Hello from the most dangerous beach in the world

We moved to Varkalla beach on Friday. I'm not even going to go into the journey except to mention that I was caught in a stampede of passengers and would have had to stay on the bus for the rest of my life had it not been for the kind Indian man who threw my rucksack out of the window.

Anyway, it is really beautiful here. The Lonely Planet says the current is one of the most dangerous in the world but I thought pah, I'm from Cornwall, it can't be that bad. It was. Despite the fact that all I do in Cornwall is sit in bars I seem to have mentally rebranded myself as an outdoorsy sportsperson. Anyway, I didn't get swept away but I did end up accidentally underwater. They have two lifeguards but neither of them have any equipment which isn't hugely reassuring. They have whistles though, which they like to use liberally.  

Because it is now the end of the tourist season in Southern India, everywhere is quite quiet. There are lots of restaurants so desperate for business that they have twenty page menus selling Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Mexican, etc etc, plus a "continental" section full of hilarious things that no actual people eat like chicken schnitzel and steak diane. We have met some nice people here, one of whom told us about a restaurant menu he saw in Goa which said "disposable vomit bags available on request." Excellent. 

On Saturday we are flying to Delhi which is apparently FORTY degrees at the moment so that should be a real treat for the senses. In the meantime my main occupation is haggling with the book swap man. By hook or by crook I am going to get my hands on his copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He should sleep with one eye open.