On route to our next destination Verkala we stopped off for lunch at a hotel which couldnt rustle up a sandwich, not the best place we have eaten.Outside the hotel was a man with a tent full off young ducklings that we could see from the hotel windows.We went across to check it out and seen all the locals buying them for 25Rupees (35p)a peice.They literally stuffed about 6 live ducklings in a plastic bag to cart them away. Our whole grop were very amused at everyone buying them in carrier bags but our guide explained they buy them to sell the eggs on when they grow.

We arrived in Varkala mid afternoon, it was roasting and our hotel was right next to the beach.We had a couple of hours before we had to meet the group for our last meal together so we decided to head off to the beach.

The views were amazing, the sun was beaming and it was reflecting off the water, with palm trees all around, couldnt get over how beautiful it was, check out the photos!! The tide was in but we found a little bit of beach area, and the water was warm, it was crazy.So we all went for a swim in the sea, the waves were really powerful and Shay made the mistake of jumping up when one of them came and it knocked her to the ground where she grazed her back against the sand....it looked quite sore, so that was her out of the sea for a while anyway.Jonny stayed in trying to swim the waves so they sweep you right up to the shore.

Some of the life guards let us have a shot of their boogy boards, so we were body sufing the waves for the next hour or so and Shay even ventured back into the water to have a go, it was great fun.

The sun was starting to set and it was amazing, we all sat on the beach drying off watching the sunset, we need to put up some of our photos because it was just unbelievable to see, the sky just lit up and was glowing.

Before leaving Varkala we were chilling out at a local Restaurant where we were then pestered by one guy selling wooden drums.First off all his asking price for a 40" Diameter Wooden Drum capable of making two sounds was £115 which we all laughed at.Then he tried to convince Jonny to trade something for a drum instead of buying it.When offerring him 1 of the girls £4.99 Casio watch, he threw it back in Jonnys face asking for aCamera or an iPod lol you can imagine his reaction.When Jonny asked him who was getting the better deal out of it the guy smiled and wandered on down the beach, we both thought Ann probably would have swapped him her Camera for the drum haha

We met at night for our last meal with the group.For the first time Jonny had grilled Tiger Prawns which he now loves and tried Baracuda, Calimari and Marlin which he all could happily eat.Looks like we will be eating at some Seafood restaurants now in Thailand.We had a nice last evening with our group sitting drinking beer and wine until the early morning having some in depth conversations about the world with everyone else lol

Next stop is Kovalum where we are on our own for 3nights before heading across to Sri Lanka, will be good to see if we can haggle with finding a hotel and taxis without any guidance.

J + B