long beach to a fishing village. The fishermen were hard at work bringing in their canoes.

We decided to explore the village and found a little place selling chai. So of course we had some sitting outside on the step. Then the lady suddenly brought out an appam on a plate for us, and then a second appam, and then some sambar. So unexpected and it was delicious

Ranakpur- Narlai village

We stayed outside Jodhpur in a village called Narlai and one of the staff from the hotel took us on a village walk showing us around the village and taking us into some family homes.

This village has a population of about 3000 but had over 300 temples! The first we saw was tiny and built into the rock. You had to climb over 100 steps to reach it.

Then we saw another large temple built onto the side of the rock

and then we saw their newest temple built from white marble which was pretty spectacular

Evidently quite a number of families now live in the city and have more money, just returning for holy days. The whole village paid for the new temple which took five years to build.

We also visited three families going into their homes.

Cooking over wood fires is the norm.

The women in this area commonly completely cover their heads with their dupattas.

Jodhpur- Chandaleo Garh

at Jodhpur we stayed slightly outside the town at Chandaleo Garh which Mary had told me about. The estate has been in the family of Pranduman Singh for generations and in 1997 he turned it into a hotel. But it’s rather different to other places and was our favourite accommodation of the whole trip. It’s very simple, peaceful and beautiful.

In addition he has established a craft centre where women from the village can develop new skills and earn an income.

The evening meal was held on the rooftop and we were lucky enough to see the blood blue moon which was an amazing sight

Mr Singh took us out in his jeep to visit the weaver and on the way we saw camels and a blue antelope.

Street food In Udaipur

Takeaway thali for the train

Travelling by train today from Cochin down to Varkala – a four hour journey. Found a lovely veg restaurant which did us a thali takeaway (South Indian Thali Parcel it was called).

delicious and we managed not to spill any!

The restaurant is also part of a hotel and we’re going to stay the for our last couple of nights. Simple but clean rooms with a/c for £26. It’s called OYO Gokul Ottupura. The restaurant is lovely.

Phone charger

Travelled to the village of Narlai outside Ranakpur only to discover that I’d left my phone charger and adapter behind. Potential disaster! But no, this is India where the mobile phone is queen. Wandered down the road to find three tiny mobile phone stalls. Initially they didn’t have a iPhone lead, but then it turned out that the salesman just happened to be there on his motorbike bringing supplies. iPhone lead? No problem.

Jodhpur fort – Mehrangarh

Joshpur fort is one of the largest forts in India and is an imposing edifice and the wall surrounding it is 10k long

It has a very interesting museum containing a variety of artefacts including howdahs (seats for people being carried by elephants), carpets embroidered with gold and silk thread, and paintings containing large amounts of tiny minature detail.