The Seapearl chalets looked inviting at the imposing cliffs at Varkala. Little circular huts set on a clifftop overlooking an expansive beach. Varkala is another Kerala beach resort, this time with more of a backpacker/laidback vibe. We got a luxury air conditioned train there only about £4 each for a 40 minute/50km minute journey. When we arrived at our little hut and took a stroll across the beach, we realised that we had probably had enough of beach resorts for a good while. We needed to pick up the pace. We had booked 6 nights with Seapearl though and the owner was nowhere to be seen. We emailed the owner from a beach restaurant and looked at a train to Kochi the next big town further north up the coast. The next day we headed in 34 degree heat into Varkala town about a 2.5km walk to book our train. The reservation office said there was no need to book, just turn up the next day if we wanted to go to Kochi. We stopped for lunch before returning to the beach. At last an authentic and cheap Indian restaurant. See photos. I had masala dosa - thin naan stuffed with a spicy meatless cornish pasty mix. Paul had tomato uttapam - rice pancake topped with spiced grilled tomato in ghee. We had 1 dosa and 2 uttapams and six cups of chai for just over £2. Our hotel owner released us from our six day commitment, so we celebrated that evening with a great fresh fish supper at the beach. We chose a pretty big white fish - see photos. It was cooked on the tandoor in Masala spices. I had a Mojito cocktail too. After a run on the beach in the morning and a watch of the Swamis conducting some ceremonies on the beach with the town worshippers we headed for the station. Another lesson to be learned about information given by officials - we discovered that although we did not need to reserve tickets if we wanted to travel second or sleeper class, we did need to reserve if we wanted air conditioning. Damn! We had to purchase two sleeper carriage tickets for a couple of pounds for a three and a half hour journey. We sat in a fan assisted oven carriage for the duration watching the beautiful backwaters of Kerala go past. It wasn't so bad really... Happy Mother's Day to the Mums.