SOUL AND SURF - WORK AND LIVE IN (OR SIMPLY VISIT) INDIAN PARADISE

 I realise I have been MIA for a little while. In this time I've been away travelling far and wide, so unfortunately my blog posting fell by the way side. That was like the line from a rap. Since returning to the UK, I've been dotting about and always felt a bit like something was missing creatively for me. So I've returned to my trusty blog, like a long lost twin, other half of gold medallion in hand, to get back to business.

I thought a nice place to begin again would be a little review of one of the last places I traveled to, Kerala in India, and the little yoga and surf retreat I stayed at while I was there. 

Soul & Surf is a little piece of paradise in the South of India. Built for surfers and yogis alike, this clifftop beach resort has a relaxed vibe and friendly, laid back atmosphere. Breakfast each morning is set out in a communal area, meaning all visitors and staff got to really meet and connect with one another. As well as bonding over mutual frustration at learning to surf, lounging about in the resort garden in hammocks and looking out over the cliffs also provides a real opportunity to relax or talk to anyone chilling and passing through. Also, don't miss the fish tacos - absolute drool. 

It also provides work for travelers in exchange for food, a bed and use of surf and yoga lessons. Find out more about that via their website here. We found out about this when we were staying in Margaret River in Australia and one of my friends bagged himself a job working at Soul and Surf for three months. Jobs available range from surf instructors, to cafe staff to photographers.

 BBQ and movie nights as well as the small clifftop village of Varkala lined with small shops and locally caught seafood restaurants means there's never a lack of activities in this still relatively undiscovered, tropical jewel of India. 

Surfers paradise in Black Beach, Varkala. This small palm fringed patch in the south of Kerala is still to be jabbed fully by the spear of tourism, with many untouched gems such as this to surf to your heart's content in without fear of any crowds.

Sunrise in Varkala 

Hosing down surfboards after a hefty morning getting bashed about at the beach.

Surfers share the beaches not with throngs of holiday makers, as is becoming the case in the northern Goa, but with local fisherman, resting here with their morning catch on Black Beach

Tuk Tuk, Palm Palm, Surf Surf. Surfboards strapped to the morning ride to the beach.

From Varkala, it's a short train journey to Fort Kochi, a colonial town, still with Dutch, British, Jewish and Chinese influence running through its heart. Above,  Chinese fishing nets used in the fort, helping to supply the multitude of seafood restaurants Kochi has to offer. 

A woman collects water in the Backwaters of Fort Kochi. Many tours are available from the town. A three hour tour takes a small boat through mangroves and rivers and streams, each corner you turn providing rich and wonderful sights. I couldn't recommend it more.

Kerala Backwaters. This photo always makes me think of the Jungle Book. 

Surfboard peekaboo 

                            A fisherman's quick fag break with surfers waiting for the next thrill in the                                                                                                    background.