This morning we made an effort to visit an elephant camp north of here. Just five elephants and some mahouts. There was a big tusker and a rowdy baby elephant. They took us riding bareback down the road to the shop and back again. It was small scale and relaxed entertainment. Tsering's first ever elephant ride.

Last night was cooler than usual (still over +20) and our neighbor had to put on a jacket to survive. The sea is rising and half of the beach is suddenly gone. Watched sleeping sunbathers wake up half-drowned by a big wave. That was fun too.

Perfect weather, Tsering arrives

The beach holiday continues, each day with perfect weather. But after 11 it just gets too hot, and one has to wait in the shadow until 5 or so. Yesterday Tsering arrived to spend 4 days with us and it was good to see her again. We're trying to make some bookings for our outing to Periyar. The booking situation is intense at the peak season but I hope it will work out somehow. Anna got a bag of some herb from the Ayurvedic doctor, Dr Sheikh, that she is drying in the room to make some medincinal powder. She is also taking yoga classes in the Sivananda style. It's like private lessons as she is their only student at the moment. Competition is fierce between all the small-scale entrepreneurs running businesses around this place.

What's a beach holiday to talk about?

I guess a beach holiday isn't much to report on a daily basis. The days look more or less the same with swimming and eating. Today is no different. But we have booked a room in Periyar wildlife sanctuary in January so at least somehing will happen. Right now we're at a pretty fast internet place. The kids are playing Panfu online with friends.

And so it was Christmas eve on the beach with only some feeble and erratically decorated Christmas bushes. We had dinner together with some other Swedes, some of them run a hotel next to ours. The days are pretty hot now, maybe even too hot for swimming. Any hard work has to be carried out before 7 am. In the evenings there is a small breeze on the roof. The whole area is filling up with tourists and most rooms are booked by now. Yesterday I went with the kids to Taj Hotel's secluded swimming pool so that they could practice their swimming. The ocean waves are too big. We walked back on the beach. Varkala beach was crowded with a mix of Indian and foreign tourists. On the Cliff all the restaurants were erecting various X-mas gear such as strangled and bloated Santa Claus effigies. Tsering will be joining us for a few days and the kids are looking forward to meet her again. Today is the real Christmas Day for most people here including the Christian Keralites. Last night a gang of kids assaulted the restaurant, banging on water canisters and chanting "Hallelujah" as if it was a cricket game!

First report from Odayam

After a long journey we finally arrived to Odayam. It's a small place 20 min. walk north of Varkala. The guesthouse is right on the beach although we had to abandon our plans for a kitchen in order to get a decent size room. In the early mornings doplphins swim by before the fishermen starts to work. Everything seemed to go well; the kids playing in the waves, a good restaurant nearby and Anna seeing an Ayurvedic doctor. But then things started to happen. First we had to escape from our favourite restaurant when a fight broke out between the staff and a gang of drunken fishermen. The next day Alice got burnt by a large shellfish, and that day after that Esbjorn became sick after eating something with egg products. The medicine works but it's hard on him. At least the weather is good but it's also very hot during the day.