Wednesday, 2/24/16 - Marari Beach Resort on the Arabian Sea |
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After a refreshing sleep, we awoke at 6:30 a.m. to watch the sunrise, and it didn't disappoint! The orange orb ascended above the palm trees, turning the sky from black to orange to bright gold. We had tea with Mukul. A pond heron perched on the bow of the boat and posed for photos. A man paddled through the early morning mist in his small wooden canoe to check his fish traps not far from where we were moored.
We enjoyed our last meal on the boat: masala omelets, bananas and pineapples, coffee, juice, and rice powder noodles with a sauce of cardamom, sugar, and coconut water. It was delicious! After breakfast, we set sail at 8 a.m. We enjoyed 30 last minutes of cruising before packing up at 8:30. We arrived at our jetty in Alleppey shortly before 9 o'clock. We had traveled around 130 km in total. We thanked our excellent 3 man crew, Jimon, William, and Rajendran, for their wonderful service. It has been a lovely and tranquil two night stay on the houseboat. The 1:1 ratio of passengers to crew was amazing. We highly recommend a houseboat tour of the backwaters. It is an experience of a lifetime. A driver named Anish picked us up and drove us 45 minutes to Marari Beach Resort. Along the way, we stopped to view a gorgeous Hindu temple. Since we have been in Kerala, we have been amazed by the sheer number of Christian churches, mosques, and Hindu temples we have seen. Three major world religions coexist in harmony here. It should be a model for the rest of the world. Marari Beach Resort is run by CGH Earth Group, the same company which operates the Eighth Bastion in Fort Kochi. They sure know how to do hospitality! To welcome us to the hotel, they applied a bindi to our foreheads. We were served fresh green coconut drinks decorated with a red hibiscus while we filled out our arrival paperwork. Fancy! A chalkboard gave the sunrise and sunset times, as well as the weather (high of 35 degrees Celsius, with 58% humidity) and the sea conditions (calm). It also had the date in the Malayalam Calendar: Buthan, the 11th of Dhanu, 1190. We had arrived four hours prior to check-in time, and our room was not yet ready. They invited us to enjoy their amazing property in the meanwhile, and the on-site naturalist Sree Lakshmi gave us a tour of the grounds. Mukul got along with her quite well, and they discussed the flora and fauna of the area. She was amazed by Mukul's expertise about birds and plants, and told him she wanted to chat with him later. The property consisted of green lawns dotted with thatched-roofed bungalows and palm trees. Lounge chairs and hammocks offered plenty of opportunity for relaxation. A grove of trees separated the lawns from the beach. We claimed some lounge chairs in the shade, just steps from the beach. We could hear the roar of the Arabian Sea surf. Even though it was only 10:30 in the morning, it was already quite hot, hazy, and humid. Craig and I headed to the beach, fully clothed in our street clothes, with the intention of wading in the Arabian Sea. All of our luggage was still in the reception area, so I didn't even have my bathing suit available. We had the beach mostly to ourselves. The sand was fine, soft, and white. We dipped our feet into the pleasantly warm waters. The waves were crashing, and we intended to take a few photos. Before we knew it, a wave knocked Craig over and he was tumbling around in the sand with his legs up in the air. He got back up, and then a wave knocked both of us down simultaneously. They washed right over our heads, and when we emerged, our sunglasses had been washed away. Luckily, I managed to hold on to my camera. Also luckily, it is waterproof. Craig's Tilley hat floats, so he was able to recover it after it was forcibly removed from his head. This was "calm" surf? Yikes! We were both laughing hysterically. We haven't been this beaten up by the ocean in years, and we were having so much fun! Now that I was completely soaked, I decided to go out deeper...up to my waist. What did I have to lose? Though I tried to ride the waves, sometimes they just crashed right over my head. We played in the surf for a little while longer, but it was exhausting and we realized that we should probably get out of both the strong sun and punishing surf. We were soaked from head to toe in our street clothes and covered in sand. We headed to the outdoor showers to rinse the sand and salt water from our clothes and bodies. We extracted entre handfuls of sand from our pockets. Then we sat in the shade, cooled down by our wet clothes in the breeze. Soon our rooms were ready. Mukul's suite (#24) was on one side of the lovely villa, and we were in the adjacent side (#23). The suites were huge! There were hibiscus petals on the king sized bed, and there was a sitting area as well as a dressing area. The air conditioning was quite powerful, and there was wi-fi in the room. The bathroom was in a little interior courtyard, open to the outdoors. We got settled in the room, and took showers to get the remainder of the sand out from where the sun don't shine. We joined Mukul and headed over to lunch in the large, thatched-roof dining hall. The buffet lunch was world class: nicely presented and constantly refreshed. The staff was very polite and the service was exquisite. There were so many choices. We enjoyed the following items, and this was by no means everything available:
After lunch, we stopped in to the lovely gift shop. They had quality items for quite reasonable prices. We bought gifts for our godchildren and our families, as well as a few items for ourselves. Craig was able to buy a replacement pair of (cheap) sunglasses. I bought a lovely set of pink glass mala beads for less than $10. The mid-day heat and humidity were a bit much for Craig, so we went back to the room for a rest. He intended to take a short nap, but wound up sleeping for over 2 hours in the frosty air conditioning while I posted Facebook updates. I had several days of the trip to post to Facebook, since there had been no internet connection while we were on the houseboat. The busy schedule of the last couple of weeks was starting to catch up with Craig. And though this is the "coolest" season to visit Kerala, 95 degree temperatures, high humidity, and near-equatorial sunshine are dangerous for Craig. Heat can trigger MS attacks. He needs to make sure to stay hydrated, and he can't allow himself to get overheated. He has done so well on the trip so far, we certainly don't want him to get sick now at the very end. The room was incredibly comfortable and we could make it frosty cold, so Craig was comfortable and got some much-needed time to relax. At 5:45 p.m., we met Mukul and walked to the beach to watch the sunset. Many guests were gathering on the beach to watch the spectacle. Craig and I stuck our toes in the water (we now knew better than to go any deeper if we didn't want to be soaked). The water drops off rather steeply here. We watched a sandpiper scampering in the froth of the surf. There was a strong breeze which alternated between warm and cool. The roar of the surf was very loud as the waves crashed against the beach. The three of us sat in the sand. The sun was golden and became fluorescent orange as it dipped down. The bottom half of the sun disappeared as it approached the horizon. It was intense.  A honeymooning couple approaches us. The young groom asked where we were from. When we said the United States, he looked a bit sheepish and felt the need to disclose that they were Muslim. We could tell that they were apprehensive about what our reaction would be, and they were relieved when we greeted them warmly, shook his hand, and posed for a photo with them. We enjoyed chatting with them, but were saddened that Americans have such an unfortunately well-deserved reputation as Islamophobes. After the sunset had completed its performance, we walked to the dining hall at 7:30 for a lovely buffet dinner. Live music was provided by Antony and Benny on flute and tabala drums. Craig and Mukul split a Kingfisher beer. I preferred something more refreshing than wine, but the hotel didn't serve hard liquor. So I opted for a non-alcoholic "mocktail" called Pineapple Wonder. It was made with pineapple, lime, sugar, and black pepper. I had never had black pepper in a drink before, but it blended with the pineapple to once again create that dichotomy of sweet and spicy. We love how they use so many local ingredients, many of which are grown in their own organic garden on premises Again, we stuffed ourselves with a sampling of each of the following:
 A young Indian couple was dining with their 2-year-old daughter Jiana. The staff took care of the adorable toddler so that her parents had a chance to eat. They were very good with her. She followed them around like a little apprentice. When they came to our table, she was shy but curious. After dinner, we walked back to our bungalow in the moonlight. We plan to get up early for a yoga class in the morning - our first real practice of the trip! Marari Beach Resort |
 Sunrise from the houseboat  Sunrise from the houseboat  Jimon, Rajendran, William, Steph & Craig  Craig on the beach at Marari Beach Resort  The Arabian Sea beats Craig up  Unbeknownst to Steph, while taking a selfie, a wave washes over Craig  Craig and Mukul on the beach for sunset  Steph and Craig on the beach at sunset  Sunset over the Arabian Sea  Sunset over the Arabian Sea  Antony and Benny provide music at dinner 
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