Kovalam Blues

I'm not sure I like it here.

Sure its sunny and stuff but it's just so damn touristy.

I saw a holiday rep today... with name badge, uniform and clipboard... that's when I realised that this place is not that far removed from benidorm or costa del what ever... yeah, i'm being elitist I know, but when you come to india you expect to immerse yourself in it's culture not some diluted package deal hotspot. Our fault I suppose for not having planned ahead a little better.

It turns out in Goa there's a festival on at the moment, a kind of 'mardis gras' type thang - it's because of this that we struggled, neigh failed, to get a train to to area... hence why we opted to come here to Kovalum.

Perhaps my melancholy is due to being ill for the last few days... I mean, the setting here IS really nice. Rocky headlands, sandy beaches, clear blue sea, good surf - I can't fault that - it's just that there seems to be no soul to the place, it's missing something that I can't quite put my finger on... which is a shame.

There is some light though.

I got up uber early the other day (by mistake, I thought my watch said 10.20am when in reality it was 7am!) so I figured, hell I'm up I may as well go for a stroll along the beach before the sun rises fully... and I came across a turtle, ambling it
s way back to the sea... which was cute.

Then there's the local fishermen - it's fascinating watching them set to putting their nets out - it's an extraordinary scene - they kind of use these huge nets on ropes that they take out into the bay on boats, but the leave behind a troop of men on the shore who hold each end of the ropes... then they drop the nets in the water a good 500meters out and then a hawl the nets in again... all of this takes a good hour or so to complete... for not many fish - but it was interesting to see nevertheless.

We've decided we're gonna try and walk along the coast tomorrow - get away from all the package holiday crowd. I'm sure it's great for them - but not quite what we had in mind.