Monday, January 2

 

 

Anib had told Irma that Molly would wash the dishes and clean up after the barbecue. Irma had asked her to come to wash the dishes before 9:00 so we could have breakfast in peace. She arrived at exactly 9:00 and set about cleaning the entire house from top to bottom. We sneaked in breakfast on the balcony while she busied herself on the middle floor.

Irma went to Divine Supermarket for stuff for the dog and, shortly after she left, Molly’s son Arjun arrived with the plumber to look at a leak in the kitchen that Anib had spotted yesterday evening.

Eventually Irma returned and, with the plumber still here plumbing, we jumped in the rickshaw and headed for Samudra Beach.

When we arrive we realise that, despite having come to Kovalam for years, we have never actually come to this beach before. Tiny and quiet, it has about five restaurants, four shops, two hotels and one massage parlour. We walk to the end and sit on the upper terrace of The Water’s Edge. Looking along the beach I can see the Leela Kempinsky resort in the distance. Waves crash against the deserted beach and a few people sit on the sea wall under umbrellas.

Naa will have a neck and spine massage which, to her shock, will also involve a full body wash performed by a keen young man. We will then move to a table on the seawall and the women will go into the water to find themselves knocked head over heels by the giant waves.

Later we will walk back to the restaurant and eat there while Elvis looks under the tables for scraps. I will have vegetable kadai and potato madala with chippatty. Naa will have tiger prawns and Irma will have chicken. I will declare my meal delicious and feel very full at the end.