Travelog
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Winding down in South Goa
For the last few days in India, Palolem Beach in South Goa. A crescent of sand, calm water, beach huts, and a pace that makes it easy to stop counting days.
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Pit No. 30
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.
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IndiGo: Air travel for the masses
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.
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Breakfast in Varkala, lunch in Bangalore, dinner in Goa
Three cities in one day. Breakfast in Varkala, a layover in Bangalore, dinner in Goa, arriving just in time for sunset at the beach.
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Slow day in Varkala
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.
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Kumily to Varkala: The Journey is the Reward
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.
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Kathakali and Kalaripayattu
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.
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I Was Ready, Tigers Were Not
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…
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Travel to Kumily
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.