The highway is getting busier as we come closer to the coast. We are getting a bit fed up with all this traffic so we decide to follow the smaller roads on the way to Cherai Beach. This proves to be a good decision: the road is in a good condition and reasonably quiet so we can enjoy our trip. There’s a river crossing by ferry on our route which is fortunately a little better organized than in Nepal (see The Impossible Road).

The Ferry

It’s a pleasant boat ride and a fellow traveller offers us a bag of warm nuts. We expect an outstretched hand, but the man seems sincerely generous. We red that Cherai beach is a pristine white beach, lined with palm trees and we are hoping to set up our tent here. Arriving in Cherai Beach, we see that the beach is demarcated by a wall. This wall serves to protect the town against storms during the monsoon. Because of this wall, it was either camping on the beach without any shelter or behind the wall which seems to be private property. So we start looking for a room. Unfortunately, Cherai Beach is not a cheap place to stay, with prices starting from 1000 rupees (whilst our budget is about 500 rupees). Eventually we haggle on a beautiful room (the finest in Asia so far) with balcony and sea view. We are able to get it for 550 rupees!

Sea View from our Room

We like to stay for two more nights but the room is already booked for the next day and the other rooms of the hotel aren’t that nice. When we wake up, we enjoy our view for a little while and then we head further south...

Cherai Beach

More info on www.wijzijnweg.org