Category Asia

Pit No. 30, dated 14 February 2026. A Forest Department mesh cage on Palolem Beach, a turtle nest inside, and a small calculation about what might already have happened by the time I found it.

India's largest carrier and by some distance its best budget option. Four flights on a modern A320neo fleet, new aircraft, smooth boarding, and rather better than Ryanair. Which is not nothing.

Three cities in one day. Breakfast in Varkala, a layover in Bangalore, dinner in Goa, arriving just in time for sunset at the beach.

The best breakfast I have ever eaten at a restaurant that was closed. A slow day on the Varkala cliff, good coffee, warm water, and no particular plans.

Seven hours of travel on a local bus and a train to cover a modest distance through Kerala. Tea hills, backwaters glimpsed between palm trees, a conversation with strangers, and a thirty-cent waiting room that was worth considerably more.

Two traditional Kerala art forms, back to back in Thekkady. Kalaripayattu may be the world's oldest martial art; Kathakali tells its stories through gesture and expression alone. An evening that made the connection between them legible.

I was ready. I got up at 5 AM, and set off for the ticket office for the Periyar Tiger Reserve. I was advised to be early, at 5.45 AM, to avoid the crowds. The recommendation was good, I was…

The 7 AM bus to Kumily would have cost three dollars. That number requires context. The Uber was twenty-five, took two and a half hours, and was correct.

Ordering without knowing what will arrive is one of the pleasures of this trip. A guide to South Indian food: what it is, what it costs, and why the chutney matters.

Three days would have been ideal. I had booked four. Top Station, a tea factory, a dawn drive through the Ghats, and an Ayurvedic doctor with a prescription.